Regulation 9 Retention and confidentiality of records

(1)

A case record relating to a child who is placed shall be retained bythe responsible authority until the seventy-fifth anniversary of thedate of birth of the child to whom it relates or, if the child diesbefore attaining the age of 18, for a period of 15 years beginning withthe date of his death.

(2)

The requirements of paragraph (1) may be complied with either byretaining the original written record, or a copy of it, or by keepingall of the information from such record in some other accessible form(such as by means of a computer).

(3)

A responsible authority shall secure the safe keeping of caserecords and shall take all necessary steps to ensure that informationcontained in them is treated as confidential, subject onlyto—

(a)

any provision of or made under or by virtue of, a statute underwhich access to such records or information may be obtained or given;

(b)

any court order under which access to such records or informationmay be obtained or given.