Every child matters, the Government rightly insists. Yet if plans for a new database on every child in the country are anything to go by, some children matter more than others. The database, called ContactPoint, is being set up in response to the 2003 report by Lord Laming on the appalling death of Victoria Climbié seven years ago. In principle, it will contain an entry for every one of Britain’s 11 million children aged 18 and under, and will be accessible to 330,000 authorised and vetted users. In practice, information will be withheld from all but a tiny minority of users for a special category of children described as “at increased risk of harm” – and that category is likely to include the offspring of celebrities and senior politicians.

The selection of certain names for special “shielding” is a de facto admission that this database will not and cannot be entirely secure. Indeed, as we report today, senior child protection professionals are concerned that it could render children more vulnerable, not less. Furthermore, the shielding provision, as currently envisaged, points to muddled thinking at the heart of the whole scheme: if the purpose of the database is to help to prevent at-risk children falling through the gaps between the agencies responsible for their care, it is hard to see how those at “increased risk” (the Government’s own phrase) could benefit from being excluded. If ContactPoint will not be secure enough for the children of pop stars and prime ministers, it will not be secure enough for anyone. At a cost of £241 million to set up and an estimated £41 million a year to administer, it has the makings of an expensive and self-defeating mess.

No one should doubt the need for better communication and coordination between the charities and social services working with children “in care” and in need of extra care. The Climbié tragedy may have been unique in terms of the nature of her abuse and the number of missed chances that contributed to her death, but Lord Laming’s report was hardly for her benefit alone; 60,000 children are now being looked after by the state, 400,000 live with at least one parent who is a drug addict, and another 1.3 million, according to government figures from 2004, are affected by a parent’s problems with alcohol. With personal mobility at a record high and borders open to the citizens of 26 other EU countries, no system can guarantee protection from abuse for every child in the country.

Even so, part of the Climbié case’s legacy is the undoubted progress already achieved since passage of the Children’s Act 2004 under the “Every Child Matters” banner. In no policy area is so-called joined-up government more vital, and robust new rules on following up warning signs and data-sharing between agencies, together with significant investment, have made a reality of this cliché in many districts.

The added benefit of a new national children’s database is arguable at best. Public confidence in it will be undermined from the start if some information is withheld on such subjective grounds as who qualifies as a celebrity. What information is included may be too basic to be useful, and it may not even include nonpermanent UK residents – such as Victoria Climbié. The Government should spend the money on child safety measures that are less invidious, and less invasive.