Children's Services - Retention of Records

This table sets out specific time periods for retention of records set out in legislation. Where there is no specific legislative provision, local arrangements should be made.

Important Note: The Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse has said that:

It is now very unlikely that the Chair and Panel will request access to documents relevant to the Inquiry’s Terms of Reference.

Consequently, organisations can plan for destruction or deletion of records that have been retained for the purposes of the Inquiry, which can resume at the end of the Inquiry’s Judicial Review period, currently set for 20th January 2023. However, please consider the following when drawing up disposal plans:

Whether any of the records you have retained are likely to be of significant interest to victims and survivors and that your retention schedules meet their needs (please refer to the Merton Information Governance Board report for local policy and timescales);
The obligation to retain records for other inquiries remains.

Further information about the Inquiry’s moratorium on the destruction of records can be found on the Inquiry’s website.’

CAPTION: retention of records

Subject	Record	Reference	Retention Period
Looked After Children	Case records for looked after children.	Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010, s. 50.	Either: until the 75th anniversary of the child's birth, or if the child dies before age 18, for 15 years from the date of death.
Fostering	Case records for approved foster carers (including relatives, friends or connected persons granted temporary approval under regulation 24 of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010), and any information relating to them contained in the register of foster carers.	The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011, s. 32.	At least 10 years from the date on which their approval is terminated.
Fostering	Case records for people who are not approved as a foster parent, or who withdraws their application prior to approval.	The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011, s. 32.	At least 3 years from the refusal or withdrawal.
Adoption	Adoption records where an Adoption Order is made.	Disclosure of Adoption Information (Post-Commencement Adoptions) Regulations 2005, Regulation 6.	At least 100 years from the date of the adoption order.
Adoption	Adoption records where an Adoption Order is not made.	The Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005, Regulation 40. Adoption Statutory Guidance 2014.	An adoption agency must keep the child's case record and the prospective adopter's case record for such period as it considers appropriate. Where an adoption order is not made and the agency decides to close the child's adoption case record, it should transfer the information from this record to the looked after case record, in which case see Looked After Children. If the child has never been looked after, the agency should destroy the records when no further action is necessary. An example of when this may be appropriate is if the possibility of adoption of a baby was discussed before the child's birth, but the baby remained with the birth parents.
Children's Homes	Children's case records for children accommodated in children's homes.	Children's Homes (England) Regulations 2015, Regulation 36	Either: until the 75th anniversary of the child's birth, or if the child dies before age 18, for 15 years from the date of death.
Child Protection/ Assessments/ Referrals/ Children in Need/Serious Case Review/Child Safeguarding Practice Reviews		No specific legislative retention period. Under the Limitation Act 1980, there is generally a statutory limitation period of 6 years in which civil claims may be instituted. In the case of children, this time period does not start to run until age 18. The suggested retention periods are in accordance with this limitation period.	Either: until the 25th anniversary of the child's birth, or if the child dies before age 18, for 6 years from the date of death.