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Department attempted to censor figure showing huge gulf between children registered with GPs and those registered for education – but it failed to black it out and we can now report it
Northern Ireland figures
For years, the Department of Education has known that it has no idea where lots of children are, prompting growing concern among senior officials and fears that they could be “sexually exploited”, documents seen by the Belfast Telegraph reveal.
Civil servants admitted that basic sharing of information between various Stormont departments isn’t happening – supposedly because of data protection laws, even though those laws make clear data can be shared where it is necessary to safeguard a child’s wellbeing.