300,000 workers will be free to pry into child database

The design of the controversial new computer system means that hundreds of thousands of people will be able easily to find details about all 12 million children in the country.

The system will record the intimate history of every family, including whether parents are regarded as providing a 'positive role model', if a child is doing badly at school, and even if they eat enough fruit and vegetables.

Critics have already condemned the system as an attack on the rights of parents to bring up their own children and an attempt to interfere in family life by 'barcoding children'.

Now a Government-funded organisation joined the criticism.

Mary MacLeod of the National Family and Parenting Institute said: "Our research with parents suggests they will have great anxiety about the proposals."

The opening of the £224 million database to hundreds of thousands of state-employed staff was disclosed in guidance on the project published yesterday.

It said that in the interests of helping hospitals, schools, social services and police work together more easily, information should be readily available through any computer linked to the internet, including home computers.

Some 330,000 people will be able to access details of every family's life if they have the correct two passwords.

The guidance on the Contact Point system warned: "No system can be 100 per cent guaranteed against misuse."

The computer system has attracted criticism since it was first proposed by education ministers.

Legal rights to set it up were laid down in the 2004 Children Act, the law passed following the inquiry into the murder of Victoria Climbie.

Ministers established the computer system with the aim of preventing any repetition of failings in the Climbie case.

The eight-year-old died in 2000 at the hands of the 'aunt' who was looking after her and her boyfriend after hospitals, social workers, police and the NSPCC charity failed to act on warnings or check with each other on what was happening to her.

The database will carry the date of birth, address, parents' names and a computer number for every child until they reach the age of 18. It will included details of school and GP records.

Some children will have their details electronically 'shielded' because they are considered to be at greater risk.

Critics believe the shielding could extend to the families of politicians and influential individuals, giving them privacy not available to ordinary people.