This privacy notice tells you about what information we collect about you, how we use that information and who we share it with.
Who are we and what do we do
We provide a variety of advice, support and services for children, young people and families. This is through both statutory (social care) and non-statutory (Early Help) services.
We support children, young people and their families from early pregnancy up until the young person reaches the age of 19 years. For some children and young people who have a disability, up to the age of 25 years.
For the purposes of Data Protection, Cornwall Council is the Data Controller for your information. This is under Registration Number Z1745294.
The type of information collected about you
We may collect various types of personal data about individuals depending on the services you receive and your contact with us, such as your:
- contact details; including name, address, email address, telephone numbers
- date of birth
- proof of identity
- national identifiers such as; NHS number and NI numbers
- information about your family
- lifestyle, social and personal circumstances
- the services you receive
- financial details for purposes of receiving or making payments
- visual images, personal appearance and behaviour
- housing records
- education records
- employment details
This list is not exhaustive and additional information required may depend upon the circumstances of the family.
We may also collect sensitive personal data that may include:
- physical or mental health details
- SEN - Special Education Needs
- racial or ethnic origin
- gender and sexual orientation
- criminal offences (including alleged offences), including information from the Youth Justice Service
- religious or other beliefs of a similar nature
- criminal proceedings, outcomes and sentences
How we collect information about you
Information is collected and shared about you from a number of sources to ensure that we as a service meet you or your family's needs. Information is collected in the following ways:
- face to face
- by secure email
- by post
- by telephone
- through secure health information exchange
- online referral form (for professional use only)
- using assessment tools
- by secure email from those involved in your care
- from other professionals
- from other agencies / charities
- from other departments within the Council
- relatives/carers
- from members of the public making referrals
- direct link to the NHS Spine to get your NHS number
This information is recorded within our electronic case management systems.
We can source additional and specialist information securely with our partner agencies. This will be recorded electronically as to how this information was sourced.
Why we need your information
To enable us to provide services to you it is necessary for us to use your personal information to:
- help assess your needs
- identify the most appropriate services available
To do so we will use the following legal basis for sharing your information:
- Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller Art6 (1)(e) UK GDPR.
- Where we have a statutory obligation to process your personal data, our lawful basis is defined by Art 6(1)(c) UK GDPR.
Legislation which sets out many of the tasks the council is required to undertake with families can include (not exhaustive):
- Children Act 1989 and 2004
- Adoption and Children Act 2002 and associated regulations
- Children (Leaving Care) Act 2000
- Children and Social Work Act 2017
- Childcare Act 2006
- Children and Families Act 2014
- Young People's Act 2008
- Education and Inspections Act 2006
- Education Acts 1944 and 1996
- Education and Skills Act 2008
- Education (Information about Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations (2013)
- Education and Adoption Act 2016
- Education (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2006
- Equality Act 2010
- Transport Act 1985
- The School and Early Years Finance (England) Regulations 2018
For special category data which is more sensitive information, we rely on the following:
- Health and Social Care - we use it for the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services Art9(2)(h) UK GDPR.
- In relation to data relating to criminal convictions, we are authorised by law (in accordance with the UK GDPR) to process criminal conviction data by relying on the Data Protection 2018 (Schedule 1, Part 3).
Who your information can be shared with
We will only share relevant information about you with other services where there is a legal basis for doing so. There are a range of professionals who may be involved in providing services to you. Where appropriate they will be provided with relevant information about you. Agencies we may need to share information with include the following:
- Ofsted
- Our Safeguarding Children Partnership for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly
- Health Agencies, including the Child Protection Information System (CP-IS)
- Police / Youth Justice Service / Probation
- Court
- Cafcass
- Department for Education
- Department for Works and Pensions
- Home Office
- Other Local Authorities
- Education Providers
- Home to school transport providers
- Voluntary sector organisations providing services
- Foster carers, including independent fostering agencies
- South West Fostering Recruitment Hub
- Adopt South West
- Other third-party organisations, as allowed by law other partner agencies that provide services on our behalf
- Internal services within Cornwall Council e.g. Housing, Domestic Abuse Team Benefits, Adult Social Care
- Independent Persons for Statutory Children's Social Care complaints
There are other times where we may need to share your information lawfully to individuals as well as organisations. These include:
- where there is a serious risk of harm to you or to others
- where there are concerns for the welfare of a child
- for the prevention or detection of crime
- where a court order requires us to share information
Supporting Families
Together for Families may have access to additional funding that could enhance service provision such as 'Supporting Families' and may therefore review your data for the purposes of confirming eligibility.
When we collect the data we will advise you who it will be shared with and why.
This is to ensure that you receive appropriate care, support and treatment. Sharing this information also helps avoid you being asked for the same information more than once.
Devon and Cornwall Care Record
Health and social care services in Devon and Cornwall have developed a system to share patient data efficiently and quickly. Ultimately, improving the care you receive.
This shared system is called the Devon and Cornwall Care Record.
It’s important that anyone treating you has access to your shared record so they have all the information they need to care for you. This applies to your routine appointments and also in urgent situations such as:
- going to A&E
- calling 111 or
- going to an out-of-hours appointment
It’s also quicker for staff to access a shared record than to try to contact other staff by phone or email.
Only authorised health and care staff can access the Devon and Cornwall Care Record. The information they see is carefully checked so that it relates to their job. Also, systems do not share all your data – just data that services have agreed is necessary to include.
Find out more information about the Devon and Cornwall Care Record.
How do we keep your information secure?
The security of your personal information is important to us. The records we keep about you are secure and are confidential within the Council. The Council have a range of procedures, polices and systems to ensure that access to your records are controlled appropriately. Anyone who receives information from us is also under a legal duty to only use the information for the purposes agreed and keep the information secure and confidential.
Further information is available in the Council’s corporate privacy notice.
We have a contract with The Access Group to securely store data relating to social care, community health, education and youth services in systems provided by them. You can find more information about The Access Group on their website.
How long we will keep your information
After we deliver a service to you, we have to keep your information as a business record of what was delivered. The type of service you receive will determine how long we have to keep your information. We keep your information different periods depending on law (e.g. the Limitations Act) and how we are advised by Government and these are destroyed securely afterwards:
|
Business area |
Client specific |
Retention period (case closure) |
|
Children and young people social care Case Management |
Management and administration of children and families’ cases, including enquiry processing, referral, needs assessment, care and support planning, key information recording |
Until 25th birthday (unless Looked After, SEN, or Adopted |
|
Children in Care (CIC) In addition: Care leaver records |
Case records for Children in Care. Care plan, reports obtained under regulation 7, any other document created or considered as part of any assessment of Child's needs, or of any review of child's case any court order relating to children, statutory complaints relating to Children's social services, and details of any arrangements that have been made by the responsible authority under regulation 26 and schedule 5. |
At least 10 years from the date on which their approval is terminated. |
|
|
Case records for people who are not approved as a foster parent, or who withdraws their application prior to approval. |
At least three years from the refusal or withdrawal |
|
Adoption |
Adoption records where an Adoption Order is made. |
At least 100 years from the date of the adoption order. |
|
|
Adoption records where an Adoption Order is made before 30 December 2005 |
At least 75 years from the date of the adoption order |
|
|
Adoption records where an Adoption Order is not made |
Keep the child's case record and the prospective adopter's case record for such period as is considered appropriate. Where an adoption order is not made and the child's adoption case record closed, transfer the information from this record to the looked after case record. If the child has never been looked after, destroy the records when no further action is necessary. |
|
Children's homes |
Children's case records for children accommodated in children's homes. |
Until 75th anniversary of the child's birth, or if the child dies before age 18, for 15 years from the date of death. |
|
Child protection/ Safeguarding/ Assessments/Referrals/Children in Need/Serious Case Reviews/Children's Early Help |
Parent and family education support, childcare provision and monitoring, post-16 support, physical and sensory disability support, psychological and behavioural support and assessment, Common Assessment Framework (CAF) |
Until the 25th anniversary of the child's birth (unless Looked After, SEN, or Adopted - see other entries), or if the child dies before age 18, for six years from the date of death. |
|
Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) |
Safeguarding allegations against adults working with children referred to the Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO) |
LADO referrals that do not progress due to lack of evidence, or progress to strategy meeting but are found to be malicious, false or unfounded - review 10 years from closure. LADO referrals that progress to strategy meeting whereby the allegation is found to be unsubstantiated or substantiated - retain until the alleged perpetrator reaches the age of 100. |
|
Child Protection |
Register of Offenders who Pose a Risk to Children |
10 years from the date of sentence. |
Marketing and e-newsletters
Please see the Council’s Stay in Touch privacy notice.
Business intelligence, profiling and automated-decision making
Please see the relevant section of our Corporate privacy notice.
Protecting your information
Please see the relevant section of our Corporate privacy notice.
Your information choice and rights
Please see the relevant section of our Corporate privacy notice.
Further information
Our Data Protection Officer (DPO) provides help and guidance to make sure we apply the best standards to protecting your personal information. If something goes wrong with your personal information, or you have questions about how we process your data, please contact our Data Protection Officer at dpo@cornwall.gov.uk.
If we have not been able to deal with your query, you can also contact the Information Commissioner's Office:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
0303 123 1113
www.ico.org.uk