Challenge 12.5

What is the problem, and how does it affect the Challenge Sponsor organisation, service users and/or People of Scotland?

An inter-agency referral discussion (IRD) is the start of the formal child protection (CP) process following a reported concern about a child or young person.  During an IRD, statutory partners (and any other invited relevant agency) consider what investigative and protective steps are needed by health, police and/ or social work in relation to the child protection concern. These interventions will inform whether medical treatments are necessary, criminal charges brought and/or referral necessary to another agency which would assist in safeguarding. IRDs also determine whether a child protection investigation is needed. Through a child protection investigation, consideration would be given to the need for a multi-agency Child Protection Planning Meeting (CPPM). This can decide the need to place the child's name on the local authority's child protection register and any multi-agency plan to address the child protection concerns.

IRDs as a process are well embedded across Scotland. In the Care Inspectorate’s Review of Findings from Joint Inspections for Children and Young People at Risk of Harm, 2021 – 2025, it was concluded that where IRDs were held, they effectively and consistently brought together staff to make clear and timely decisions about child protection proceedings. However, there are generally limitations in the technology that supports IRDs which place administrative burden on practitioners, reducing their capacity to support children and families.

This administrative burden problem is exacerbated by agencies using different IT system and a mix of manual processes, shared drives and legacy tools such as Excel and email correspondence to support crucial multi-agency child protection processes. These fragmented methods result in duplicated effort, limited visibility and challenges in ensuring data accuracy and governance challenges.

The challenges we have identified are:

The sharing of information between partners and record keeping

• Currently, agencies record their information individually, which they later email across to the Chair of the IRD who will be from a different agency who will need to save the master document (e.g. Police emailing Social Work if they chaired). This risks manual error and information being compromised.

• There can be delays whilst awaiting written information from partner agencies to complete their information. This is exacerbated if awaiting cross boundary information from another authority and has admin and time implications.

• There can be issues with clarity and consistency of record keeping where fragmented methods are used. The same concern can be named differently in different areas, which makes accurate reporting difficult. Technology that enabled one version of the truth would be beneficial.

Cross boundary information sharing

• Discussions with stakeholders have revealed a challenge in sharing and accessing information between different local authorities when a family moves area. There is no national child protection register; local authorities must contact the previous local authority a child resided in to find out if the child has been on another local authority’s child protection register. Acquiring this information is timely and often results in delays that can impact safeguarding efforts.

Scheduling IRDs

• In line with National Guidance, IRDs should be scheduled as soon as possible. However, agencies being on different IT systems creates a barrier to scheduling IRDs quickly.

• Inconsistent methods of scheduling across different IT systems can result in delays to IRDs being scheduled. Enabling IRDs to be scheduled quicker could lead to safety plans being put in place quicker where needed to protect vulnerable children.

National child protection data

• Child protection data available at a national level is limited, and we do not have any access to real-time detailed IRD data. In our national child protection statistics, we can see what the most common concerns identified at child protection planning meetings were. However, there is no detailed data on over 10,000 children who are subject to an IRD which do not progress to a CPPM. This makes identifying emerging child protection risks and tailoring policy and actions challenging for agencies and government.

Any solutions supporting child protection must operate within a context where confidentiality, security, privacy and responsible information use are paramount. Applicants should therefore expect these considerations, alongside data governance, resilience and trustworthiness, to be critical throughout the Challenge as they develop and refine their proposed solution. Applicants to this challenge will be required to clearly demonstrate how such considerations will inform the development of their solution.

Applicants should also be aware that, depending on the nature of proposals submitted, additional background checks or other vetting processes may be required for team members involved in the development of the solution.

Applicants are not necessarily expected to have all governance and security arrangements fully developed at application stage. However, proposals should demonstrate a clear understanding of the challenges of handling sensitive child protection information and explain how security, privacy, safeguarding, information governance and user trust would be considered throughout the design and development of the solution.

How will we know this Challenge has been solved?

We will know this challenge has been solved when the process of recording, collating, and accessing information from IRDs is easier for practitioners. A solution should speed up processes and reduce the administrative burden on operational leads to free up resources to be used on other essential child protection work.  

A solution will allow agencies to quickly determine whether a child is on the child protection register and what previous concerns have been raised regardless of what local authority they are in. This will reduce any delays in safeguarding efforts being implemented and further harm coming to the child. 

A solution will provide real-time child protection data to allow agencies and government to identify emerging concerns and risks such as contextual safeguarding concerns or neglect. Being able to identify emerging concerns and risks will influence local and national policy developments, staff training and deployment and preventative measures being put in place. 

Who are the end users likely to be?

• Police Scotland

• Social Workers

• Health Practitioners

• Education Staff

Has the Challenge Sponsor attempted to solve this problem before?

There have never been any previous attempts to procure a national solution for this challenge. However, some local authorities have adopted their own regional IRD recording platforms.

The Lothians implemented a digital platform for recording IRD data which they called ‘eIRD’ in 2011. This system has since been adopted by Forth Valley and Dumfries and Galloway.  

Greater Glasgow and Clyde have recently developed a Power BI IRD platform which they are in the process of rolling out. They have had support for this from Health, Police and some Chief Officer Groups and are about to start a pilot in West Dunbartonshire. 

However, these are not national systems and do not provide cross-border information sharing for children who move areas, or real-time national data.

Are there any interdependencies or blockers?

• IRD practice varies across Scotland, which means that there are different approaches between regions, professions and even practitioners. Therefore, a solution would need to complement existing practice in all local authorities, police divisions, and NHS health boards. A solution would also need to be able to adapt to changes in practice, whether locally or nationally. 

• Linked to above, there are likely to be significant changes in child protection practice in coming years in connection with significant national attention through 2025 and 2026 related to group-based child sexual abuse. For instance, mandatory reporting may be introduced in law, which we would expect to significantly increase the number of IRDs required to be undertaken by an already strained workforce. Adaptability of any solution will again be key to ensuring alignment with any changes in policy. 

Will a solution need to integrate with any existing systems / equipment?

• Police, Social Work and Health practitioners would all use the solution, but all agencies have different levels of security in their existing IT systems. A solution would need to be able to be accessed by all within these systems.

• Data protection and information retention schedules will also need to be considered as well as how this data is shared across agencies. 

• The Common Data Platform being developed by the Scottish Prevention Hub would need to be considered. They are exploring how linking and sharing of data can support earlier identification of risk and more effective prevention. The Common Data Platform and a solution to this challenge address different parts of the child protection system but they should complement one another.

Is this part of an existing service?

Yes, the solution would support practitioners to deliver the existing child protection processes outlined in the National Guidance for Child Protection in Scotland. 

Any technologies the Challenge Sponsor wishes to explore or avoid?

Principally, we wish to explore technology that would allow different agencies to collate, record and share sensitive information and maintain accurate records on a shared platform without creating additional administrative work for practitioners.

AI / AI note taking technology for recording IRDs and collating information would be encouraged, assuming accuracy and data governance were paramount and resulted in a reduction workload for practitioners. Data protection issues would need to be thoroughly considered with this feature as IRDs contain sensitive information. 

Real-time data is an important feature, so that leaders and practitioners can gain insights from the system. Enabling detailed information about IRDs happening across local areas/the country at any moment in time.

Scheduling IRD meetings is understood to be a barrier in some areas so technology that would be able to integrate this as a feature would be crucial.

What is the commercial opportunity beyond a CivTech contract?

There is a significant commercial opportunity provided a solution can meet the needs of all practitioners involved in IRDs at a national level. It has the potential to be adopted by all 32 local authorities, 13 Police Divisions and 14 Health Boards.

The Scottish Government Child Protection Unit are committed to providing connections to Local Authorities and Health Boards throughout the CivTech process. Police Scotland are engaged in the Challenge as a co-sponsor and will assist with the development of a solution.

Who are the stakeholders?

• Police Scotland

• Social Work Scotland

• National Social Work Agency

• NHS Health Boards

• National IRD project team

• Local Authorities

• Chief Officer Groups

• Child Protection Committees Scotland

• Education Scotland

• Scottish Prevention Hub

Who’s in the Challenge Sponsor team?

• Scottish Government Child Protection Unit Officials 

• Police Scotland

• National Social Work Agency

• Scottish Government Professional Advisors (Police, Social Work and Health) 

The Challenge is being led by the Scottish Government Child Protection Unit. Additional organisations, including Local Authorities, may also join the Challenge Sponsor team where this would strengthen delivery, governance, user insight or adoption across Scotland. Applicants should be aware that the composition of the Challenge Sponsor team may therefore be refined during the CivTech process.

What is the policy background to the Challenge?

In the Child Protection Improvement Programme Report, published in March 2017, it was suggested that a National Child Protection Register that can be securely accessed by all appropriate professionals should be explored. As an interim solution, a child protection flag on the Police Scotland interim vulnerable persons database (iVPD) was launched on 1 December 2020. This is funded by the Scottish Government, and the funding needs to be renewed each year. As this is an interim solution, a national solution needs to be considered. 

In September 2019, a paper was presented to the National Child Protection Leadership Group outlining the benefits of the recording system ‘eIRD’ being used by the City of Edinburgh Council and recommending the expansion of eIRD across Scotland. It was agreed that the updated Child Protection guidance should be finalised first as this would provide clarity and consistency in relation to IRD practice.   

Information sharing issues and data concerns regarding Child Sexual Exploitation and Abuse in the United Kingdom have been highlighted in the recent publication of the Casey Audit which was commissioned by the UK Government in January 2025. Similar concerns have been highlighted in Scotland and a key focus of the National Child Sexual Abuse and Exploitation (CSAE) Strategic Group efforts to date has been the challenges and opportunities related to data collection, analysis and use. A Short Life Working Group chaired by the SG Chief Statistician has been established to take forward focused work in this area, and one of the workstreams is looking at improving future data collection. A national solution to IRD data would also provide a rich data source of the scale and nature of different concern categories in Scotland, including CSAE.  

A Learning Review related to a high-profile child protection case where five men and two women were found guilty of multiple sexual and violent offences (including rape, sexual assault, supplying drugs, neglect and attempted murder) against four children in Glasgow was published in May 2026. The Review highlighted the fragmentation of data across child protection, care, the NHS and NHS commissioned services, justice and education systems. This reflects a wider recurring theme which limits our ability to identify emerging trends, cumulative risk and system failure at an early stage. The First Minister and Cabinet Secretaries through two Cabinet discussions have shown a significant interest in this case and are keen to see clear actions taken by Scottish Government in response. Officials noted that work was underway to assess the feasibility of a national digital platform to support multi-agency child protection processes, with a possible CivTech challenge to support development. 

IRD data was a focus of discussion at the annual Child Protection Data Group Event, held in June 2025. From discussions, it was concluded that there are still a lot of unknowns and inconsistencies about what is recorded in local authority social work IT systems and when the information should be recorded. There was a consensus that this is an issue which should be addressed nationally.   

In recent discussions with Police Scotland, they echoed that a national system should be explored. They have developed an inter-agency referral discussion (IRD) spreadsheet where divisions input information regarding all IRDs taking place in their area. They have encountered issues with the spreadsheet however and have been unable to collate reliable data at a national level.   

In a recent stakeholder meeting looking at preventable paediatric deaths, the lack of available national data was a key topic of discussion. It was highlighted that the limited available data makes it difficult to identify themes or trends, and stakeholders suggested that a national response was needed on IRD data to give a national picture. Stakeholders noted that we need a system which would enable real-time information to be reported and that this could include IRD, Child Protection Registrations, Learning Reviews, and Rapid Review data.  

During a meeting of the Education, Children and Young People Committee, the Chief Inspector of His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary in Scotland, expressed the need for a national recording system to improve national data collection. He referred to the eIRD system which is used by Edinburgh, Forth Valley and Dumfries and Galloway as an example of good practice and said that he would like to see a similar national system rolled out across the country.