Recording Policy and Guidelines

Every child involved with Children's Social Care is required to have their own electronic record on Liquidlogic (the recording system for Children's Social Care). This record is created by the First Contact Team once a referral is accepted by Children's Social Care and will remain active until involvement with the child ends.  

The child's record should reflect the child's life and what has happened to them, the people who love and care about them, their achievements and the support offered to help them now and in the future. The record should be written in a way that increases the child's understanding  of their background,  experiences and the decisions which were made, which is particularly important where a child may not have been able to remain in the care of their parent(s) and/or family or carers.

The child's record will usually be developed from notes taken during a visit or interview and these may be used directly, or from information in a report or court statement. The Family Court, in the case of RE M and N (Children) (Local authority gathering, preserving and disclosing evidence) advised that social workers/practitioners must make  up to date notes which form an understandable, current record. The notes should be legible, signed and dated and include who was there during the meeting/conversation. The notes should be detailed and include descriptions, actions and views etc. In some instances, sketches/diagrams may be helpful in establishing the accuracy of explanations given, e.g. with regard to how injuries were sustained, etc.

Note: These original notes might need to be disclosed in a court.

All records for the child must be held on the child's electronic file - Liquid Logic.

Every child's record must hold details of the child's full name, date of birth and any identification number. The spelling of names should be accurate and, where possible, evidenced e.g. birth certificate. In some instances, key information may change and it is important that the child's record reflects the child's circumstances at that time.

The practitioner who is directly involved in the event that is being recorded, for example, the practitioner who has completed a visit to the child or taken a phone call, should be the person who records this on the child's record. 

Where this is not possible and records are completed or updated by another practitioner, it must be clear from the record which person completed the record.

Records of decisions must show who has made the decision and the reason for the decision. 

Records should be updated as information becomes available or as decisions are made but where this is not possible, records must be updated within 24 hours of the event.

Where information is recorded late this must be identified on the record and the date and time of the entry should be included. 

Any information included in the child's record must be relevant, accurate and meet the legal requirements of these procedures. 

Records about the child and their family should be factually correct. If a child / young person feels that information in their record is not accurate, they have a right to ask for this to be corrected. Local authorities have 1 month to respond to these requests. If such a request is received, the local authority should take reasonable steps to understand if the information is accurate and change the record where needed.

Records must be clear about the difference between facts, opinions, assessments, judgements and decisions. Records must also be clear about what is first-hand information and information obtained from third parties.

A certain amount of cross-referencing between brothers and sisters is inevitable, however information should only be recorded for the sibling(s) involved or where it is relevant to them. 

Information recorded on a child's record should be recorded using kind and clear language that the child and their family would be able to understand. The information should be balanced between the worries and any strengths and recorded in a way that would make families want to work with practitioners within Children's Social Care as opposed to them feeling judged. Practitioners should use the family's language and should ask children and families which words and language they would like to be used. 

When recording on a child's record, practitioners should remember that it is the child's record, and they may wish to access their record either now or in the future. Practitioners should consider how the recording may make the child feel.  

Records must not contain any expressions that might offend any person or group of people in terms of race, culture, class, religion, age, disability, or sexual orientation.

Acronyms and abbreviations should be avoided and any professional terms such as legal orders should be explained. 

See: Language that Cares, Subject Access Request Procedure in the Durham Resource Library.

Children and their parent(s) should be made aware of what information is included in the child's record and they should be involved when information is gathered or recorded about them ('nothing about us, without us'). Children and their parents should feel part of the recording process. A child or their parent(s) can request to see the child's record at any time and in these instances, the Subject Access Request Procedure should be followed. 

Children, parents, their families, and other people who are important to them, should be asked to provide information, share their views and what they want to happen, and contribute to assessments, reports and developing their own plans. 

The child (and parents where needed) should be supported to help them share their views for example through an advocate or specialist support such as a signer.  

Practitioners should seek consent from children and/or their parents to share information about them with others. Information should be shared with the consent of the child and family if appropriate. Wherever possible the wishes of those who do not  want their confidential information to be shared should be respected. Information can still be shared without consent where there are worries that a child is suffering or likely to suffer significant harm or if there is a risk of harm to others. In such circumstances practitioners should ensure that the information shared is necessary for the purpose for which it is being shared and shared only with those who need to have it.

See Durham Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures, Information Sharing Procedure and DfE, Information Sharing: Advice for Safeguarding Practitioners.

It is the responsibility of the Team Manager to ensure all records are maintained appropriately, although the responsibility can be delegated to other practitioners as appropriate. 

The manager should routinely check samples of records to ensure they are up to date and maintained as required and, if not, that they are updated or corrected as soon as possible. 

Records and forms must be designed to fit their purpose and used consistently across the organisation.

The Senior Management Team must approve the design of all records and forms before coming into use.

All records held on children must be kept securely. Any historical paper files should be stored in a locked cabinet, usually in an office which only staff have access to.

These records should not be left unattended when not in their normal location.

All electronic records must be kept securely and comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018. This will include arrangements such as:

• Password protection;
• Automatic log out of screens;
• Logging off computers;
• Changing passwords on a regular basis.

Where staff are working in a 'mobile' / 'hot-desking' context, records (including information on computer screens) should not be seen by others. 

Where paper files are also kept, information held in electronic records must accurately reflect the same information recorded within paper files.

Where more than one paper volume exists, the dates covered by each volume must be clearly recorded on the front cover.

All records, whether they are physical or electronic, should be securely kept and electronic messaging (e.g. emails) should also be sent in a secure and safe way so that information is only shared with those who have the right to see it. 

Practitioners using computers at home for work purposes must ensure that they are working within the rules of the 'data protection principles' in accordance with the Data Protection Act. Practitioners should familiarise themselves with the Council's Personal Information Security Policy and have completed the Councils e-learning courses relating to UK GDPR and Data Protection.

This applies to practitioners using laptop computers and mobile devices. 

Should the situation ever occur where a laptop is lost or mislaid, the practitioner must report this immediately to their manager and to corporate ICT. Every reasonable effort should be made to find the laptop. 

Consideration should be given as to whether the child or their parents should be advised of such an event where personal information may be on the device.