North Wales Adoption Service Privacy Notice for Prospective Adopters
18 March 2021
North Wales Adoption Service (NWAS) is a collaboration of six local authority adoption agencies: Wrexham, Flintshire, Denbighshire, Conwy, Gwynedd and Ynys Mon. We carry out legal duties as an Adoption Service on behalf of the six local authorities and also provide a range of services that relate to adoption.
NWAS Contact Details
North Wales Adoption Service
Third Floor
Lambpit Street Building
Lambpit Street
Wrexham
LL11 1AR
Telephone: 01267 246970
Email: adoption@wrexham.gov.uk
Web: https://www.northwalesadoption.gov.uk
Your personal information
As Wrexham County Borough Council (WCBC) is the host organisation for NWAS, further information about why WCBC uses your personal information; what you can do with your information (your rights as a data subject; and how we protect your information are detailed in the corporate privacy notice “Your personal information” on the WCBC website at this link: https://www.wrexham.gov.uk/service/privacy-notices/your-personal-information.
Why we use your personal information?
Our main activity is checking whether people who would like to adopt a child are suitable to be adopters. To do this we have to collect a lot of personal information about the potential adopters and the people who have been important in their lives. This is because the laws relating to adoption mean we must check people’s background history thoroughly.
In addition to assessing adopters, we also work with a range of people affected by adoption and, at times, will need to obtain personal information from them. For example, we receive requests for post-adoption support and the ‘letterbox’ scheme. These do not require as much personal information as the adoption process itself, but will need us to obtain some limited personal information.
We only use what we need!
NWAS collects personal information about prospective adopters from themselves and from a range of people in their lives, such as friends, family, ex-partners and referees. Additional information is gathered from relevant organisations, depending on the prospective adopter’s circumstances, such as GPs, consultants and other local authorities where the applicants have lived.
In the early stage of assessing suitability, most information comes from the person themselves and the sources they provide.
The process of assessment gradually requires more information and eventually by the time we are able to make a decision about a prospective adopter we will need to know about:
We will also need to have a similar level of detail about anyone who lives with the prospective adopters.
We advise prospective adopters to ensure that people they live with are aware of the kind of information that is required before they apply to adopt.
How the law allows us to use your personal information
There are a number of legal reasons why NWAS needs to collect and use personal information about prospective adopters. The specific legislation is detailed below:
We also take into account any relevant subsequent guidance related to these laws.
What is the purpose of processing your personal information?
Who sees the information NWAS collects and records?
The law requires that assessment information about prospective adopter(s) must be considered by an Adoption Panel. The Adoption Panel includes independent members as well as employed members.
The Panel includes an independent chair, independent members, adopters, adult adoptees, social workers and elected councillors.
The information seen by the Adoption Panel is heavily protected with special security measures used to make sure information cannot be seen by anyone else. There are very limited circumstances in which anyone else can access the information held about you and only where these circumstances are explained in relevant adoption legislation, such as care inspectors appointed by Care Inspectorate Wales or the Children’s Commissioner for Wales.
Prospective adopters will have access to Part 1 of the Adoption Report. They do not have any right of access to Part 2 of that Report as it contains the independent confidential references.
Post approval panel, the task of family finding commences. When a potential link is identified, the completed report is securely shared with the adoption decision maker who will read the report and consider the link. The report is only used by the adoption agency for the purposes of considering that link.
Other agencies we might share the information with are as follows:
What you can do with your information
The law give you a number of rights to control what personal information is used by us and how it us used by us. For full details, visit the WCBC website at this link: https://www.wrexham.gov.uk/service/privacy-notices/your-personal-information.
Where can I get advice?
If you have any worries or questions about how your personal information is handled please contact our Data Protection Officer at DPO@wrexham.gov.uk or by calling 01978 292000.
For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data sharing issues, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number.
Alternatively, visit ico.org.uk (external link) or email casework@ico.org.uk.
If you’re interested in adoption, need additional support, or just want to ask us some questions, we’d love to hear from you.
You can also speak to an adoption worker for an informal chat, and we can then send you an information pack.
Freephone
0800 085 0774
Email
adoption@wrexham.gov.uk
