How we use your personal information for Essential Skills purposes
The Council provides services for local communities and the people who live in them. Undertaking this work means that we must collect and use information about the people we provide services to and keep a record of those services. Because we collect and use personal information about individuals we must make sure that they know what we intend to do with their information and who it may be shared with.
We have summarised in this privacy notice some of the key ways in which we use your personal information for Essential Skills purposes. This information should be read in conjunction with the Council’s corporate privacy notice.
1. Who we are, what we do.
Essential Skills provides courses, run by adult education tutors in community venues throughout RCT, for learners to attend to improve their literacy and numeracy skills.
2. What and whose personal information we hold?
We hold information on past and present learners who have enrolled on to the programme, such as:
- Full name including maiden name
- Address
- Date of birth
- National Insurance Number
- Contact information
- Disability
- Ethnicity
- Employment status
- Attendance
- Essential skills level
- Individual learning plans
3. Where does the service get my information from?
We obtain this personal information directly from the person who is taking part in the programme. It is collected via the enrolment form at the start of the course.
We may also receive information from trusted third party organisations if they are making a referral on behalf of the individual such as the Job Centre, Communities for Work+.
We also generate our own information about a person whilst they are on the course. For example details of training and the support we provide as well as any qualifications they achieve.
4. What we will do with your personal information?
We will use this information to:
- Process the referral / application onto the chosen course.
- Provide advice, support and guidance.
- Find suitable courses / training.
- Monitor attendance and progress.
- Contact learners if a course is cancelled / postponed.
- Produce and provide reports to the Welsh Government to demonstrate that the project is being run correctly and in accordance with the terms of the funding.
- To give evidence of achievement to awarding bodies so that certificates can be awarded.
5. What is the legal basis for the use of this information?
Data Protection law says that we are allowed to use and share personal information only where we have a proper and lawful reason for doing so.
Our lawful basis for processing personal information to deliver the Essential Skills Programme is to exercise our functions as a public authority and in the public interest i.e. to improve literacy and numeracy skills of Adults in RCT.
6. Does the service share my personal information with any other organisation?
We work alongside a number of trusted partner organisations to deliver our services. We will share personal information with these partners as follows:
- Welsh Government – to demonstrate that the project is being run correctly and in accordance with the terms of the funding.
- Coleg Y Cymoedd – to demonstrate that the project is being run correctly and in accordance with the terms of the funding.
- Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council – Learner portfolios are passed to Merthyr CBC, who verify the accreditation with the awarding body, which is Agored Cymru. Agored Cymru then provide the certificate.
We also work with a number IT companies that provide us with business systems, solutions, support and maintenance. In order to provide us with their services, fulfil their contractual obligations and resolve any technical issues, these companies may need to access systems where personal information is stored.
- Tribal (EBS) – a student information system
- Welsh Government’s Lifelong Learning Wales Record (LLWR)
- Tribal - Wales Essential Skills Toolkit (WEST) – a system used to assess a learner’s initial literacy and numeracy skills.
7. How long will my information be kept?
All enrolment forms, registers and records of outcomes are kept for a period of 3 years.
8. Your information, your rights
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) gives you important rights, including the right to access the personal information the service holds about you.
View further details on your information rights and how to exercise them.
9. Contact us
If you have any concerns or would like to know more about how the service using your personal information please contact us in one of the following ways:
By email : llcreception@CampwsGartholwg.org.uk
By telephone : 01443 570 075
In writing : The Lifelong Learning Centre
Gartholwg Community Campus
St. Illtyd’s Road
Church Village
Pontypridd
CF38 1RQ