Care Records

Finding your own
care records

When you spend time in care, records are taken about you. This may be a single line in a children's home admissions register or fat files of letters, forms and other paperwork, or anything between.

If you have questions about your time in care, or just want to see what there is to find out, applying to see your own records
can be a first step.

Data Protection legislation gives you a legal right to see this information.

To research information about someone else, please go to Accessing Records

Sadly, there are people out there who are happy to take advantage of you and take money off you for doing things that should cost you nothing.

You have a right to see your records, you do not need to pay people to help you.

On this page

How to apply for your records

Finding out who might have your records

What happens after you apply

How to complain

Share your experience

PLUS

An alphabetical list of councils

Adopted?

If you were adopted, there is a different process for applying for your records

Please visit our page
on this for details

How to apply for your records

You have legal right to see any data (information) a Council (or other agency) holds about you. This includes your care records.

The act of asking for the information is called a 'Subject Access Request'.

(Some also call it a Data Protection request or Personal Data request. It's the same thing.)

It is not the same thing as a Freedom of Information (FOI) as these do not deal with personal information. You could use an FOI request to ask a more general question such as 'how many children's homes did the Council run in the 1970s?'

Details

When making your Subject Access Request try to include as many details as you know / can remember.

This includes dates of when

you were in homes (if you are guessing, say that on the form), and any names and addresses you can remember of the homes.

Include the name you were known by then, as well as your current name.

It is not always easy, but the more detail you can give, the better the chance of finding you in any records.

There is no set way to make a Subject Access Request and no particular department or person in Council (or other agency) you must make the request to. You could write a letter, for example.

You can use the free template letter on the Information Commissioners Office (ICO) website to make a subject access request.

However, many Councils now supply a Subject Access Request form which asks for all the details they need and gives a set return address.

I have put together a list below of all the Councils and a link to the page on their websites which details how they prefer to receive your Subject Access Request.

Making the application

You will be asked some general contact details about yourself, and what you know about the information they might have eg. which children's homes you were in.

You will also be asked for some ID - a photo of your driving licence, Council Tax bill etc. This is to ensure that you are the right person to receive this personal information.

TOP TIP

Keep a copy of everything you
send when asking for your data - a clear photo taken
on your phone will do.

This will help hugely if the search
stutters to a halt for some reason.

Finding out who might have
your records

The key thing to success is working out who might hold your records. Once you know who might have the records you can do your Subject Access Request.

Most children's homes, after 1930, were run by local Councils (click to go straight to this section) so we will focus on that but first...

Pre 1930s

Before 1930, local authorities were known as Poor Law Unions, and run by Guardians of the Poor. Because of the age of any records which might exist, they are generally held by archives, rather then Councils. And, where the records are more than a hundred years old, most rectsrictions on seeing the information will have been removed - this means that you can apply to see records which relate to people other than yourself.

For a list of archives click here. You will need to apply to the archive which covers the area where the children's home was.

Charities

Some children's homes were run by charities rather than local authorities. Where the charity still exists, Barnardos, for example, they have good proceedures for taking applications to see care records. A list of some of the larger charities is on this page.

If you were placed in a Council-run children's home after 1930, a local Council will have made records of this.

The Council that will now have the records will be the one that covers the location of that children's home. It doesn't matter where you live, only where the children's home was.

A list of Councils and how to contact them
is at the foot of this page

Sometimes this is obvious, but sometimes this can take a bit of research because Council borders and names may have changed over the years. Phoning the local archive (there is a list on this page) or local council can help with this.

Wait 30 days

What to expect when you have submitted your Subject Access Request:

The Council has to reply to you without delay and at the latest within one month, starting from the day they receive the Subject Access Request.
The Council is allowed to extend the period of compliance by a further two months where requests are complex or numerous, but it must inform you within one month of the receipt of the request and explain why an extension is necessary.
The Council must provide you with a copy of the personal data requested free of charge but can charge a ‘reasonable fee’ in some circumstances eg. when a request is repetitive or you want extra copies.
Some Councils may appoint someone to go through the information with you, recognising that this can be an emotional time and that information you are given could be upsetting.

There may be some circumstances when you will not be given some or all of the informationabout you. This may be when the records simply don't exist for whatever reason, or when there is a legal reason you cannot see it say, for example, it names someone who cannot be identified.

The Council will need to explain to you why you are not being given the information you requested.

If you hear nothing...

If you have no joy after submitting the Subject Access Request, contact the Council to tell them you are waiting.

Still nothing? You can get information from the Care Leavers' Association who have great experience in this.

The Care Leavers' Association

Or you could report the Council to the Information Commissioners' Office, the independent authority set up in the UK to work with organisations to uphold information rights in the public interest and protect data privacy for individuals.

Click for the website of the Information Commissioner's Officer

This is the point at which you will need copies of the request you made to the Council.

Tell us about it!

We'd love to hear how you get on.

Is this guide useful? How easy was it to make your subject access request? Did you find any records?

Is there anything that would make it easier for other people trying to do the same thing?

Your can email your thoughts to hello@formerchildrenshomes.org.uk

Thank you!

COUNCILS

I am working making this list of Councils searchable by region but it is taking a little while. It will be up and running soon and should make the search process easier. 23rd October 2022

For scottish councils, please click here

Local Councils in England and Wales:

ABC - DEF - GHI - KLM - NOP - RST - UVW