Privacy Policy – Sparks Fostering

Last updated: January 2026

1. Introduction

Sparks Fostering (Social Work Enterprise Ltd) (“we”, “us”, “our”) is committed to protecting the privacy and personal data of all individuals who interact with us. This Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store, share, and protect personal data when:

• You visit or use our website (www.sparksfostering.org)

• You contact us, apply to foster, work with us, or engage with our services

• We carry out our functions as a fostering service provider

We comply with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, and all other applicable data protection legislation.

2. Who We Are (Data Controller)

Sparks Fostering is the trading name of Social Work Enterprise Ltd, an independent fostering provider regulated by Ofsted.

For the purposes of data protection law, we are the Data Controller.

Contact details:

• Email: [email protected]

• Website: www.sparksfostering.org

3. Scope of This Policy

This policy applies to:

• Website visitors

• Enquirers and applicants

• Foster carers (prospective and approved)

• Children and young people in our care

• Birth family members and connected persons

• Staff, sessional workers, volunteers, and contractors

• Professionals, referrers, and partner organisations

Some data we process is subject to additional safeguarding, regulatory, or statutory requirements. Where necessary, supplementary privacy notices may apply.

4. The Personal Data We Collect

4.1 Website and Digital Use

When you visit our website, we may collect:

• IP address

• Browser type and version

• Device information

• Pages visited and time spent

• Referral source

If you complete forms on our website, we may collect:

• Name

• Email address

• Telephone number

• Location (e.g. postcode)

• Information you choose to provide in free-text fields

4.2 Service and Organisational Data

Depending on your relationship with Sparks Fostering, we may collect and process:

• Contact and identification details

• Family and household information

• Employment, education, and qualification details

• Financial information (e.g. allowances, fees, payroll)

• Safeguarding, assessment, and care-related information

• Health and wellbeing information (where necessary)

• Criminal records and statutory check outcomes (e.g. DBS)

• Case records, chronologies, risk assessments, and reports

This may include special category data and criminal offence data, which we handle with enhanced safeguards.

5. Lawful Bases for Processing

We process personal data under one or more of the following lawful bases:

• Legal obligation – where processing is required by law or regulation

• Public task – where processing is necessary to carry out our statutory and regulatory functions

• Contract – where processing is necessary for a contract or to take steps prior to entering a contract

• Legitimate interests – where processing is necessary for our legitimate organisational interests and does not override your rights

• Consent – where explicit consent has been obtained (used sparingly and can be withdrawn)

For special category and criminal offence data, we rely on additional conditions set out in UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, including safeguarding and substantial public interest grounds.

6. How We Use Personal Data

We use personal data to:

• Respond to enquiries and provide information

• Assess suitability to foster and support foster carers

• Safeguard children and young people

• Deliver, monitor, and improve our services

• Meet regulatory, inspection, and reporting requirements

• Communicate with professionals and partner agencies

• Manage staff, volunteers, and contractors

• Maintain accurate records and case files

• Protect the safety, welfare, and rights of individuals

7. Safeguarding and Children’s Data

Protecting children is central to our work. We process children’s data only where necessary and appropriate, and always with safeguarding as the primary consideration.

Information about children may be shared without consent where required to protect a child or comply with legal duties.

8. Sharing Personal Data

We may share personal data with:

• Local authorities and placing agencies

• Regulatory bodies (including Ofsted)

• Health, education, and safeguarding professionals

• Courts, police, and statutory agencies

• Professional advisers (legal, financial, IT)

• Trusted service providers acting under contract

All sharing is proportionate, lawful, and subject to confidentiality and data protection safeguards.

We do not sell personal data.

9. International Transfers

Personal data is primarily stored and processed within the UK. If data is transferred outside the UK, appropriate safeguards will be in place in line with UK GDPR requirements.

10. Data Security

We use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal data, including:

• Secure systems and access controls

• Role-based permissions

• Encryption where appropriate

• Staff training and confidentiality obligations

• Policies covering data protection, information security, and breaches

11. Data Retention

We retain personal data only for as long as necessary and in line with:

• Legal and regulatory requirements

• Statutory guidance

• Safeguarding best practice

• Our internal retention schedules

Some records, particularly safeguarding and fostering records, must be retained for extended periods.

12. Cookies, Comments, Media and Embedded Content

Cookies

Our website uses cookies to support functionality and improve user experience.

If you leave a comment on our site, you may opt in to saving your name, email address and website in cookies. These are for your convenience so that you do not have to fill in your details again when you leave another comment. These cookies last for one year.

If you visit our login page, we will set a temporary cookie to determine whether your browser accepts cookies. This cookie contains no personal data and is discarded when you close your browser.

When you log in, we set cookies to save your login information and screen display preferences. Login cookies last for two days, and screen options cookies last for one year. If you select “Remember Me”, your login will persist for two weeks. Logging out removes login cookies.

If you edit or publish an article, an additional cookie will be saved in your browser. This cookie contains no personal data and simply indicates the post ID of the article you edited. It expires after one day.

Comments

When visitors leave comments on the site, we collect the data shown in the comments form, along with the visitor’s IP address and browser user agent string, to help with spam detection.

An anonymised string created from your email address (also known as a hash) may be provided to the Gravatar service to check whether you use it. The Gravatar service privacy policy is available at: https://automattic.com/privacy/. After approval, your profile picture may be visible publicly alongside your comment.

Media Uploads

If you upload images to the website, you should avoid uploading images with embedded location data (EXIF GPS). Visitors to the website may be able to download and extract location data from images displayed on the site.

Embedded Content from Other Websites

Articles on this site may include embedded content (for example videos, images or articles). Embedded content from other websites behaves in the same way as if you had visited that website directly.

These third-party websites may collect data about you, use cookies, embed additional third-party tracking, and monitor your interaction with embedded content, particularly if you have an account with and are logged in to that service.

Analytics and Spam Detection

Visitor comments may be checked through an automated spam detection service. Where analytics tools are used, they are configured to collect aggregated or anonymised data where possible, and in line with applicable consent requirements.

13. Your Data Protection Rights

Under data protection law, you have rights including:

• The right to access your personal data

• The right to rectification

• The right to erasure (in limited circumstances)

• The right to restrict processing

• The right to object to processing

• The right to data portability (where applicable)

• The right to withdraw consent

Some rights may be limited where data is processed for safeguarding or statutory purposes.

Requests can be made by contacting us using the details above.

14. Complaints

If you are concerned about how we handle your data, please contact us in the first instance.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):

• Website: ico.org.uk

• Telephone: 0303 123 1113

15. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Privacy Policy from time to time. The latest version will always be published on our website.

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Sparks Fostering
Protecting children. Protecting data. Acting with integrity.