access to previous proceeding case files

[maricharle]

Can someone tell me am I entitled to copies of all previous case files held by social services on my grandson or if I am only allowed to ask to view them. (from the original proceedings when he was a baby to date)

[David Roth]

Under the Data Protection Act, the information held in the child's file is the child's information, and you don't have the right to have access to it. This is what it says in the Information Commissioner's guide for bodies which hold information about individuals:

Even if a child is too young to understand the implications of subject access rights, data about them is still their personal data and does not belong, for example, to a parent or guardian. So it is thechild who has a right of access to the information held about them, even though in the case of young children these rights are likely to be exercised by those with parental responsibility for them.

Before responding to a subject access request for information held about a child, you should consider whether the child is mature enough to understand their rights. If you are confident that the child can understand their rights, then you should respond to the child rather than a parent. What matters is that the child is able to understand (in broad terms) what it means to make a subject access request and how to interpret the information they receive as a result of doing so. When considering borderline cases, you should take into account, among other things:

[Diane]

I am confused,doesnt take much though[:)]

When my gd was taken into care and my son was posted back to England to fight to get her out of care he was sent all case notes on both children and various maternal family members.All the families dealings with ss were documented and sent to him by his solicitor.

When it was decided that the LA would support me in fostering her due to my sons age and job I was also sent all case notes.I still have them all but they are safely away in the loft.I was just told that they were not to be shown to anyone,only my gd when she is old enough to see them and asks.

[maricharle]

My granson was taken from his mother when he was six weeks old or earlier but I have never known exactly why. I know at the time there were things written about us as a family but have never been given copies of anything.
I do not want to show my grandson any of these document at present as I know he could not deal with them but at some point in the future he may want to know what happened to him. I think I started to think about this when I was researching the complaints procedure for the local authority. During this time I found a complaint by someone who had been in care and whose file they had lost.
I just want to be sure that should my grandson want information in the future I can help him deal with whatever he finds.