New statutory information sharing duty: what organisations need to know
The government has published new statutory guidance on sharing information to safeguard children and young people.
The guidance, published on 10 September 2026, explains the new information sharing duty introduced through section 16LA of the Children Act 2004. The duty comes into force on 30 September 2026 and applies to a range of safeguarding organisations, including education and early years agencies, local authorities, health services, the police and other specified organisations.
It replaces the previous non-statutory Information sharing: advice for practitioners providing safeguarding services.
What is changing?
The new duty is intended to remove uncertainty about whether information can be shared, particularly where concerns relate to emerging needs, early help or a child’s wider welfare rather than an immediate risk of significant harm.
There is no requirement for a child to have reached a particular statutory threshold before relevant information can be shared.
From 30 September 2026, an organisation covered by the duty must share information with another organisation covered by the duty where:
- it holds information about a child, or another person connected to that child;
- it considers the information relevant to safeguarding or promoting the child’s welfare; and
- it considers that sharing the information may help the recipient assess need or risk, make a decision, provide support or take safeguarding action.
The duty applies both when an organisation identifies relevant information itself and when it receives a request for relevant information from another organisation covered by the legislation.
Must share, rather than may share
This represents an important change in emphasis.
Previous guidance focused largely on giving practitioners confidence that the law allowed them to share information. The new legislation creates an express duty to share where the statutory conditions are met.
However, this does not mean that every piece of information must automatically be shared. Practitioners must continue to exercise professional judgement and consider:
- whether the information is relevant to safeguarding or promoting the child’s welfare;
- whether sharing it may help the recipient carry out its safeguarding or welfare functions;
- what information is necessary and proportionate to share;
- who needs to receive it; and
- whether sharing would be more detrimental to the child than not sharing.
The final consideration is a specific limitation within the legislation. The guidance describes circumstances in which sharing would be more detrimental to the child than not sharing as extremely limited. A decision not to share on this basis should therefore be rare, carefully considered and clearly recorded.
Consent and working with families
Consent is not normally the appropriate lawful basis for sharing information for safeguarding and welfare purposes.
The new guidance warns against seeking consent where information will be shared regardless of whether permission is given. It describes this as presenting children and families with a “false choice”.
Instead, organisations should identify the appropriate lawful basis from the outset. Practitioners should normally be open and transparent with children and families about:
- why information is being shared;
- what information will be shared;
- who will receive it; and
- how it may be used.
There will still be circumstances in which informing a parent, carer or another person would be unsafe or inappropriate, including where doing so could increase the risk of harm or undermine safeguarding activity.
It is also important to distinguish between consent to share information and consent to receive a voluntary service. A family may choose whether to engage with services such as Family Help, but their agreement is not required before relevant information is shared where the statutory duty applies.
Early help and emerging concerns
The duty is not limited to child protection concerns or situations in which the section 47 threshold may have been reached.
Relevant information must also be considered for sharing where it may help another organisation:
- identify emerging needs;
- understand patterns or accumulating concerns;
- assess what support a child or family may require;
- prevent needs from escalating; or
- promote the child’s welfare.
This is particularly significant for education and early years settings that may previously have been advised not to make an early help referral, or share relevant welfare information, without parental consent.
Confidentiality and data protection
A disclosure made in accordance with section 16LA does not breach an obligation of confidence. Where the duty applies, practitioners do not need to establish that disclosure is justified by an overriding public interest or obtain consent under the common law duty of confidentiality.
Data protection legislation continues to apply. Organisations must still:
- identify an appropriate lawful basis;
- share only information that is necessary and proportionate;
- ensure that information is accurate;
- share information securely;
- maintain appropriate records; and
- be transparent about how personal information may be used.
Data protection should not be treated as a reason to withhold information where the statutory duty applies.
What should organisations do now?
Organisations should prepare for the duty coming into force on 30 September 2026 by:
- reading and circulating the new statutory guidance;
- reviewing safeguarding, child protection, early help and information-sharing policies;
- removing or amending requirements that routinely make parental consent a condition of sharing safeguarding or welfare information;
- reviewing privacy notices, referral processes and information-sharing agreements;
- ensuring that staff understand the distinction between consent to share information and consent to receive a service;
- agreeing how information-sharing decisions and the reasons for them will be recorded;
- discussing the changes with safeguarding leads, data protection officers and information governance leads; and
- replacing saved copies of the previous information-sharing advice.
The guidance is accompanied by strategic and operational template data-sharing agreements that organisations and safeguarding partnerships may adapt locally.
The full statutory guidance and accompanying templates are available on the government’s information sharing to safeguard children and young people page.
Support for ISS members
ISS is reviewing its safeguarding policy templates and training materials in light of the new statutory duty. We wll update them and notify you of any changes and to 'recreate' your policies.
Members do not need to interpret the changes alone. We will provide updated policy wording and practical guidance in our training to help organisations understand what the duty means for referrals, consent, recording decisions and day-to-day safeguarding practice.
