Disclosure & complaints
Subject access request — Local Authority Children's Services
Asks the local authority for the social work file held on you and your child. Use ahead of family proceedings, threshold work, or to understand what is recorded on the case file. Made under Article 15 UK GDPR and section 45 Data Protection Act 2018. Free of charge; must be responded to within one month (extendable to three for complex requests).
Information only. This is not legal advice. Court procedures and the law change. Always confirm with a solicitor, Citizens Advice, or a domestic abuse advocate before acting.
SUBJECT ACCESS REQUEST
UK GDPR, Article 15 / Data Protection Act 2018, s.45
Header
From: [YOUR FULL NAME], DOB [DD/MM/YYYY], address [ADDRESS]
Acting also for: [CHILD'S NAME], DOB [DD/MM/YYYY], as a person with parental responsibility
To: Data Protection Officer, [LOCAL AUTHORITY]
Date: [DD / MM / YYYY]
1. Request
Dear Sir / Madam,
I make a subject access request under Article 15 of the UK GDPR and section 45 of the Data Protection Act 2018 for all personal data the Local Authority holds about me and my child [CHILD'S NAME, DOB], including but not limited to:
• the full social work case file (electronic case management system — e.g. LCS, Mosaic, ContrOCC — and any paper file);
• all chronologies, genograms, assessments (early help, C&F, s.47, pre-birth), strategy discussion records and minutes;
• all case notes, contact records, emails and SMS/WhatsApp between professionals about the family;
• all reports prepared for court (including s.7, s.37, ICO, care planning) and any superseded drafts;
• all multi-agency information shared with or received from police, health, education, MARAC and CAFCASS;
• the audit trail / record of access to the electronic file.
2. Identification
I enclose copies of [PHOTO ID + PROOF OF ADDRESS] and proof of parental responsibility ([BIRTH CERTIFICATE / COURT ORDER]).
3. Format and timescale
Please provide the data electronically in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format, with a clear index. The statutory time limit is one calendar month from receipt of this request (Article 12(3) UK GDPR). If you intend to rely on the two-month extension under Article 12(3), please notify me within the first month with reasons.
If any material is withheld or redacted, please provide reasons by reference to the specific exemption relied on (e.g. Schedule 2 or 3 DPA 2018).
I do not waive any rights, including the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office.
Yours faithfully,
[SIGN AND PRINT NAME]