AGENDA ITEM 14

BOROUGH OF POOLE

REPORT TO COUNCIL

18TH DECEMBER 2007

DORSET OVERARCHING INFORMATION SHARING PROTOCOL: REPORT OF HEADS OF STRATEGIC PLANNING AND LEGAL AND DEMOCRATIC SERVICES

1.PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

1.1Council is invited to consider the attached Overarching Information Sharing Protocol.

1.2The aim of the Protocol is to provide a clear framework, to ensure that the sharing of personal information between authorities and organisations complies with relevant legislation. It also fulfils the requirement for all councils to have such a framework in place in order to meet one of the elements of the Implementing Electronic Government (IEG6) initiative led by central government.

1.3The Protocol was developed by members of the Dorset Information Working Groupand was presented to Management Team in October. It has been adopted for use by Bournemouth Council, Dorset County and District Councils, the Dorset Police Authority and the local Primary Care Trusts. It has also been viewed and approved by the Information Commissioners Office.

2.DECISION REQUIRED

2.1Council is asked to approve the Dorset Information Sharing Protocol for use by the Authority as the basis for all new and renewed personal information sharing initiatives.

3BACKGROUND

The ever increasing emphasis on developing multi-agency integrated services, including both the public and private sector has highlighted the complexities involved in integrated working between organisations.

Whilst the public have expectations of more seamless services and a reduction of form filling, they are also sceptical about how their personal information is used and shared.

There have been a number of high profile cases that have highlighted concerns over the failure of one or more agencies to disclose or share information with one another, and more recently, a high profile cases of inappropriate disclosure. Such situations, coupled with the work of civil rights groups and the increased application of the Human Rights Act 1998 (HRA) has only served to confuse the issue.

Such failures are often a result of confusion at an operational level as to the situation regarding the sharing of personal information. There is increasing anxiety by staff that they may breach the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA), HRA or a common law duty of confidentiality that may exist in respect of that information.

It is therefore essential that there is a robust framework in place to ensure consistent processes to facilitate the lawful and effective disclosure of information. This has been recognised in the IEG6 requirement to provide an information sharing framework.

  1. CURRENT SITUATION

At present, there are a number of information sharing protocols in place. In general, they tend to have one or more of the following characteristics:

  • Established on principles which are no longer compatible with the current interpretation of DPA, HRA and the common law.
  • Represent one of multiple localised protocols, where one wider protocol would suffice.
  • Unnecessarily over complicated and therefore lacking clear guidance.
  • Lack a regular review of the protocol to ensure that they continue to reflect current legal interpretation and best practice.
  • There is no single protocol which can easily be adapted to any new information sharing initiatives. This results in the need for a major piece of work each time a new sharing initiative is implemented.
  • There is a lack of awareness of the need for information sharing to be conducted under an appropriate protocol.
  • There are no definitive lists of information sharing protocols in operation.

5. DORSET WIDE OVERARCHING INFORMATION SHARING PROTOCOL

The OAISP introduces the concept of a simple two-tier system to support agreements to work in partnership with other agencies. The OAISP is the main component and covers those aspects that are common to all information sharing initiatives. This is supported by Personal Data Exchange Agreements (PDEAs), which are designed to be very short and provide the specific details which relate to a particular partnership arrangement.

The aim has been to make the new protocol accessible to front-line practitioners, deliberately avoiding a number of lengthy, individual, service specific protocols. It is ‘over-arching’, appropriate to cover the sharing of personal information in any area of service delivery and for any purpose, e.g. community safety and crime & disorder initiatives, integrated children’s services developments, housing and community support initiatives, etc.

The OAISP is based on current interpretation of legal requirements, ICO and DCA guidance, as well as identified best practice. The Working Group will monitor it to ensure that it continues to reflect those considerations.

6.LEGAL IMPLICATIONS.

Modern life requires many organisations to hold personal information about individuals. There is a contradiction at the heart of may individuals views about how public sector organisations in particular should handle such data. Individuals expect at the same time, the highest standards of data security but also a commonsense approach to data sharing that enables the authority to offer a good standard of service particularly where the individual is involved with a number of different departments or agencies.

The law requires that personal data be held in a secure way and in particular is not released to third parties except in certain circumstances. In general, data should also only be used or processed for the purposes for which it was originally collected. The Information Commissioner now recognises that controlled Information sharing between public sector agencies can assist in providing services that are in line with public expectations. It will be easier to control this flow and ensure that appropriate safeguards remain in place if any such sharing takes place within the context of a robust protocol as recommended here.

The Information Commissioner has been consulted over the proposed Dorset wide Protocol and has been positive in supporting this initiative.

Two copies of the Bournemouth, Dorset and Poole Overarching Information Sharing Protocol (OAISP) have been placed in each Group Room, further copies can be obtained from Democratic Services.

Background Papers

Overarching Information Sharing Protocol

Contact Officer

Katharine Watters, Corporate Research – Strategic Planning

Tel: 01202 633367 Email: .

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