of the person accused: • a clear and comprehensive summary of the allegation • details of how the allegation was followed up and resolved • a note of any action taken, decisions reached and the outcome i.e. substantiated, unfounded or unsubstantiated • a copy provided to the person concerned, where agreed by local authority children’s social care or the police, and • a declaration on whether the information will be referred to in any future reference. 420. The purpose of the record is to enable accurate information to be given in response to any future request for a reference. It will provide clarification in cases where future DBS checks reveal information from the police about an allegation that did not result in a criminal conviction and it will help to prevent unnecessary re- investigation if, as sometimes happens, an allegation re-surfaces after a period of time. 421. All other records should be retained at least until the accused has reached normal pension age or for a period of 10 years from the date of the allegation if that is longer. 422. The Information Commissioner has published guidance on employment records in its, The Information Commissioner Employment Practices Code which provides some practical advice on record retention. References 423. Cases in which an allegation was found to be false, unfounded, unsubstantiated or malicious should not be included in employer references. Any repeated concerns or allegations which have all been found to be false, unfounded, unsubstantiated or malicious should also not be included in any reference. See paragraph 226 for further information on references. Substantiated safeguarding allegations that meet the harm threshold should be included in references, provided that the information is factual and does not include op