Recommendation 177

Lack of clarity around data protection regulation, some of which came into effect after the IT systems were designed, was put forward as a potential cause of communication problems. Rebecca Robson told us about “probation practitioners who worry about sharing too much” with delivery partners, under a misapprehension about data protection. She argued that “there is more work to be done on that to really understand what can and should be shared” with commissioned services. 334 Carrie Peters acknowledged that “there are things that have to be taken out of the risk information, like the names of victims and particular information about them” but agreed that “it can go too far and too much is taken out”. She told us that “some of it probably comes down to trusting us as partners to hold sensitive information, to deal with it and to treat it with the respect it needs, and to let it inform the work we need to do”. 335