Kent and Medway Information Sharing Agreement

Sharing personal information is crucial to the successful delivery of local services. The Kent and Medway Information Sharing Agreement (KMISA) provides openness and transparency in information sharing, as well as appropriate governance and support, which assists us to share personal information lawfully, safely and securely. It supports existing processes and provides a best-practice framework for information sharing, even for processes covered by our or your privacy notices.

The KMISA is overseen and reviewed annually by the Kent and Medway Information Partnership (K-MIP) and was rewritten last year to be GDPR compliant. It is not a KCC-owned agreement but a Kent and Medway wide partnership agreement. The aim is to have all public services within the county as signatories. KCC is just one signatory of many but is actively working to promote sign-up to it as this ultimately helps children and families. Many schools in Kent were signed up to the previous version of the KMISA but this is no longer valid since the introduction of GDPR, so it is important that schools sign up to the new version. The current list of signatories in Kent and Medway can be viewed on the Dartford Borough Council website

There are a number of key reasons to sign-up. Management Information is currently working with colleagues in ICT to implement a solution called Orchestra (previously referred to as Unity) which will enable a weekly data feed between schools and the local authority. The majority of schools have now signed the installation agreement but the KMISA provides a framework for the information sharing aspect of this process. Regular electronic information sharing about pupils in Kent schools (in line with school census information) supports both education and safeguarding processes, and fulfils your statutory requirement to inform us of pupils being removed from the school roll and those joining at a non-standard transition point.

KCC is also working with Kent Police on their rollout of Operation Encompass, previously piloted in Deal schools. Operation Encompass directly connects the police with schools to secure better outcomes for children who are subject to or experience police-attended incidents of domestic abuse. Rapid provision of support within the school environment means children are better safeguarded against the short, medium and long term effects of domestic abuse. Operation Encompass provides an efficient, confidential channel of communication between police forces and key adults within schools. This enables the immediate and discrete recognition of the child's situation by the key adult, ensuring a secure and sympathetic environment is provided and the broader effects of abuse are addressed. Both KCC and Kent Police are KMISA signatories but the successful rollout will require schools to sign-up to the KMISA.

If you wish to sign up to the KMISA, please request a copy of the agreement at CYPEIG@kent.gov.uk.

Contact Details

Management Information
Email: MIEducation&WiderEH@kent.gov.uk