New Information Sharing Duty: What education settings need to know

The Department for Education have issued statutory guidance that radically changes the way we approach information sharing, placing children’s well-being and safety as the primary concern in any information sharing conversation. It is vital that DSLs and staff are confident prior to its implementation on 30 September 2026.

Safeguarding Network is running webinars on the new Information Sharing Duty. We have a 45 minute webinar at 12:15pm on Thursday 15th October to explore the guidance, examine how we go about sharing information, transparency with families and the limited exemptions from the duty in more detail. It’s free for members as part of our KCSiE implementation series and £10 for non-members. Find out more.

As we shared with you previously, the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 creates an Information Sharing Duty in England which applies to Local Authorities, District Councils, the NHS and health authorities, the Police and British Transport Police, probation and youth offending, prisons and other secure accommodation, childcare and education. and to providers delivering services related to functions of those named (for example, GPs or alternative provision commissioned by local authorities and schools). This piece of legislation and the new accompanying Information Sharing Duty, published as statutory guidance, represents an important shift in information sharing duties for settings and moves practitioners beyond asking questions such as, "Am I allowed to share this information?", and towards considering, "Will sharing this information help others to protect this child or promote their welfare?"

The Information Sharing Duty removes many of the perceived barriers to information sharing and has enormous implications for how we work together. The duty is a substantial move away from making judgements about child protection thresholds to a general duty (not just a judgement) to share information about a child and about others connected to a child to support the statutory functions of other agencies when this is necessary to either safeguard a child or promote their welfare.

It reinforces the importance of professional curiosity and building a fuller picture of a child’s lived experience. Information that may appear low-level or insignificant in isolation may become important when combined with information held by another agency. For education settings, this potentially supports earlier and more proactive sharing of:

• Attendance concerns

• Behaviour patterns

• Wellbeing concerns

• Emerging exploitation indicators

• Concerns about any form of extra-familial harm

The duty extends to information about all children, including unborn babies, and to information about wider people connected to the child where this supports safeguarding and child protection. Students who reach the age of 18 are not covered by the duty – specific consideration should be given in your policies if you work with Year 12 students.

In the new guidance, seeking consent is set out as a “false choice”. Public task, legal obligation or recognised legitimate interest, not consent, will ordinarily be the basis for sharing information. However, transparency with families is “critically important”. While information sharing does not require consent, the offer of services is often going to be on a consensual basis, so there should be a supportive approach that builds understanding and trust. Government materials for families are on the way.

When thinking about sharing information with those covered by the Duty

Settings should consider the following:

1. Is the information relevant to safeguarding or promoting the welfare of a child?

2. Could sharing this information facilitate another agency's relevant function in safeguarding, risk assessment, decision-making or support functions to safeguard that child or promote their welfare?

3. Would sharing the information create a detriment to the child that outweighs the benefits? The guidance sets out this will be a ‘rare’ limitation to the duty.

There will be limited circumstances where information should not be shared, particularly where sharing would create a detriment to the child that outweighs any safeguarding benefit, or where specific legal restrictions apply. Examples include:

• A child would be at immediate risk

• Conflicts with court orders

• Situations where sharing could prejudice a police investigation in a way that would place someone at risk

Working with children and families

When explaining information sharing, practitioners should:

• Explain the purpose of sharing.

• Describe what information will be shared and with whom.

• Be clear about limits to confidentiality.

• Avoid presenting sharing as optional where it is not.

• Acknowledge feelings and concerns.

Other factors that settings should keep in the forefront of information sharing decisions include being open, honest and transparent with families, even when consent is not a factor.

Local protocols and strategic information sharing

Statutory safeguarding partners are required to make local arrangements and may include relevant agencies such as schools.

Each partnership must publish a data sharing agreement. However, the guidance is clear that the absence of an agreement does not prevent information being shared within the Duty where a setting deems it necessary. You don’t need a data sharing agreement to share information. For example, with a family moving from London to Devon there won’t be an agreement, but the Duty still stands.

Where safeguarding partners have agreed, at a strategic level, that certain safeguarding and welfare information is necessary to fulfil their functions, that information may be shared on a regular basis, rather than only in response to individual incidents or contacts. This may include information about school attendance, patterns of absence, risk of becoming NEET, concerns about wider people involved and extra-familial harm, where partners have identified this as relevant to identifying need, risk or emerging harm.

Information must be shared with those placed under the Duty, but can also be shared with charities, community groups and other organisations where necessary and in line with other applicable guidance.

Preparing for implementation

‘Information sharing to safeguard children and young people’ comes into force on 30 September 2026 and does not require retrospective application. However, it could prompt settings to revisit previous decision making, especially where there are ongoing or unresolved concerns.

Many staff will also have received years of messaging which has emphasised:

• Obtaining consent where possible

• Being cautious about information sharing and "getting it wrong”

• Concerns about GDPR

The new guidance may require significant retraining of staff to support them to understand:

• When consent is not required

• How GDPR supports lawful safeguarding information sharing

• The difference between confidentiality and secrecy

• When information should be shared proactively

• How the setting will respond when other agencies under the Duty share information with them

It will be important to prepare all staff for the cultural shift from permission to share to expectation to share.

There is more to come in relation to information sharing once the mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse comes into effect in England on 29 April 2027. We will keep you updated with any developments.

Safeguarding Network is running webinars on the new Information Sharing Duty. We have a 45 minute webinar at 12:15pm on Thursday 15^th October to explore the guidance, examine how we go about sharing information, transparency with families and the limited exemptions from the duty in more detail. It’s free for members as part of our KCSiE implementation series and £10 for non-members.

Find out more and reserve your space