Multi-agency working in British social policy: Risk,information sharing and privacy

Abstract

Tensions between goals of integrated, seamless public services and of client confidentiality are increasingly important, as trends in public services require more extensive sharing of information about users of those services. This article identifies reasons why these tensions have become more salient under the Labour Government in the UK and the types of policy initiative that now give rise to them, before considering the development of the policy frameworks intended to strike settlements between these goals. In conclusion, the sustainability of these settlements is considered in the context of the trade-off between the risks of different types of judgment errors likely to be made by professionals providing public services in decisions on whether, when and how much to share client information.