Privacy Policy

Aim Quality Care ("we", "us" or "our") is committed to protecting the privacy, safety and personal information of children, young people and everyone who interacts with our organisation.

We provide services that may include:

• Children's residential care;
• Solo placements;
• Emergency and crisis placements;
• Transitional support;
• Independence and life-skills support;
• Person-centred support.

This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and share personal information when you:

• Visit our website;
• Make a placement enquiry or referral;
• Enquire on behalf of a child or young person;
• Receive care or support from Aim Quality Care;
• Contact us as a parent, guardian, social worker or professional;
• Submit feedback, a concern or a complaint;
• Apply for a role with Aim Quality Care, if recruitment applications are accepted;
• Communicate with us by telephone, email or through our website.

For UK data protection purposes, the data controller is:

Legal company name: Aim Quality Care Limited
Registered or business address: First floor, 58A London Rd, Leicester, LE2 0QD
Company number: 17424314
ICO registration number: To be confirmed
Email: info@aimqualitycare.com

The information we collect depends on your relationship with Aim Quality Care.

We may obtain information:

• Directly from you;
• From a child or young person;
• From parents, guardians, relatives or advocates;
• From local authorities and social workers;
• From schools, colleges or education providers;
• From healthcare and mental-health professionals;
• From the police, courts, youth justice services or safeguarding authorities;
• From previous care providers;
• From commissioners and other professionals involved in a placement;
• Through job applications, referees and recruitment platforms, if we invite or accept applications;
• Through our website, cookies and similar technologies;
• From publicly available sources where appropriate and lawful.

If you provide information about another person, you should be authorised to do so or have another lawful and appropriate reason for sharing it.

We may use personal information to:

• Respond to enquiries and placement referrals;
• Assess whether a placement is suitable;
• Understand a child or young person's needs, circumstances and risks;
• Make decisions about accepting and managing placements;
• Prepare and review care, placement and pathway plans;
• Provide safe, appropriate and person-centred support;
• Support education, health, development and wellbeing;
• Develop independence and life skills;
• Communicate with children, families and authorised professionals;
• Work with placing authorities, social workers and relevant agencies;
• Manage emergency and crisis placements;
• Protect children and young people from abuse, neglect, exploitation or harm;
• Manage incidents, allegations, complaints and safeguarding concerns;
• Maintain legally and regulatorily required records;
• Monitor and improve the quality and safety of our services;
• Recruit suitable staff and conduct safer-recruitment checks;
• Manage contracts, funding, payments and insurance;
• Operate, secure and improve our website;
• Establish, exercise or defend legal claims;
• Comply with legal, regulatory and safeguarding responsibilities.

We will not use care, referral or safeguarding information for unrelated marketing.

We only use personal information where we have a lawful reason.

Depending on the circumstances, we may rely on:

• Contract: Processing is necessary to enter into or fulfil a placement, care, employment or service agreement.
• Legal obligation: Processing is required to comply with safeguarding, employment, social care, regulatory or other legal requirements.
• Legitimate interests: Processing is necessary to operate and protect our organisation and services, provided those interests do not override the individual's rights.
• Vital interests: Processing is necessary to protect someone's life or physical safety.
• Consent: The individual has given permission for a specific use of their information.

Where we process health, care or other special category information, we must also meet an additional legal condition. This may include:

• Providing or managing health or social care;
• Safeguarding children and individuals at risk;
• Protecting someone's vital interests;
• Meeting employment and social-protection obligations;
• Establishing, exercising or defending legal claims;
• Meeting another substantial public-interest requirement;
• Obtaining explicit consent where appropriate.

Consent will not normally be relied upon where processing is required to protect a child, meet a legal duty or provide regulated care.

We recognise that children and young people may require additional privacy protection.

We will aim to:

• Explain the use of information in a clear and age-appropriate way;
• Take account of the child or young person's age, understanding and circumstances;
• Collect only information that is relevant and necessary;
• Respect the child or young person's views and privacy where appropriate;
• Restrict access to authorised individuals;
• Share information only where necessary, appropriate and lawful;
• Prioritise safety and welfare where privacy and safeguarding considerations conflict.

A child or young person's information may sometimes be processed without consent when this is necessary to provide care, comply with the law, meet safeguarding duties or protect someone from harm.

Children and young people should not submit detailed medical, placement or safeguarding information through a general website form without support from an appropriate adult or professional.

We do not sell personal information.

Where necessary and lawful, we may share relevant information with:

• Aim Quality Care employees, carers and authorised contractors;
• Parents, guardians, relatives or advocates where appropriate;
• Local authorities and social workers;
• Healthcare, mental-health and social care professionals;
• Schools, colleges and education providers;
• The police, emergency services and safeguarding authorities;
• Youth justice or other authorised public services;
• Regulators and inspection bodies;
• Commissioners and funding organisations;
• Courts, solicitors and other legal professionals;
• Insurers, accountants and professional advisers;
• Recruitment, DBS and background-check providers;
• Website hosting, email, IT and secure information-management providers;
• Another care provider where a placement or service is being transferred.

We will normally share information with the knowledge of the relevant individuals where appropriate.

However, we may share information without consent where necessary to:

• Protect a child or another person from abuse, neglect, exploitation or serious harm;
• Respond to an immediate risk to life or safety;
• Locate or protect a missing child;
• Investigate an allegation, incident or safeguarding concern;
• Meet a legal or regulatory requirement;
• Assist an authorised public body.

We will only share information that is relevant and reasonably necessary.

Aim Quality Care may disclose personal information urgently where we reasonably believe that a child, young person or another individual is at risk.

Information may be provided to the police, emergency services, local authority safeguarding teams or other appropriate bodies.

Where circumstances allow, we will record:

• What information was shared;
• Who received it;
• Why it was necessary;
• The lawful reason for the disclosure.

The safety and welfare of the child or young person will be our primary consideration.

We keep personal information only for as long as necessary and in accordance with applicable legal, regulatory, safeguarding, insurance and record-keeping requirements.

Retention periods depend on the type of record and may include:

• General website enquiries, retained only as long as necessary to respond and manage reasonable follow-up;
• Referral information, retained according to whether the referral results in a placement and any applicable safeguarding or legal requirements;
• Children's care and placement records, retained in accordance with applicable children's social care requirements;
• Safeguarding, incident and complaint records, retained for the period required by law or relevant guidance;
• Recruitment records for unsuccessful applicants, normally retained for 6 months after the recruitment process has ended, unless there is a lawful reason to retain them for longer;
• Financial, contractual and legal records, retained for the period required by law.

Information will be securely deleted, destroyed or anonymised when it is no longer required.

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information from:

• Unauthorised access or disclosure;
• Accidental loss or destruction;
• Misuse or alteration;
• Cybersecurity threats;
• Other unlawful processing.

Access is restricted to employees, contractors and providers who require the information for an authorised purpose.

Anyone with access to personal information must handle it confidentially and securely.

Although we take appropriate precautions, no website or electronic storage system can be guaranteed to be completely secure.

Our website is hosted through SiteGround. Website enquiries and forms are handled through the SiteGround setup, and our email service is provided through webmail.

Some technology or service providers may process information outside the United Kingdom.

Where information is transferred internationally, Aim Quality Care will ensure that an appropriate lawful transfer safeguard is used, such as:

• UK adequacy regulations;
• Approved contractual protections;
• Another lawful transfer mechanism.

Our website may use cookies and similar technologies to:

• Operate securely and correctly;
• Remember visitor preferences;
• Understand how visitors use the website;
• Improve website performance;
• Support permitted third-party content or services.

Non-essential cookies will only be used where appropriate consent has been obtained.

Please read our Cookie Policy for further information.

Depending on the circumstances, individuals may have the right to:

• Be informed about how their information is used;
• Request access to their personal information;
• Ask for inaccurate or incomplete information to be corrected;
• Ask for information to be deleted where there is no lawful reason to retain it;
• Ask for the use of information to be restricted;
• Object to certain types of processing;
• Receive certain information in a portable format;
• Withdraw consent where processing is based on consent;
• Object to direct marketing;
• Request human review of certain automated decisions.

Children and young people may exercise their own data protection rights where they have sufficient understanding. A parent, guardian or authorised representative may be able to act on their behalf in appropriate circumstances.

These rights are not absolute. Aim Quality Care may need to retain or continue using information to:

• Protect a child or another person;
• Meet safeguarding responsibilities;
• Provide care and support;
• Comply with legal or regulatory obligations;
• Establish, exercise or defend legal claims.

We may need to verify the identity and authority of anyone making a request.

Our website may contain links to external websites, including local authorities, regulators, healthcare organisations, safeguarding services, social media platforms and recruitment providers.

Aim Quality Care is not responsible for the content, security or privacy practices of external websites.

You should review the privacy notice of an external website before providing personal information.

We may update this Privacy Policy when our services, data-processing activities or legal responsibilities change.

The latest version will be published on this page with an updated revision date.

If you have questions about this Privacy Policy, wish to exercise a data protection right or want to make a privacy-related complaint, please contact:

Legal company name: Aim Quality Care Limited
Business address: First floor, 58A London Rd, Leicester, LE2 0QD
Email: info@aimqualitycare.com

We will aim to address your concerns directly.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Website: www.ico.org.uk