Newbury & surrounding area
Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire & Wiltshire

07305 210980
[email protected]

Scope Mediation Privacy Policy

Scope Mediation is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office and we are committed to protecting data, and respecting and protecting privacy. This policy explains:• Who the policy is relevant to.
• The legal basis of the policy.
• What information we collect, why and how.
• How we store your information and how it can be shared.
• Use of cookies and external links.
• Changes to this privacy policy.
• How to contact us.Who is this policy relevant to?This privacy policy is relevant to:• People who mediate with us and their families;
• People who contact us in order to explore the option of mediation, for themselves or on behalf of others;
• People who may be invited to consider the possibility of mediation, because someone connected with them has approached us regarding our service.What is the legal basis for collecting and processing your data?Data protection legislation gives various reasons why a company may collect personal data. The legal reasons that apply to Scope Mediation are:
• Your permission – we process data with your explicit and implied consent – i.e. in line with your reasonable expectations.
• Legitimate interest – in order to provide relevant information to you as a service.
• Contractual obligation – in the course of providing a mediation service to you.
• Legal obligation – to comply with the law.‘Processing’ is a broad term that covers any operation performed on data. This includes collecting, recording, storing, organising, altering, retrieving, using, sharing, restricting, erasing, or destroying the data. Processing your data must be for legitimate reasons and our purpose is to provide mediation.When you agree to attend a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM), you are giving consent for us to process data about your case in strict accordance with data protection regulations. If you choose to mediate with us, you are consenting to us processing your personal data by signing the Agreement to Mediate. If you have not contacted us, we hold details only to offer you the opportunity to explore family mediation and give access to a mediation information process so that you can protect your legal rights within the family justice system. This approach is in line with the Children and Families Act 2014 section10 and also with the Family Procedure Rules 2010 (updated in 2024), which govern how UK courts deal with cases in the family justice system.What data may we collect and how?Scope Mediation may collect the following data:• Personal information (e.g. name, email address, home address, phone number, date of birth, relationship status, gender, sexual orientation, ethnic identity, religion).
• Family details (e.g. partners’ names and names and dates of birth of any dependants).
• Sensitive personal data (e.g. details of disabilities, neurodivergences, health issues, safeguarding incidents, domestic abuse and prior court involvement).
• Financial information (e.g. bank details, asset values, liabilities and income).
• Attendance data (e.g. the number, date and type of meetings attended).Data may be collected from:• First enquiries by phone, email or website referral form.
• Third party referrals from e.g. solicitors, allocated case workers or family members.
• Telephone conversations, emails, documents provided for mediation, and verbal communication during mediation meetings.How will we use your data?Scope Mediation gathers and processes data for the following purposes:• To respond to enquiries and for client identification purposes.
• To offer people the opportunity to find out more about mediation.
• To provide a mediation service to those who require it.
• To process payments for mediation services provided.
• To carry out administrative tasks associated with running a business, such as record keeping, accounting, and review and closure of files.
• To develop and enhance our service.What information could be shared?We will not share any of your information with third parties without your express permission, except in the following circumstances:• To keep members of the public safe where there are safeguarding concerns (e.g. if we think that a child may be at risk of harm, then we have a duty to share this with the appropriate organisation, such as Children’s Services).
• If we receive evidence of an offence under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
• To handle any concerns or complaints raised. In the case of a complaint, your information would only be made available to those people invited to support the mediator in resolving the complaint (their Professional Practice Consultant, or PPC), and those charged with investigating a complaint (the Family Mediation Standards Board, or FMSB). (See www.familymediationcouncil.org.uk for more information.)
• For the purpose of professional supervision, development and training, in order to ensure that mediators’ work meets all professional standards. In these circumstances, the information would be redacted and anonymised in order to protect personal identities.
• If, in exceptional circumstances, we are ordered to do so by a court.We will not contact you for sales or marketing purposes, nor will we pass your details to any third party companies for such purposes.How do we store your data and for how long?We only use third party service providers where we are satisfied that they provide adequate security for your personal data. We are committed to holding information that is adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed. In the very unlikely event that your privacy is compromised for any reason, we commit to contacting you to inform you as a matter of urgency.Our data retention policy is as follows:• Following a Mediation Information and Assessment Meeting (MIAM), case notes are retained for six months from the date of the latest MIAM.
• If the case progresses to joint mediation sessions, case notes are retained for six months from the date the case file is closed or from the date of the last joint mediation session, whichever is the later.
• Electronic copies of without prejudice summaries of joint mediation meetings are retained for a maximum of two years.
• Limited high-level information such as dates of meetings and records of communications sent or received are retained for longer for administrative and business record-keeping purposes.Use of website cookies and linksCookies are text files placed on computers to collect standard Internet log information and visitor behaviour information. If cookies are used to track traffic on the Scope Mediation website, we will inform you that this is the case and check we have your consent. For further information, visit allaboutcookies.org.The Scope Mediation website may contain links to other websites of interest. Upon clicking on these links, you are moving onto another site and their terms, conditions and policies will apply when you are visiting their pages. These terms and conditions may differ from those of Scope Mediation.Changes to our privacy policyScope Mediation keeps its privacy policy under regular review and places any updates on this web page. This Policy may change from time to time. We will not reduce your rights under this Privacy Policy without consent.How to contact usFor more information about your data protection rights, visit the website of the Information Commissioner’s Office at ico.org.uk/for-the-public. If you have any questions about this privacy policy, the data we hold on you, or if you would like to exercise one of your data protection rights, you may contact us at: [email protected]. You can request to see the information we hold about you. Where this information is held on records which also contain information about another person (the person who you mediate with), the records will be amended so that you can only see the details about yourself.Should you wish to report a complaint or if you feel that Scope Mediation has not addressed your concerns in a satisfactory manner, you may contact the Information Commissioner’s Office for guidance.

Scope Mediation complaints policy

Scope of policy and who it applies toThis Complaints Policy relates to Scope Mediation, a service offering family mediation to separating or separated parents, couples and families. It is available on the Scope Mediation website at www.scopemediation.co.uk for ease of access. It applies to:
- Current clients of Scope Mediation.
- Former clients of Scope Mediation.
- Prospective clients of Scope Mediation.
- Qualifying third parties – for example, another professional who has been invited to participate in a mediation process, using Scope Mediation’s services.Purpose and aim of this policyScope Mediation is committed to providing a high quality mediation service. It is important to us that participants in mediation feel able to share their comments and perceptions, so that we can improve our service where possible and ensure professional learning where appropriate.Feedback from clients of Scope Mediation may take a variety of forms: suggestions for improvement; concerns that arise as a result of miscommunication, misinterpretation and/or misunderstandings; and expressions of dissatisfaction with the handling of a case.For the purposes of this policy, a complaint is defined as an expression of dissatisfaction which has not been resolved through initial informal attempts to clarify and settle matters directly with the mediator. We will treat a complaint as a concern which has been set out in writing as step 2 of a structured process.Our goal at Scope Mediation is to resolve all issues raised internally wherever possible for the satisfaction of all concerned. We hope the information provided in this policy is helpful for understanding our framework for achieving this and for dealing with matters which can’t be resolved in this way.Role and responsibilitiesAt Scope Mediation, we believe that all feedback deserves to be understood and respected, and to be acknowledged promptly and courteously. We recognise that the longer it takes to resolve a complaint, the more stressful it can be for all involved. We commit to moving forwards without delay with all actions required as a result of a complaint.If you make us aware that you are having difficulties bringing your complaint to us, we will take responsibility for assisting you in finding a solution to this.Mediators working for Scope Mediation are accredited with the Family Mediation Council, which oversees professional standards in family mediation in England and Wales. If a complaint hasn’t been resolved satisfactorily as part of Scope Mediation’s complaints process, you may bring the complaint to the Family Mediation Standards Board (FMSB) for formal investigation.Steps of process1. In the first instance, please raise any concerns directly with your mediator. You can do this either at a mediation meeting or by email or phone. If necessary, a suitable time can be arranged to discuss your concerns.2. If talking to your mediator has failed to resolve the issue(s) you’ve raised, you will be invited to put your concerns in writing for the purpose of formalising your complaint. The mediator will send a form to you for you to set out the issues and we would ask you to address the following questions:a. What is your complaint and what were the circumstances that gave rise to it?
b. What steps have been taken to address this issue so far?
c. How do you hope the matter might be resolved?3. Your complaint will be acknowledged within five working days and any mediation process that is underway will be paused. The other party in mediation will be notified that a complaint has been registered.4. The mediator may contact their Professional Practice Consultant (PPC) to support them in attempting to resolve the matter through discussion. In doing so, the PPC may review the case with the mediator and read the mediator’s case notes and correspondence. However, they will not investigate the complaint.5. We will aim to respond formally to your complaint in writing within 20 working days. If further time is required, you will receive notification in writing to explain why more time is needed. If appropriate, you may be offered mediation using a mutually agreed third party as a way of resolving the complaint.6. In the event that we’re unable to resolve matters to your satisfaction, you are entitled to raise your complaint with the Family Mediation Standards Board (FMSB). This is an option only where the complaint concerns a breach of the Family Mediation Council’s professional standards and where you have exhausted Scope Mediation’s complaints procedure within the last three months. Information held by the mediator may be shared with the FMSB in order to enable them to investigate the complaint.The procedure for complaining to the FMSB is available here: familymediationcouncil.org.uk/ complaints-about-mediators/ . It gives details of the complaints the FMSB will consider; timescales; the form to be used in submitting a complaint and a telephone number to contact if you need support in completing the form.