Children and Young People Summary Privacy Notice (for Parents)
For children, young people, parents and carers
This privacy notice tells you how we use your information, the reasons for doing so, and also what rights you have in connection with the information we hold about you.
Newcastle City Council takes data protection seriously. Please be assured that your information will be used appropriately in line with data protection legislation; will be stored securely and will not be processed unless the requirements for fair and lawful processing can be met.
The information we collect and use
The information we collect and use can include, name, date of birth, gender, ethnic origin, unique pupil number and NHS number.
Why we collect and use children and young people’s information
The Council uses personal information to provide suitable education to and care for children and young people, such as the assessment of any special educational needs the child may have or processing free school meal applications.
It also uses the information to inform decisions on, for example, school funding or making sure we have enough school places in Newcastle.
We may also use information in other ways. This will mainly include supporting the work of other public organisations providing services to children, young people and families.
How the law protects you and the legal basis for processing your information
The Council collects and holds your information to enable us to comply with a legal obligation or because we are acting in the public interest or exercising our official authority. For example, we have a duty, under section 11 of the Children Act 2004 to safeguard and promote the welfare of children. We therefore have to collect and process personal data to enable us to comply with this obligation.
Sometimes we may seek consent to use information in certain ways. This will normally be where the use of the data is not necessary but may be very useful or helpful to us to provide services. For example, where personal information, such as photographs/videos, are used for publicity purposes.
Who we share your information with
Any sharing of information is always made:
- on a case-by-case basis
- using the minimum personal data necessary
- with the appropriate security controls in place
- in line with legislation
Some of the organisations we may share your information with include Department for Education, Ofsted, NHS and other departments within the Council.
Collecting and storing children and young person’s information
We collect children and young person’s information through a secure file transfer from schools as well as directly from families or from information shared by other organisations where agreements are in place.
Information is stored electronically on the City Council’s records management system. Information is also stored securely in other ways, including email accounts and in paper files. We do not process your information outside of the European Economic Area.
We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed in an unauthorised way.
We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach and will notify you of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.
We will hold personal information securely and retain it from the child/young person’s date of birth until they reach the age of 25 (35 years after the case has closed for Education Health and Care plans), after which the information is archived or securely destroyed.
Requesting access to your personal data
Under the Data Protection Act 2018 you have the right to ask for a copy of the information we hold about you/your child. You are also entitled to make a request for personal information on behalf of another adult, provided you have their agreement to do this. Parents, carers or guardians are allowed to make a request for personal information on behalf of their children, although if the children are aged 12 or over then they must give their permission for this.
Details of how to do this can be found on the Newcastle City Council website.
Contact
If you have any questions about how your personal information is handled, please contact our Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@newcastle.gov.uk or by calling 0191 211 6500.
A full version of this privacy notice can be found on the Newcastle City Council website.