Cafcass Cymru: accessing your personal information

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to ask for a copy of the personal information Cafcass Cymru holds about you.  This is called the right of access and is also known as making a subject access request, a SAR or a DSAR.

You are entitled only to see your own personal information.

However, there are occasions when we may not be able to share all of the information we hold. For example:

• Information may contain details about another person (a ‘third party’).
• Someone may have provided information to us in confidence.
• Sharing information could affect ongoing Family Court proceedings.
• Information may be protected by legal professional privilege.
• In some circumstances, information relating to health, social work, crime prevention, or the safety of individuals may be exempt from disclosure.

Where information cannot be shared, we will explain this where possible.

A SAR does not automatically give access to your entire case file or every document connected to your case.

If you are seeking access to a specific document(s) or a document(s) that contains information about other people, you may need to apply to the court for disclosure as it will not be disclosed under a SAR.

If Family Court proceedings are ongoing, the information we can provide through a SAR may be limited.

We will not disclose information where doing so could adversely affect the court proceedings.  If you require access to complete documents relating to yourself, your family, or the wider case, you may wish to seek disclosure through the court as they will not be disclosed under a SAR.

If you are not (or were not) a party to Family Court proceedings, we cannot disclose information relating to those proceedings through a SAR: this is in accordance with the Family Procedure Rules.

To obtain information from court proceedings, you will need to seek permission from the court by making a disclosure application.

In most cases, information about a child belongs to the child and not to their parent or carer.

Where a child is a party to proceedings, a person with parental responsibility may make a request on their behalf.  However, before disclosing any information, Cafcass Cymru will always consider the child's best interests.  Even if the child is very young, their information still only belongs to them, and it is the child who has the right to access the information.

Where a child is mature enough to understand their data protection rights, we would normally expect them to make their own request.  We may ask for evidence that the child has agreed to someone else making a request on their behalf.

A child aged 12 or over is generally considered capable of making a request themselves, although each case will be considered on its own circumstances.

Children who are not parties to proceedings will usually need permission from the court before information can be disclosed.

We recommend you make your request by email to CafcassCymru@gov.wales. 

You can also make a request through your allocated Cafcass Cymru practitioner or any other member of Cafcass Cymru staff.

If you are looking for specific information, please tell us what you are looking for and provide any relevant dates.  This may help us respond more quickly.

Proof of identity

Before we can process your request, we may need to confirm your identity.

We may ask you to provide:

• Proof of identity: showing your photograph and signature (for example, a passport or driving licence).
• Proof of address: showing your name and current address (for example, a recent utility bill or official letter).

We aim to acknowledge your request within three working days of receiving it.

Once we have received a valid request and any necessary identification documents, we will normally respond within one calendar month.

If we need more time, we will let you know and explain why.

For security reasons, we normally provide information electronically through our secure file-sharing system, Objective Connect.  We may contact you to verify your email address before sending information to you.

If you would prefer to receive paper copies, please tell us when you make your request.  Paper copies will be sent by recorded delivery and will require a signature on receipt.

If you are dissatisfied with how we have handled your request, you can make a complaint.  Details of how to do this will be included in our response.

If you remain unhappy after we have considered your complaint, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), the UK's independent authority for data protection at www.ico.org.uk.