Childrens Register Accessible To 390,000 People

Another hat-tip to Brits at their Best blog for writing about and linking to this story.

The government has announced that a database that is being set up by the government that will track details of every single individual in the UK aged 18 or under is to be accessible by 390,000 staff that work with children. No child for any reason can be excluded from the list and each will have an individual identification number.

Beverley Hughes said the database would allow people working with children to "put their particular piece of the jigsaw into the whole picture." 17 Local Authorities will soon begin training staff on how to use and update the database, which will hold name, address, contact details, date of birth, school, doctor and of course their unique identifying number. It will be accessible to all local authorities, police, NHS staff and childrens charities.

I cannot think of a single worthwhile reason why such a database should exist. I find it harder still to think of anybody I would trust less with such a project than HM Government. Such a system is open to massive abuse and is an expensive failure waiting to happen. The potential for abuse is staggering. To me, it is the State taking ultimate responsibility for the upbringing of children in the UK; they obviously think the State should have overall responsibility in protecting children.

Will we really accept the criminalisation of parents who refuse to allow their childrens details be updated to the register?

I hope the Conservatives are prepared to scrap this scheme if they come to power, they have already said they will scrap the ID card scheme.