What information do we need?
Argyll and Bute Council will act as the ‘Data Controller’ for the personal data you provide to us. The Data Protection Officer, who is responsible for ensuring personal data is managed in accordance with data protection legislation, can be contacted as follows:
Address: Iain Jackson, Governance and Risk Manager, Argyll and Bute Council, Governance and Law, Kilmory, Lochgilphead PA31 8RT.
Email: Iain.Jackson@argyll-bute.gov.uk or data.protection@argyll-bute.gov.uk
Telephone: 01546 604188 or 01546 605522
The information we need to collect will include basic personal data such as name and age, however we will also need special categories of data such as medical and health conditions, additional support needs and gender. Other information may be required but we will only ask for data that is needed to provide support for education. The information may come from a variety of sources such as
- You
- Your parents or carers, or from
- Teachers at school.
We might also get information from other people who are already involved with your child. This could, for example, be
- Audiology professionals from the NHS
- A specialist teacher
- A health visitor or a speech and language therapist
- The school doctor, or another medical adviser
- A social worker who knows you and your family.
If you tell us that another professional has been involved with your child, we might ask them if they will share any relevant information with us. However, we will do this only if you agree to us contacting them.
When we are using this more sensitive type of personal information, our legal basis is usually that we require the information:
• for the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services; or
• for reasons of substantial public interest for aims that are proportionate and which contain appropriate safeguarding measures
Why we need this information?
Your information is being collected for the following purpose:
We need information to help us to understand the situation that you or the school would like us to assist with.
In many cases this is to help the school or the education authority in meeting a pupil’s additional support needs. It can also to help you, as parents, in your legal duty to educate your child.
If you do not provide this information then we will be unable to provide this service to you. We will not collect any personal data from you that isn’t needed for delivery of those services.
The legal basis for collecting your information in these circumstances is
Consent: We require your consent to process this information. If you do not give consent we will be unable to provide you with Hearing Impaired services. We will also process more sensitive personal information about you on the basis that you have given us your explicit consent to do so.
What we will do with your information
All of the information we collect from you will be processed by staff in the United Kingdom.
Your information will be shared with the recipients or categories of recipients listed below:-
To ensure that children and young people get the help they need, we often have to share some of the information we have with other agencies. For example information on our involvement is usually sent to the school, and sometimes to education authority staff, the school doctor or a hospital consultant who is already involved with you.
We only share information which is relevant to providing an adequate and efficient education for you, and we will normally ask for your consent when we are sharing data, particularly medical, health and other sensitive personal information. When we send copies of information to other agencies, we will always put a ‘Copy to’ list at the end of our reports to show who it has gone to.
There are a limited number of exceptions where we do not have to get your permission before sharing information but we must have a strong lawful reason for doing this. For example if we believe that a child is at serious risk, we must share this information with other agencies, e.g. such as a child protection concern or allegation.
We are sometimes asked to give information to partner agencies that are not involved with you, but that will be involved with you in the future. For example, you may have moved to another part of the country and your new authority asks for information to help them plan for your education. We might be approached by a further education college as you leave school. In these circumstances we would ask your permission before sharing any information with them, and we will only send information which is recent and relevant.
You should also be aware that your data will be stored on servers located within the United Kingdom; the data will not be processed outside the European Union. Most of the information we hold is in paper form and kept in an individual file in a locked cabinet. Electronically held data is stored securely with limited access. We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that your data is kept securely and more information on how we do this can be provided by the Data Protection Officer, or on request to the Teacher of the Deaf.
How long will we keep your information?
We will usually keep your information until your child is 25 years old, after this period it will be destroyed under secure arrangements if it is no longer required for the lawful purpose for which it was obtained. More information on our retention schedule can be provided by the Data Protection Officer, or on request to the Teacher of the Deaf.
Your Rights
When you provide information to the Council, you will have the following rights:
- to withdraw consent at any time, where the lawful basis specified above is consent
- to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office – see below for details
- to request access to your personal data – please contact the Data Protection Officer if you wish to submit a request.
- to data portability, where the Legal basis specified above is i) consent or ii) performance of a contract
- to request rectification or erasure of your personal data, as far as the legislation permits – please contact the Data Protection Officer and provide details of what data you wish to be rectified or erased.
You can find out more about your rights in relation to data protection here: www.argyll-bute.gov.uk/data-protection or from the Data Protection Officer by telephone or in writing, as detailed above.
Information Commissioner’s Office
The ICO is the UK’s independent body set up to uphold information rights.
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Email: casework@ico.org.uk
The Information Commissioner’s Office – Scotland
45 Melville Street, Edinburgh, EH3 7HL
Telephone: 0303 123 1115
Email: Scotland@ico.org.uk