We have been asked to clarify whether or not Social Services Departments meet their legal obligations under the Data Protection Act by stating that they will only allow the person to see relevant records ut not provide them with an actual copy of it.
Advice was sought from the Information Commissioners Office in Cheshire. The question asked was this:
Does social services have to provide the social service records or are they allowed to offer the enquirer to come up and view them ?
The answer given.
“Social services can offer the enquirer the opportunity of coming up to view the documents. If however, the person insists on a copy, that is what must be supplied under the Act. Under the Data Protection Act 1989, if the enquirer asks for and specifies he/she requires ‘copies of the documents requested’, that is what must be supplied under the Act.”
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