Government data sharing plans heading for failure.(public organizations)

Byline: Laura Smith

Government data sharing plans heading for failure

The government will miss its targets for better information sharing in the public sector unless public bodies can radically overhaul how they work together, experts have warned.

Over the past few years, the government has launched a number of initiatives to promote data sharing between public organisations including the NHS, Whitehall departments and police services.

The government's determination to overhaul information management was strengthened after a series of scandals, including the Victoria ClimbiA[c] and Soham murders, which occurred after warning signs were missed because police forces and education and social services did not share information.

A Cabinet Office white paper in November last year, for example, concluded that the use of technology and communications "to deliver services designed around the needs of citizens and businesses can make a real difference to people's lives".

But think-tanks and information management firms said much more needed to be done if such aims were to become a reality. Social policy think-tank the Social Market Foundation said public bodies had to stop hiding behind the Data Protection Act.