Who we are
We are a Local Authority established under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and have our Headquarters at Newtown St Boswells, Melrose, TD6 0SA. You can contact our Customer Advice and Support Service by:
- email: CustomerAdvice@scotborders.gov.uk
- phone: 0300 100 1800
Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted using the contact details above or by emailing dataprotection@scotborders.gov.uk
How we will use your information
We will use and retain the information we collect from you in your role as an adopter to provide you with an effective service and meet our legal requirements. The legal basis for the Council is collecting and using this information is found in the Adoption Agencies (Scotland) Regulations 2009.
Who we may share your information with
Your information will be accessed by Council staff who need to use it in order to support you as an adopter and provide a regulated adoption service. Your personal information will not be shared out with the Family Placement Team other than in the circumstances set out below.
Assessment and review reports will be shared with Scottish Borders Permanence and Adoption Panel members in their statutory role in the registration of adopters. Your assessment information will be shared with other relevant adoption agencies for the purpose of adoption matching.
The Council is legally obliged to share certain data with other public bodies such as the Care Inspectorate and will do so where the law requires this and it will be proportionate.
Your information may also be shared and analysed internally in order to provide management information, inform service delivery reform and similar purposes to meet our duty to achieve best value and continuous service improvement.
Decision Making
We do not use automated decision making processes. Some processes are semi-automated (such as anti-fraud data matching) but a human decision maker will always be involved before any decision is reached in relation to you.
How long do we keep your information for?
The information you have provided will be stored securely within the Social Work case management system (Mosaic) and retained for 100 years
Your rights
You have the right to request access to any personal data held about you by us. You can also request that we restrict the use of your information or even object to any further processing. You can do this by contacting the Data Protection Officer. We will respond to your request within 30 calendar days.
For more information on your rights please visit our Data protection and your rights webpage or alternatively if you would like a hard copy of this information, please contact us.
Further Information
If you require any further information about the information we collect from you in your role as an adopter, you can contact the Council on 0300 100 1800 or customerservices@scotborders.gov.uk.
How to raise a complaint
We aim to directly resolve all complaints about how we handle personal information. If your complaint is about how we have handled your personal information, you can contact our Data Protection Officer by:
- email: dataprotection@scotborders.gov.uk
- phone: 0300 100 1800
You also have the right to lodge a complaint about data protection matters with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), who can be contacted by:
- post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
- phone: 0303 123 1113
- Visit the ICO website
If your complaint is not about a data protection matter, visit our Making a complaint webpage for more information.