OPINION: What's in a name, what's in an ID number?

Even Transforming Youth Work expects us to be more robust in our recording of names and contacts with young people, in order to demonstrate the reach of the youth service and the outcomes it has achieved. It has made me realise that, for many years, I often did not know the real names of some of the young people with whom I worked. Sometimes I only finally discovered this when consent forms had to be completed, or something similar. Until then I had only known individuals by the nicknames by which they favoured being called.

I sometimes attended inter-agency meetings when different names would be discussed, only to realise suddenly - through further identifying features and facts - that we were talking about the same person. How will we be sure that any so-called unique identifying number will be confidently linked to the individual concerned? We have recently been made aware how easy it is for somebody to obtain a driving licence and passport in the name, believe it or not, of the Home Secretary.