Client Service Agreement
Following your Intake Appointment, we will contact you to advise you if we agree to offer you mediation and contact support services. The following information outlines what you can expect from us during the process and what our responsibilities will be to one another. If you do not understand anything or require any further explanation, please do not hesitate to contact us.
Responsibilities
For us to be able to work successfully together it is important we follow some agreed protocols.
Service Fees
We require you to disclose all relevant information regarding whether you are eligible for legal aid or if you will be self-funding to enable us to complete and offer the appropriate services within agreed timescales. Any additional work required which is not covered by these terms will be agreed with you in writing and in advance of any services being performed. For those clients who are self-funding we will require payment by bank transfer into our bank account a minimum of 48 hours in advance of the service being delivered. (i.e. if the service is being provided on a Saturday, we will require you to make payment by the close of the working day on the Thursday).
Rules and Boundaries
We reserve the right to withdraw our services should we deem that there has been persistent inappropriate behaviour, including unauthorised use of recording devices, abusive language, threatening behaviour. What you say in mediation sessions cannot be used later in court proceedings if mediation breaks down. Only factual information such as details of your property can be used in court proceedings.
Supported or Facilitated Handover Contact
An Attendance Record can be requested by either party, or their legal representatives or the Court, however we will only create such a record form 6 or more completed appointments. There will be a charge for this and is payable in advance. The attendance record is brief and factual. It will indicate dates, times, and other objective data (e.g. whether a session has been attended/cancelled/not attended, if cancelled the reasons given). No comment will be made as to the quality of contact will be included.
Supervised Contact
A written report may be requested by either party, or their legal representatives or the Court. There will be a charge for this and is payable in advance. Reports are always based on factual information about contact, as observed by the contact supervisor. A report can contain feedback on up to 6 contact sessions, and so they will be a summary account of individual observations. All relevant parties can receive a copy of the record.
No messages are to be passed through contact centre staff, all correspondence to be submitted to the other party via solicitors.
Centre Policy
The person having contact is required to remain in the child contact centre for at least 10 minutes after the child(ren) and other adult leave the centre. Due to lack of space, we can have the resident parent waiting on the 1st visit, but once the child/children have settled they will be asked to leave the centre, the staff have details if they need to call you back. Due to lack of space it is not possible for the person bringing the child(ren) to the child contact centre to have anyone else waiting with them, unless by prior arrangement.
Any change to the above conditions may be negotiated by contacting the child contact centre.
Please note that either the person bringing the child/ren for contact or the person having contact is responsible for the care, welfare and safety of the child(ren) whilst the child(ren) is/are in the child contact centre.
Cancellations / Nonattendance
If you are unable to attend a session for any reason, you should call the Contact Centre as soon as possible to cancel and rearrange, at least one full working day prior to the session taking place. If you fail to let us know you cannot attend, after three periods of non-attendance (per client) for previously scheduled appointments, we reserve the right to withdraw our services. In addition, you may be charged for any sessions that are missed.
Termination of Service
Should you wish to withdraw from the agreement and cease using our services, you must contact your solicitor to advise them of your decision, however, it is also important for you to advise your Service Manager. If you fail to advise us, you may be charged for services that have been arranged and that you no longer require.
Complaints
Many matters can be resolved without progressing to the Formal Complaint Stage. If you have a concern about a service you have received, then we would like to know so we can deal with the matter. You are encouraged to raise the matter informally with the person with whom the issue has arisen. If this is not possible or doesn’t resolve your issue you can speak to the Service Manager, who would seek to resolve the issue if possible. If you are not satisfied at this stage, you may wish to move on the Formal Complaint Stage. Should you wish to make a complaint about a member of staff or the process, we have a Complaints Procedure. Please ask the Service Manager for further information.
Client Confidentiality Agreement & Privacy
At Family Mediation (West of Scotland), we require to hold some of your personal information to be able to provide you with a service. We will keep records in compliance with the Data Protection Act 2018. Any information that you provide us with will be kept confidential within our organisation. We will not disclose this information to other individuals or external agencies without your permission unless legally required to do so. If you require any further information on our GDPR policy, please contact us.
What do we do with your information?
Any information that you provide us with will be kept confidential within our organisation, and this is the responsibility of the Director Richard Donald. We ask our clients for feedback on the services they have received. Information from client work may be used anonymously to improve our service to clients, for learning, assessment, research, or publicity purposes and to evidence our work to potential and existing funders.
Who will we share it with?
We will not disclose this information to other individuals or external agencies without your permission unless we are legally obliged to do so. Exceptions to this include circumstances where:
- we have concerns about the safety of a child or a vulnerable adult.
- something is said that suggests either you or your (ex) partner have benefited from the proceeds of crime (under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and / or relevant money laundering regulations);
- there is violence or threat of violence before, during or after a session where the practitioner, client or other party feels it necessary to call the police, or where a practitioner or worker is a witness to an incident which results in criminal proceedings against a client; a disclosure is made relating to a serious crime, or if we have serious concerns about your own safety as we may have a duty to report this to the appropriate authorities;
How long do we keep client records?
We keep records for a minimum of 3 years and in some cases for seven years if this is a requirement of a professional body. After this time, your data will be disposed of securely. Please ask if you wish to know how long your personal data will be kept and note that if there is a child protection issue related to your case, we are legally obliged to keep your case notes securely forever.
What are your rights?
You have a right to access the personal data that we hold about you. If you wish to raise a concern about the way we hold your data, please contact your Service Manager who will investigate the matter. If you are not satisfied with our response, or believe we are not processing your personal data in accordance with the law, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).