Tory councils 'told to drag their heels on ContactPoint'
Neil Puffett
Monday, July 13, 2009
Children's secretary Ed Balls has accused Tory minister Tim Loughton of attempting to scupper the introduction of the controversial ContactPoint database.
The long-term future of the system, which cost £224m to develop, is already in doubt after the Conservatives revealed they would scrap it should the party come to power at the next general election.
Balls has now claimed that Loughton, shadow minister for children, has written to Conservative lead members at local authorities calling on them to drag their heels on implementation.
"The idea that in order to achieve budget cuts you should start to threaten ContactPoint is entirely wrong," Balls said. "I'm not going to play politics with ContactPoint."
Loughton confirmed to CYP Now that Conservative lead members were written to a number of months ago.
"We reminded them of the party's opposition to ContactPoint and that parents can apply to have their children shielded. It was entirely a matter for councils as to what they wanted to do," he said.
"Our opposition to ContactPoint has never been based on budgets. We oppose it because it simply doesn't work," he added.