Consent advice

Consent should be sought to:

• Share information that you have given them.
• Seek information from other people or organisations who know you or who are involved with you.

Exceptions include when there are concerns that a child or young person is at risk of or suffering significant harm, or it would impede a Police investigation (see exception section below).

If an agency or individual worker is seeking consent to share the information you have given them, they should be clear with you about: 

• Why they think the information needs to be shared?
• Who are they going to share it with?
• What information will be shared?
• What will the information be used for? and 
• What, if any, are the consequences for you or your family?

If they are seeking your consent to speak to other people or organisations who know you or who are involved with you, they should be clear with you about:

• Who they wish to talk to and why?
• What sort of information are they going to be seeking?
• What will the information be used for? and
• What, if any, are the consequences for you or your family?

Children have the same rights as adults and should be consulted. Their ability to give or withhold consent is not based on what age they are. It is more important that they have sufficient intelligence and emotional capacity to understand the concept of consent and the implications of agreeing or withholding their consent, so they can make an informed decision.

You do not have to give your consent and even if you initially give consent to on-going information sharing, you can still change your mind and in many situations that will be the end of it. This may mean you are not able to access some services which would rely on this information being shared with them. Worst case scenario, your refusal to allow an agency to share or seek information may raise concerns, particularly in situations where there are already concerns about a child or young person being at risk. (See exceptions section below).

Your consent could be considered to be unreasonably withheld:

• If there are concerns that a child or young person is at risk of, or actually suffering significant harm. Agencies should follow their safeguarding policy and procedures when making a decision to continue to share or seek information. They should seek management and legal advice to ensure that the decision to share information without consent is a defensible decision and their reasons should be recorded.
• If there are concerns that withholding consent would impede a Police investigation. The Police will also have to make a clear, recorded defensible decision about why they would continue to share or seek information without consent.

In very exceptional circumstances, where it is felt that to seek consent would place a child or young person at risk of significant harm, then consent may not be sought, but the parent/adult should be informed as soon as it is safe to do so. Agencies should seek management and legal advice and have clear justified recorded reasons for this decision.

In NI the age of consent to sexual activity is 16 years.

For the purposes of the Sexual Offences (NI) Order 2008, a person consents if he or she agrees by choice and has the freedom and capacity to make that choice.

• It is the person seeking consent who is responsible for ensuring that consent is given.
• Consent is an on-going process, not a ‘one-off’ event.
• Consent to engage in one sexual activity does not mean consent to engage in other sexual activity.
• Consent can be both verbal and non-verbal. Sometimes the loudest ‘no’ you will hear is silence.
• Consent can be withdrawn at any time.

The presumption can be made that consent was not given under the following circumstances, unless you can prove otherwise:

• If you use violence, or threaten immediate violence, to the other person or a third party.
• If the person was held against their will.
• If the person was asleep or unconscious.
• If the person had a physical disability which would have prevented them communicating consent.
• If any drugs were used which could have stupefied the person.