Information sharing and children's services reform in England: can legislation change practice?

The Laming Report into the death of Victoria Climbie reiterated the long-standing critique of inadequate communication and coordination amongst the key professions and agencies. It led directly to the Green Paper, Every Child Matters in 2003 and the subsequent Children Act 2004. Amongst other things the Act proposes the establishment of a database on every child, which would be accessible to a range of practitioners - a measure that has been hotly contested. This article examines the reasons for this contestation and explores the extent to which a compromise might be judged to have dislodged a key policy objective.