HM Government Information Sharing Guidance

Recognising that most decisions to share information require professional judgment, this cross-government guidance aims to improve practice by giving practitioners clearer guidance on when and how they can share information legally and professionally about an individual with whom they are in contact.  It seeks to provide clarity on the legal framework for practitioners sharing information and give practitioners confidence in making decisions.

The cross-government information sharing guidance originally published April 2006 has been brought up-to-date to reflect current policy and extended to cover practitioners working with adults and families as well as those working with children and young people. The revised guidance and supporting materials were published in late 2008.

The guidance is for front-line practitioners who have to make decisions about sharing personal information on a case-by-case basis.

The guidance is also for managers and advisors who support these practitioners in their decision-making and for others with responsibility for information governance.

The guidance was developed in partnership between Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) with the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) and in consultation with a wide range of practitioner, national organisations and representative bodies.

The guidance includes:

Information Sharing: Guidance for practitioners and managers - giving practitioners clear practical guidance, drawing on experience and the public consultation.

InformationSharing: Pocket guide - a summary of the key decision-making considerations (see below for printing instructions).

Information Sharing: Case examples - a set of case examples which illustrate information sharing situations

Information Sharing: Further guidance on legal issues - a summary of the laws affecting information sharing in respect of children and young people, updated to reflect the 2008 version of the guidance.

Information Sharing: Posters - the seven golden rules and the flowchart of key questions for information sharing from Information Sharing: Guidance for practitioners and managers.

Information Sharing: Quick reference guide - a credit card sized tool containing the seven golden rules and the flowchart of key questions for information sharing from Information Sharing: Guidance for practitioners and managers.

Information Sharing: Endorsements and statements details of organisations who have formally endorsed the guidance and what they have said.

Information Sharing: Introductory training course - published on CR-ROM and designed to be run from the CD or copied onto PCs for local use. It can be used by practitioners as self-study or by trainers as part of a classroom based course.

Instructions for printing the pocket guide:

1. Set page size to A5
2. Print double sided
3. Select booklet layout with left edged binding 2 pages per sheet

Order details:

Hard copies of some of these publications can be obtained from DCSF Publications.  All publications are available FREE OF CHARGE. Please quote relevant reference (details below).

Tel: 0845 60 222 60, Fax: 0845 60 333 60, Textphone: 0845 60 555 60

Or write to: PO Box 5050, Sherwood Park, Annesley, Nottingham, NG15 ODJ