Regulation 24 Restriction on disclosure of statementsI1

England and Wales

(1)

Subject to the provisions of the Act and of these Regulations, a statement in respect of a child shall not be disclosed without the child’s consent except—

(a)

to persons to whom, in the opinion of the authority concerned, it is necessary to disclose the statement in the interests of the child;

(b)

for the purposes of any appeal under the Act;

(c)

for the purposes of educational research which, in the opinion of the authority, may advance the education of children with special educational needs, if, but only if, the person engaged in that research undertakes not to publish anything contained in, or derived from, a statement otherwise than in a form which does not identify any individual concerned including, in particular, the child concerned and his parent;

(d)

on the order of any court or for the purposes of any criminal proceedings;

(e)

for the purposes of any investigation under Part III of the Local Government Act 1974^f1 (investigation of maladministration);

(f)

to the National Assembly when it requests such disclosure for the purposes of deciding whether to give directions or make an order under section 496, 497 or 497A of the Act;

(g)

for the purposes of an assessment of the needs of the child with respect to the provision of any statutory services for the child being carried out by officers of a F1local authority by virtue of arrangements made under section 5(5) of the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986^f2;

F2(h)

for the purposes of a local authority in the performance of their duties under sections 78(1)(a), 120(5)(a) and 121(3)(a) of the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 and section 87(3) of the Children Act 1989;

(i)

to Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education and Training in Wales, one of Her Majesty’s Inspectors of Education and Training in Wales, or to a registered inspector or a member of an inspection team, who requests the right to inspect or take copies of a statement in accordance with section 2(8) or 3(3) of or paragraph 7 of Schedule 2 to the School Inspections Act 1996^f3 respectively;

(j)

to the Careers Service for the purposes of writing or amending a transition plan; or

(k)

to a Young Offender Institution for the purposes of the performance of its duties under Rule 38 of the Young Offender Institution Rules 2000^f4.

(2)

A child may consent to the disclosure of a statement for the purposes of this regulation if the child’s age and understanding are sufficient to allow the child to understand the nature of that consent.

(3)

If a child does not have sufficient age or understanding to allow the child to consent to disclosure of his or her statement, the child’s parent may consent on his or her behalf.

(4)

The arrangements for keeping such statements shall be such as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that unauthorised persons do not have access to them.

(5)

In this regulation any reference to a statement includes a reference to any representations, evidence, advice or information which is set out in the appendices to a statement.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1: Words in reg. 24(1)(g) substituted (5.5.2010) by The Local Education Authorities and Children’s Services Authorities (Integration of Functions) (Subordinate Legislation) (Wales) Order 2010 (S.I. 2010/1142), art. 1(1), Sch. 1 para. 8(10)
F2: Reg. 24(1)(h) substituted (6.4.2016) by The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 (Consequential Amendments) (Secondary Legislation) Regulations 2016 (S.I. 2016/211), reg. 1(2), Sch. 3 para. 41

Commencement

I1: Reg. 24 in force at 1.4.2002, see reg. 1(2)

Footnotes

f1: 1974 c. 7.
f2: 1986 c. 33; section 5 is amended by the Special Education Needs and Disability Act 2001, paragraphs 16 to 18 of Schedule 8.
f3: 1996 c. 57; section 2(8) is amended by the Education Act 1997 (c. 44), section 42 and Schedule 6, and paragraph 7 of Schedule 3 is amended by the Education Act 1997, section 42 and Schedule 6, paragraph 12.
f4: S.I. 2000/3371.