Confidentiality & Impartiality
At SENDIASS we are committed to providing a free, confidential and impartial service to children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) as well as their parents and carers.
Confidentiality
At SENDIASS, we understand that trust is essential. That’s why:
- all information shared with the service is treated with the utmost confidentiality
- we will not share your information with anyone else without your explicit consent, unless we are legally required to do so
- you have the right to contact us anonymously and we will respect your wishes if you choose not to share personal details
- any information we do hold is managed in line with GDPR and Data Protection Act
However, there are specific circumstances where we may legally be required to share information without your consent. These include:
- if we believe a child, young person or vulnerable adult is at risk of harm, abuse or neglect
- if there is a safeguarding concern that must be reported in line with local safeguarding procedures
We follow the Data Protection Act and GDPR to ensure your data is handled safely, respectfully and only when necessary.
When you use one of our SENDIAS services, we may collect some personal information about you and your child to help us provide the best support possible. This includes things like your name, contact details and information related to your child’s needs. Some of this information may be sensitive and we take extra care to protect it.
We only use your information:
- to provide the services you’ve asked for
- to support your child’s wellbeing
- when we are legally required to do so (e.g. safeguarding)
We will never share your information without a valid reason and you have rights over your data which includes:
- accessing your information
- correcting anything that’s wrong
- asking us to delete or limit how we use it
- withdrawing your consent at any time
If you have any questions or want to know more, you can contact our data protection team on data.protection@family-action.org.uk
Impartiality
The SEND Code of Practice says: The information, advice and support should be impartial and provided at arm’s length from the local authority and Clinical Commissioning Groups.
This means that the information, advice and support that we offer is firmly based on the law and the SEND Code of Practice. We provide unbiased information and advice about the Local Authority’s policies and procedures and about the policy and practice within schools and other settings.
How we stay impartial
We do not give priority to any particular impairment, disability or special educational need, nor do we campaign for any particular approach to education.
By being impartial we aim to help parents, carers, children and young people have clear, accurate and relevant information and help them take part in decisions about their lives.
Impartiality means SENDIASS:
- does not stand to gain or lose whatever the outcomes of any conversation may be
- do not take sides with anyone
- provides factual information based on what guidance and legislations says
- provides children, young people and parents/carers with enough information so they can be empowered to make their own decisions – not telling them what to do.
