Audio/Visual Recording of Meetings

Audio/Visual Recording of Meetings

A Guidance Note for Practitioners

Background

This is a briefing note specifically about service usersmaking audio/visual recordings of meetings and discussions between families and professionals. It does not apply to making recordings of children or of court proceedings. It is contempt of court to record court hearings unless the court has given permission.

Legal Framework

There is no legal reason why a meeting or interactions between a professional and a service user(s) cannot be recorded;howeverthere is a clear statutory law in place that prevents anyone from publishing information identifying a child as being the subject of care proceedings.

If a parent were to publish recordings or an account of their case in a way that identifies their child, the Local Authority could get an injunction to stop that happening.

The Data Protection Act 1998 does not prevent parents recording meetings. It was designed to apply to organisations processing data, not individuals, particularly if the data is collected for personal use.

The Professional's rights to privacy will not apply as the professional is attending the meeting in a professional capacity and their own private information will not be discussed.

Principles

Practitionersshould always be transparent in our work with families and be accountable for what we have said or written in relation to a case.

If a service user(s) requests to record a meeting or you think that they are recording a meeting covertly you need to:

• Practitioners need to be explicit in their case recording of advice given to parents in regards to the storage and security of the recording which is the service user’s responsibility.
• Practitioners need to be clear with that it isresponsibility of the service user that the recording is for their personal use only. Practitioners need to be clear that service users should store the information securely and it is not to be shared with others. The sharing and distributing of any recordings may lead to legal action.
• Families should be informed that agencies would not normally want to accept copies of recordings.

Please note – if a case is part of court proceedings, it is a matter for the court to decide whether the recording or transcript can be included in evidence.

Where you have concerns or need more advice and guidance speak to your manager or a legal representative.

Information Sheet (Guidance for Service Users)

Should you wish to record a meeting, it will be your responsibility to:

• Retain the recording and use it for yourown personal record only.
• Not distribute or publishthe recording to any other party or in any public arena.
• Retain and keep safe the recording.
• Only use it in the way that is outlined in “reason for recording”.
• Not share/distribute the information with anyone.

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