NRUC Update January 2009

NRUC UASC Numbers

UASC numbers for London (including 18+) remain generally stable, with approximately 4,000 UASC now being reported as being 18+.

In the last 3 months, over 120 Lead Officers have logged on to view and edit data on the NRUC database. Site traffic on the NRUC database has increased by significantly since the beginning of 2008.

NRUC has engaged the regional managers in identifying and communicating with local authorities to encourage the LAs in updating information on the system. NRUC is now submitting details of local authorities in their region to Regional managers regarding the uploading and updating of information on the system.

Regional Training

The NRUC Team has completed a round of training nationally, with local authorities from all regions of the UK invited to participate. Responses indicated that the training was useful for those who attended. The NRUC Team remains available for bespoke training sessions. Please contact the team at to enquire about training.

UKBA Data Feed

NRUC has completed the Pilot Project initiated with the UKBA. It was determined as a result of the datamatching efforts of the pilot authorities that an improvement of the datafeed from the UKBA would greatly improve the usability of the system, as well as the confidence of the LA users. NRUC is currently working with the UKBA both in Croydon and in Liverpool to improve the accuracy of the data coming out of the UKBA.

The new datafeed has been drawn down and a few minor changes are expected to be made. NRUC will be asking other LAs to test and datamatch their information to verify the accuracy of the new datafeed from the UKBA. This new weekly information from CID is expected to be available for LAs to match against by the end of February. LAs can contact the team if they wish to begin this process.

Once the datafeed from UKBA has been verified and is arriving on a consistent basis, NRUC will begin phasing local authorities on to the system, beginning with those LAs with the greatest number of supported cases. NRUC plans to have 90% of Local Authorities matched on the database by June 09.

ContactPoint

NRUC is working in partnership with ContactPoint in order to provide a data source for the DCSF’s national project. The NRUC team has successfully completed the second stage for the design and implementation of the datafeed to ContactPoint.

Future Developments to NRUC

The NRUC Team is currently being represented at the London Safeguarding Children Board’s Child Trafficking Support Team, with a view to using NRUC as a tool to identify and trace children who may have been trafficked into the UK.

NRUC is preparing for an upgrade that will see a series of improvements brought to the NRUC user. NRUC is exploring the potential for a central “Missing UASC” section on the database that will stand apart from the normal services provided by NRUC, but will allow for NRUC users to identify children who have gone missing from care. This function will also allow LAs to identify children who have presented to their authority yet may be reported missing elsewhere, as well as being a central point for the identification of children who may have been trafficked.

NRUC is also planning to simplify the work process to streamline the work that is required for LAs to enter a child. Several outdated steps will be removed, and fields will be combined to provide a faster system to the user.

The NRUC Team is redesigning the public NRUC website at a fundamental level in order to make it more immediately useful to the LA user. There will be a facility for LA users to contact each other, as well as a place where appropriate documents and working practices can be appropriately shared.

Also included in the website upgrade will be a facility for LA workers to view online training videos giving step by step instructions on how to use the functions of the NRUC system. These videos will be available for all local authorities at any time they wish to view them.

The NRUC Team will also be engaging the users of the system in a stakeholder meeting that will provide direct communication between users and to create a forum for the exchange of ideas around UASC and child trafficking.

Bespoke reports will also be available online, and can be run on an automatic basis for each authority as they are required.