Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what guidance his Department issues to NHS trusts on the sharing with children's centres (a) the names and addresses of new parents and (b) other live birth data.

Statutory guidance on children’s centres (Department for Education (DfE), April 2013) states:

Health services and local authorities should share information (such as live birth data and data on families with children under five who have recently moved into the area) effectively with children’s centres and any other early years outreach services it may operate on a regular basis.

A joint statement issued by DfE and the Department of Health states:

The Department of Health is working with partners such as the Health and Social Care Information Centre, Public Health England and NHS England to explore the practical issues involved in providing regular and timely updates of bulk data on live births to local authorities. Work is focused on considering the legal and practical implications of how this might best be achieved and further information will be made available in due course.