C, R (on the application of) v Northumberland County Council & Anor

Mr Paul Greatorex (instructed under the Bar Public Access Scheme) for the Claimant Ms Karen Steyn QC and Mr Justin Gray (instructed by The Legal Services Unit) for the Defendant Mr Robin Hopkins (instructed by The Information Commissioner's Office) for the Interested Party Hearing date: 18 June 2015 ____________________

HTML VERSION OF JUDGMENT DELIVERED AT THE CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT DATE: 23/7/2015 BEFORE: MR JUSTICE SIMON HTML VERSION OF JUDGMENT ____________________

4.1 Since there is no specific legislative basis for retention periods for child protection records, and no national guidance from the Government or other statutory sources, this is an area in which each local authority has to form a reasonable view after considering the issues involved. Practice in other local authorities, and advice given by local bodies, provide useful context, but cannot determine what decision the Council should take.

a) as a general principle, retaining unnecessary information about the private family lives of people who have not consented to this is unacceptable, and could be a breach of their human rights.

4.3 Recent national events make particularly clear the potential importance of historical information about child protection investigations. Perpetrators of serious abuse may succeed in deflecting investigations into their behaviour for many years, and may continue to abuse other children for decades; young people who have been abused and disbelieved may lack the confidence to come forward again until it becomes clear to them that they may now receive a different response.