IRM Cymru and Children in Wales are committed to protecting your personal data. We will only send you information if we have your consent and we will never sell or share your information to marketing companies.
IRM and Children in Wales will always process your personal data lawfully and be fair and transparent in how we do this. This Privacy Policy tells you how, we collect and store your data, why we need it and what we do with it.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding our Privacy Policy, the information you receive or the information we store, please contact:
The Data Protection Lead
Children in Wales, Cardiff University Social Science Research Park (SPARK) / (Sbarc), Maindy Road / Heol Maindy, Cardiff / Caerdydd CF24 4HQ
Email: info@childreninwales.org.uk
Phone: 029 2034 2434
IRM (Independent Review Mechanism) Cymru offers an independent review panel process if your fostering or adoption agency is proposing not to approve you or to terminate your approval, or if you are a foster carer and your agency is proposing to change your terms of approval without your agreement.
IRM is hosted by Children in Wales. Children in Wales is the national umbrella body for organisations and individuals who work with children, young people and their families. Children in Wales is a registered charity (1020313) and a company limited by guarantee (2805996). You can find out more about Children in Wales by visiting their website
We recommend that you also read Children in Wales’ Privacy Policy
As an independent review mechanism, IRM will only process information that you have provided or have agreed to us obtaining. This will always include your name, address and contact details.
In order for our panel to review your agency’s proposed decision, we will also need access to the same information used by your agency. This is likely to include information on your personal circumstances and medical records.
We will only collect and process this information if you have given your consent and will always process it lawfully and securely.
IRM Cymru is hosted and managed by Children in Wales. Under the Data Protection Act 2018, Children in Wales acts as the Data Controller for IRM and has overall responsibility for the processing and security of your personal information.
IRM is a Data Processor, which means that they collect and process your information. Both Children in Wales and IRM are allowed to do this as long as we have a valid, lawful reason for doing so.
The Independent Review Mechanism is a voluntary process, instigated by you. This means that at all stages of the process, we will need your consent to obtain and process your personal information. You can withdraw your consent at any time during the process. Should you withdraw your consent, the review process will cease as we will no longer have your permission to continue.
Under the Data Protection Act 2018, Children in Wales is the 'data controller' in respect of the personal information that we hold about you. This means that Children in Wales is responsible for keeping your personal information secure at all times and only use it in a way that you have agreed to. IRM act as the ‘data processor’ as they collect, process and use your data.
As an applicant, you request an independent review. This means that the initial personal information that we process is provided by you. Should your review progress, we will ask you to provide more information and complete a consent form. This consent form will allow IRM to obtain additional, relevant information needed to conduct the review.
As an applicant’s supporter, your contact details will be provided to us either directly from you or via the applicant you are supporting. We only process the information provided.
As a panel member, all of the personal information we process is provided by you or you have given your consent to allow IRM to obtain additional information. This may include references and conflicts of interests.
We will initially need to obtain basic personal data, which may include your name, address, phone number and email address.
Should your review progress, we will need additional information. This is likely to include medical and legal reports as well as all agency reports and documents relevant to the case. This information will be obtained from you and your agency. We will always gain your consent before requesting information from your agency and if applicable, other third parties.
We will keep your case files and all relevant documentation for a period of up to 18 months. After this time, all of your information is confidentially destroyed.
Under the Independent Review of Determinations (Adoption and Fostering (Wales)) Regulations 2010, we are required to keep minutes of panel meetings and the reasons for the recommendations. This information will be kept for a period of 5 years.
We never sell or share your information to marketing companies and we will never market any of our own services directly to you.
In order to conduct the independent review, we share personal information with the panel members, advisors and where applicable, your agency. All personal information is shared and stored securely.
Children in Wales is committed to keeping your personal information secure. When we need to destroy confidential, printed information, we do this securely through an external confidential shredding company, Taclus Confidential. If you would like further information on how they securely dispose of your information, click here
We are also required to publish an annual report. In this, all information is anonymised and presented as statistical information. This ensures that no individuals or cases are identified.
If a disclosure of child abuse is made, Children in Wales will pass on personal information to the appropriate organisation, which may include the Police or Social Services.
Your visit to our website will still remain anonymous as none of the data collected is linked to any personal information. We will only store and process personal data if you voluntarily provide personal details via an online form or enquiry. If you do this, we will only use your personal data for the purposes that you have provided it.
The website information collected is only used to assess popular pages and downloads and fix any problems with our server. This helps us to continually improve our website and your experience.
Our website may contain links to other websites. We have no control over other websites and are, therefore, not responsible for their content or their Privacy Policies. We advise that you read the Privacy Policies of other websites before you use them.
Cookies are small text files that are put onto your device when you visit a website. They usually collect and store the information that you provide. For example, your password or your address may already be typed in as the cookies on that website are remembering them.
IRM uses cookies on our website. Click here to view the IRM cookie policy.
Where invoices are paid via BACS (Bankers’ Automated Clearing Services), we process name, address, bank name, sort code number, account number and payment amount. This information is processed and stored securely by Children in Wales.
Click here to view BACS Privacy Policy
Under data protection law, you have a number of different rights relating to our use of your personal information. The law relating to when these rights apply, the exceptions to your rights and our obligations are complicated. As a result, we have only set out below a brief summary of your rights and our obligations. To view additional information about your rights, please visit the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)
You have the right to have your personal data erased as long as:
Or;
If the above does apply, IRM and Children in Wales must delete the personal information. Please note that you can withdraw your consent at any time, however, this means that IRM may not be able to conduct or progress your independent review.
You have the right to object to us processing your personal data where:
Or,
Where this applies, you have the right to ask us to stop processing your personal information.
Where our use of your personal data is based on your consent, you have the right to withdraw consent. Please note that should you wish to withdraw your consent, IRM may not be able to conduct or progress your independent review.
You can withdraw you consent in the following ways:
Email, phone or post your withdrawal of consent request to IRM:
Email: irm@childreninwales.org.uk
Phone: 029 2034 2434 (Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm)
Post: Children in Wales, Cardiff University Social Science Research Park (SPARK) / (Sbarc), Maindy Road / Heol Maindy, Cardiff / Caerdydd CF24 4HQ
Once we have received notification that you wish to withdraw your consent, we will no longer process your information for the purposes that you originally agreed to. Please note, depending on our legal bases for processing your information, we may still process your data for different purposes.
Email: irm@childreninwales.org.uk
Phone: 029 2034 2434 (Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm)
Post: Children in Wales, Cardiff University Social Science Research Park (SPARK) / (Sbarc), Maindy Road / Heol Maindy, Cardiff / Caerdydd CF24 4HQ
If you wish to raise a complaint about how we have handled your personal data, our Complaints, Compliments and Suggestions Procedure can be found on our website.
If you are not happy with our response or believe we are not processing your personal data within the law, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
If we make substantial changes to our Privacy Policy, we will post these on the homepage of our website. If any of these changes are significant or we decide to use your personal information in a different manner, we will contact you directly so that you can choose whether or not we can use your information in this new manner. You will always have an informed choice about how we use your personal information.
Our Privacy Policy is reviewed regularly. Last reviewed July 2021.