Confidentiality
Confidentiality is a basic principle of our service. No information that you give us, including the fact that you have used the Advice Service, will be passed on to anyone outside the Advice Service.
Dealing with your enquiry may sometimes involve negotiation with third parties e.g. a statutory agency, a creditor or an employer. We will explain all the possible solutions to your problem and agree a course of action with you – we will not deal with third parties without your full permission.
All records and client files are treated as confidential by Gingerbread - paper and computer records are securely stored and can be accessed only by staff within the Advice Service. These records can therefore not be handled by anyone outside Gingerbread NI and will not be released to any outside agency without your written consent.
In some situations we may be obliged by law to release information:
- We are obliged by law to pass on any information about a terrorist suspect or an act of terrorism that may take place or has already taken place
- We are obliged to pass on information when forced to by a court order or similar legal action
We may also be obliged to break confidentiality when :
- We believe that someone is in severe and immediate danger or that they could be a danger to someone else.
- We believe that a child is in danger or at risk of harm, abuse or neglect. Gingerbread’s Child Protection Guidelines oblige us to pass information to Social Services in these circumstances
Impartiality
Gingerbread’s Advice Service is committed to impartiality and objectivity.
The Advice Service is open to all lone parents regardless of race, religion, politics, sex or sexuality, disability or HIV status. Advice will be given on any subject without any preconceived attitude on the part of the organisation.
The information that we provide is selected purely on the basis of its usefulness to the client and never because of its support for any particular viewpoint.
Independence
The service provided by Gingerbread NI’s Advice Service is an independent, generalist advice service for lone parents. The Advice Service aims to offer impartial advice to all clients and to advocate on behalf of any individual lone parent or group of lone parents.
The service provided by the Gingerbread NI’s Advice Service is independent of:
- All other Gingerbread projects
- All local and central government departments or agencies
- Any private or any other company
- Any other organisation
The policies and practices of the Gingerbread NI Advice Service are decided solely by Gingerbread NI for the benefit of its clients. No other organisation or agency, even one giving financial support or other aid, has any right to influence or determine these policies or practices.
Data Protection
We keep information that you give us for the following reasons:
- to keep an accurate record of enquiries
- to allow the quality of advice given to be checked
- to improve service to clients on subsequent visits
- to record action taken on behalf of clients to serve as protection for clients against any possible claim from a third party
- to produce statistics and reports (without using any personal information) to show the extent of Gingerbread’s work and to help us seek funding for our work
- and in case you need to contact us again when you need further advice or when there is a development in your case.
Case records are the property of Gingerbread and are compiled using your own information and with your implied permission. You can consult your file at any time by arrangement with the Advice Service.
Gingerbread NI is the data controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 1998. We keep information that you give us to allow for internal quality control,
to produce statistics and reports and in case you need to contact us again.
If you do not want us to hold on to your information, please let us know:
email : advice@gingerbreadni.org
or write to :
Advice Service Manager
Gingerbread NI
169 University Street
Belfast
BT7 1HR
We may need to ask you to confirm your identity before we delete or destroy any records - this is to ensure that your records are not deleted or destroyed maliciously. Data protection regulations outline this procedure and we are obliged to follow it.
Unless you tell us otherwise, we take it that you agree to us holding your details.
We keep your enquiry on our database for six years and then destroy the information. Users can also request a copy of their file by following this procedure.
Please Note
The advice that we give by email is based on the information that you provide. We may need to ask for more information to clarify a particular point or issue. The advice we provide is for guidance only and should not be regarded as a complete or authoritative statement of the law. We make every effort to ensure that the content of our advice email replies is accurate and up-to-date.
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