Individual Voluntary Agreement (IVA) Guide

The role of this directory is to provide information; it is your responsibility to make sure that services are appropriate and meet your needs.

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided in this directory, "we" (Manchester City Council) do not accept any responsibility or liability for any errors that have occurred or if the information provided is not up to date. "We" are also not responsible for the content of third party websites / emails listed in the information / records visible on this website.

It is recommended that you always check with providers that their service or organisation meets your requirements. We offer an impartial service and we cannot recommend or endorse any providers listed.

Manchester City Council has not conducted background checks or other forms of due diligence (for example, Disclosure Barring Service checks and Safeguarding checks) against the providers listed on the Manchester Service Directory. Users are advised to undertake your own checks and verifications prior to engaging the services of any providers listed on the Manchester Service Directory.

For that reason it is important that you carry out your own independent checks and verifications and are entirely satisfied before acting on the basis of any information or other material supplied in the website.

For advice on how to make your own appropriate checks and verifications please read the checklist information below.

Note that the following advice which is given as a guide only, is given without any liability. In some circumstances this advice may not be sufficient. Therefore where appropriate you may need to seek further independent expert advice.

Some of the organisations on the website are not required to be registered with regulatory bodies. Therefore it is important that you make sure that the service is safe and entirely suitable for your needs especially if it is related to children or vulnerable persons. Below are some of the things you need to look out for.

• Check that the staff have been appropriately vetted. For more information on this please visit DBS.gov.uk
• Check that the service has child protection procedures in place if they are directly involved with children.
• Check that the staff are qualified and trained in the specific area.
• Check that the service operates an anti-discriminatory practice.
• Check that the service protects children, young people and vulnerable adults where it is required to do so.
• Check that the service has a health and safety policy.
• Check that the service has a complaints procedure.