Can social services keep a secret?

[Idrilov]

Hi all,

My boyfriend has been arrested and is out on bail. We have a baby together and social services are involved.

I found out a piece of information that is very important about what he did. I would like to tell social services but I dont want him to know.

Is that even possible?

If it's in your child's interets that they know you should tell them. He may not be your boyfriend after that, but should he be anyway?

If giving them the information could prevent yourself or your child being put at risk of significant harm then yes. Remember you cannot later withdraw the information, it will always be there

No they can't.
If it's something 'bad' they'll need to act on it no matter what the fallout is for you if it's in the childs best interest.
Their job is to put children first & what you want/how you feel comes way down the list if it's on their at all.

They might bring it up in the very next meeting, depending on what it is, or act on it without talking about it first, depending on what it is.

Everything also gets put onto their computer system & other people in the dept will be able to access it.
It will be there basically forever & if for some reason they look into you again, the person who does may decide to mention it if they feel it's relevant.

on there

Noted, thank you

If you are at risk of dv /harm you could ask them not to disclose you told them. But it's not a guarantee as children are always priority.

Will you be interviewed by the police? If so tell them the truth.

Really depends what it is and when you mean dont want him to know. They will certainly be able to keep you anonymous (ie not say who shared certain info), depending on what the info is and how at risk it puts you and the child they would be very thoughtful about how/if it was shared. If it's a criminal offence they would have a duty to disclose to the police for example.
Please do share but explain your worries and think through your social worker how any risks can be managed safely.

Yes they can if it will impact your safety or that of your child, they can also disclose the information but not the source of it wouldn't indicate you. You'd be surprised how many times people think info has come from police when in fact its been given by a third party, which police have then been able to verify. Much better all round

You can ask to remain anonymous but depending on the nature of the information people often guess who shared it with them , so anonymity can not be guaranteed. Also if it ended up in the court arena you could get called to give evidence. But you should share what you know and if you don't your judgement could be called into question .

They could keep the source of the information (i.e. you) confidential.