Counsellors will keep a record about your child, which includes a summary of what happens and of what things are said while they are in counselling. The counsellor may take a photograph of artwork created by your child within the counselling session (your child will not be photographed). The counsellor will also collect the following information:

Information about you

Name, home address, phone number, relationship to child (i.e. Mother)

Information about your child

Name, date of birth, home address, phone number, family setup, gender, ethnic group, religion, disability status, additional education needs, GP surgery, other health information 

We collect the information for the following reasons:

• To fully assess that our intervention will be suitable for your child 
  
• To manage any necessary physical/mental health needs while under our care 
• Any photographs that are taken, are of the artwork only and will be used for regular reviews of your child’s progression in the counsellor’s clinical supervision. This also includes the written records of each session. 
• We are required by Welsh Government to provide anonymised statistical data about all the children we offer counselling to. This includes your child’s information such as, gender, ethnic group and disability status. This information is anonymised by combining with other children’s information to create statistical figures only regarding the counselling service as a whole. 
• To maintain contact with you about your child’s progress and respond to any questions you may have.
• To contact you in case of an emergency

We process personal information about you and your child in order to provide the counselling which is a task carried out in the public interest. We also process the special category data due to the substantial public interest that relates to providing counselling (under schedule1 part 2 of the Data Protection Act 2018).

In order for us to conduct counselling with your child, we will share your/your child’s information as required with the following categories of recipients:

• Local Authority (Newport City Council are the joint data controllers for the counselling service)
• Welsh Government (only anonymized statistical information provided)
• GP / NHS (if there is a serious concern about the mental or physical health of your child)
• School, Social Services or Police (if there is a serious concern about the wellbeing or safety of your child)

We keep the information until your child’s 24th birthday, at which point it will be securely destroyed.

Data Protection legislation requires us to keep your information secure. This means that your confidentiality will be respected, and all appropriate measures will be taken to prevent unauthorised access and disclosure. Only members of staff who need access to relevant parts or all of your information will be authorised to do so. Information about you in electronic form will be subject to password and other security restrictions, while paper files will be stored in secure areas with controlled access.

Some processing may be undertaken on the University’s behalf by an organisation contracted for that purpose. Organisations processing personal data on the University’s behalf will be bound by an obligation to process personal data in accordance with Data Protection legislation.

You have a right to:

• Access your personal information and request access to your child’s personal information
• Request that we correct any inaccuracies in your/your child’s personal information 
• Request that we stop processing your/your child’s personal information
• Request that we erase your/your child’s personal information 
• Request that we transfer your/your child’s personal information to another organisation

In relation to your child’s personal information, the service manager will conduct an assessment of your request in conjunction with the Data Protection Officer. A response will be made in the best interests of your child no more than 30 days after your request has been received.

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Please visit the further information page in relation to your rights.

Any requests or objections should be made in writing to the University Data Protection Officer:-

University Secretary’s Office,

University of South Wales

Pontypridd,

CF37 1DL 

Email: [email protected]

If you are unhappy with the way in which your personal data has been processed you may in the first instance contact the University Data Protection Officer using the contact details above. 

If you remain dissatisfied then you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF

www.ico.org.uk