The Foster Placement (Children) Regulations 1991

Retention and confidentiality of records

14.—(1) The record for a foster parent or other person compiled underregulation 13, and any entry relating to him in the register maintainedunder regulation 12, is to be retained for at least 10 years from thedate on which his approval is terminated, or until his death ifearlier.

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

(3) The authority or organisation responsible for the maintenance of anyregister or record under regulation 12 or 13 are to secure its safekeeping and to take all necessary steps to ensure that the informationwhich it contains is treated as confidential subject onlyto—

(a) any provision in under or by virtue of a statute under which accessto such register, record or information may be obtained or should begranted;

(b) any court order under which access to such register, record orinformation may be obtained or given.

(4) Each voluntary organisation, where they are not acting as anauthorised person(1), shall provide a guardian ad litem of achild—

(a) such access as may be required to—

(i) case records and registers maintained in accordance with theseRegulations,

(ii) the information from such records or registers held inwhatever form (such as by means of computer);

(b) such copies of the records or entries in the registers as he mayrequire.

(1)

For access by guardian ad litem to local authority andauthorised person’s records see section 42 of the 1989 Act as amended byparagraph 18 of Schedule 16 to the Courts and Legal Services Act 1990(c.41). person is defined in section 31 of the 1989 Act.