Lack of reliable data on under-fives could affect early intervention services
Catherine Gaunt
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Gaps in data available to local authorities about children from birth to five could make it difficult for children's services to target early intervention strategies effectively, a survey of children's services workers suggests.
Four in ten people working in children's services said they were not confident about the reliability of the data they received on pre-school children.
More than nine in ten of the same respondents said they were confident in the information they held on school-age children between five and 14.
The survey was carried out at a conference organised by Capita.David Martin, a product manager at Capita, said, 'There's a longstanding link between local authorities and schools to provide data because it is a statutory requirement. In settings for under-fives, there are many more individual systems without integrated links to local authorities. There hasn't been the level of integration of nursery systems as there has been with schools systems.'
Around 80 per cent of schools use SIMS (Schools Management Information System), managed by Capita, to link in with local authorities. The Capita One system, which is a single record for every child, is used by various agencies to provide local authorities with information on children from birth to 19.
Mr Martin said gaps in the data 'that identify areas of concern, and where a referral may be needed' make it difficult for local authorities to plan early intervention strategies effectively.
'A lot more information will be needed on under-fives for local authorities to deliver early intervention services. Many authorities use Capita's One system to gather information on children in the early years through children's centres and maintained nurseries. However, maintained nursery provision is falling across the UK, so gathering data on young children could become increasingly challenging.'
