Privacy Notice

SEND Information, Advice and Support Service Privacy Notice


This Privacy Notice should be read in conjunction with Milton Keynes’ Corporate Privacy Notice.  For more details about this, please visit www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/privacy

Who are we?

MK SENDIAS is a statutory service that offers impartial information, advice and support to families of children and young people with special educational needs or disabilities, across Milton Keynes.  The service is funded by the MK Council but operates at arm’s length from the Council offering a confidential service to those that contact the service for information, advice and support.

Why are we gathering your information?

The legal basis under the data protection legislation for processing your information is ‘consent’.  The confidential database used by the service records the consent of a service user in line with the consent section of the referral form on the service website www.mksendias.org.uk

Without your consent the SENDIAS Service will still provide impartial information, advice and support (IAS) to you but the IAS provided may be less effective and comprehensive without being able to contact third parties e.g. a school or a health professional.

If a young person (YP) aged 16 or over contacts the service directly, we will only seek the YP’s consent, we will not contact and seek the consent of the YP’s parent/carer.

What information do we gather about you?

We gather personal contact details of a parent/carer/YP such as: name, address, telephone numbers and email addresses to enable effective contact with you. 

Information gathered relating to the child or young person (CYP) the enquiry concerns may include: name, age, school, special educational need, medical diagnosis, details about the concern, other professionals involved.

Documents such as letters from parents/carers, schools, health professionals; reports from health professionals, education health and carer plans; notes from meetings; emails to and from service users and caseworkers are uploaded to the CYP’s referral.

What are we going to do with your information?

MK SENDIAS takes your privacy seriously. We will only use your personal information to provide services or information to you, or to create anonymised data for general reporting and statistical purposes. We will ask for your consent to store your personal information (securely, under data protection legislation) and you will be asked to complete the consent section of the referral form.  This consent form will be uploaded to the CYP’s referral on the database.

As we are processing your information based on you giving us consent to do so, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. Doing so may mean we are unable to provide the service you are hoping to receive and the implications of you giving or withdrawing your consent will be explained at the time.

You have a right to have explained if there will be any automated decision-making based on your data – we do not do this, data is simply stored to enable us to support and advise you effectively.

Where do we store your information?

The service uses a confidential database with no connection to the Council.  The database is hosted by an external provider and is managed by the service manager of the SENDIAS Service.

Your details and referral information will be retained for 5 years after which it will be removed from the database.

Will we share your information with anyone else?

No. Unless we have your permission to do so, we won’t share your personal information with any organisations or individuals outside of MK SENDIAS.  You have a right to restrict processing of data (to request we don’t use your data in a certain way). The only exception would be where a failure to share your personal information would lead to a risk of significant harm to you or others.

Can you see the information we hold about you?

Detailed information about your rights can be found at: https://www.milton-keynes.gov.uk/milton-keynes-council/privacy-notices

What about our website?

This MK SENDIAS Service website is run independently of the MK Council website. 

You will find information about how the service operates on a confidential and impartial basis in the About Us section of the website.

How can you get in touch with us?

If you would like to know more how we look after your personal information please contact us:

  • Phone: 01908 254518
  • Email: Contact@mksendias.org.uk
  • Post: MK SENDIAS Service, Civic Offices, 1 Saxon Gate East, Central Milton Keynes, MK9 3EJ

Your right to object means that if you are unhappy with any aspect of how your information has been collected and/or used, you can make a complaint to our Data Protection Officer.  You can also approach them if you would like to request a copy of the personal information we hold about you.

You can also report concerns to the national regulator, the Information Commissioner’s Office. Their details can be found on their website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/handling/

Data Protection Officer Contact Details