ided it does not duplicate information already on the looked after case record. Regulation 50 of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 stipulates that records on looked after children should be retained for at least 75 years from the birth of the child or for fifteen years after the child’s death (under the age of 18), whichever is the shorter period. If the child has never been looked after, the agency should destroy the records when no further action is necessary. An example of when this may be appropriate is if the possibility of adoption of a baby was discussed before the child’s birth, but the baby remained with the birth parents. 6.10. In considering how long to retain prospective adopters’ case records the agency needs to be mindful that one of the principles of the Data Protection Act is that personal data should only be kept for as long as is necessary. Prospective adopters can be asked if they want their case records retained – in case they may wish to reapply to the agency or another adoption agency to adopt again - and to give their consent to the storage of the case record for whatever period is agreed, after which the record will be securely destroyed. 6.11. AIR 6 requires the agency to keep all section 56 information for a minimum of 100 years from the date of the adoption order. This duty applies to information stored in any format. 6.12. Where the agency decides to destroy case records or the indexes to those case records, if any, it must treat this as confidential waste and dispose of it accordingly. Where the records are electronic, local destruction procedures should be followed. Confidentiality: AAR 41 6.13. The agency is required by AAR 41 to treat the contents of case records as confidential, subject to the requir