Commentary on Sections Information and research (sections 31 to 33)
130.The Children Act 2004 places an obligation on local authorities in England and Wales to set up Local Safeguarding Children Boards (LSCBs). A number of persons and bodies, including children’s services authorities, NHS bodies and the police are represented on LSCBs.
131.Local authorities rely on many different sources of information about child deaths including professionals, the public, and the media. Local registrars of births and deaths do not have a statutory power or a duty to provide information about the death of a child to LSCBs or other persons in the absence of a specific request for information about a particular deceased child. There are also no statutory powers or duties for the Registrar General to provide child death information to the Secretary of State or to Welsh Ministers.