The ContactPoint system will be piloted from the spring in 17 local authorities in the north-west and by children's charities Barnado's and KIDS, and rolled out to the rest of England by the summer.
The database will include every child's name, address and date of birth, plus contact details for their educational setting and GP practice and for other practitioners and support services working with the child. Each child will also have a unique identifying number.
Although there is no statutory requirement for local authorities to add the details of early years settings to the database, a spokesperson for the DCSF said that childcare providers are likely to see councils contacting them for data.
No case information will be held on ContactPoint and the Government has said it would be impossible to download its contents.
Children's minister Ed Balls said, 'ContactPoint will help those who work with children to intervene earlier and prevent problems escalating and will help make sure that no child slips through the net of support services. We have seen from recent serious case reviews that the lack of proper and timely information-sharing can have tragic consequences.'
Kevin Williams, chief executive of KIDS, a charity for disabled children, said, 'Disabled children typically access a wide range of services throughout their lives, including health agencies, educational support and the services offered by voluntary organisations. It is important that everyone knows what the other parties are doing. Professionals will be able to use ContactPoint to find out if there are any gaps in the care provided. I feel that the benefits of the database outweigh the risks.'
The introduction of ContactPoint was delayed in December 2007 following the loss of HMRC discs containing details of child benefit recipients (News, 6 December 2007). It was delayed again last September after tests on the system found it to be 'inherently insecure'.
Critics of the system, including David Laws, Liberal Democrat shadow Children Schools and Families secretary, have called for it to be scrapped altogether (News, 4 September 2008).