LAconnect

The new Coalition Government has decommissioned ContactPoint, but as yet there is no clear guidance or policy for the future.  However, the need for an efficient method of sharing information across different agencies clearly still exists.  Local Authorities still have a duty of care to all the young people in their area.  The recent Birmingham Safeguarding Children Board’s serious case review on the tragic Khyra Ishaq case was very clear that effective inter agency information sharing is key to delivering good children’s services and adequately safeguarding young people.  The report says it “can only conclude that had there been better assessments and effective interagency communication over a period of time it (Khyra Ishaq’s death) could have been prevented”.

The LAconnect services consist of a suite of software components developed by Sheffield City Council together with Adaro Software who have been working together for several years and have relevant experience of developing an operational local prototype aimed at fostering cross agency information sharing. The LAconnect services have been designed from the ground up to be reused in many different configurations, supporting many different needs.  LAconnect services are being developed to offer further functionality in the 'post ContactPoint' world, including being CAF enabled and additional user management features.