How we use your personal information within the Attendance and Wellbeing Service
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.
In this privacy notice we have summarised some of the key ways in which we use your personal information within the Attendance and Wellbeing Service. This information should be read in conjunction with the Council’s corporate privacy notice
1. Who we are, what we do
The Council’s Attendance and Wellbeing Service supports children, young people and their families who are experiencing problems or difficulties that impact on their child’s ability to attend school or take part in learning.
Our aim is to ensure that every child and young person can reach their full potential and can be:
- Healthy
- Stay safe
- Enjoy and achieve
- Make a positive contribution
- Achieve economic well-being
In order to provide this support we work closely with other Council services and partner organisations – more information on these organisation are provided below.
When providing this service we follow the guidance in the All Wales Attendance Framework to ensure that our legal obligations as a Council are fulfilled.
View further details about the Attendance and Wellbeing Service
2. What and whose personal information we hold?
We hold information on past and present children and young people who have been referred to the Service for specialist support, guidance or advice.
The type of information we collect and use to provide our support services will typically include:
- Information on the child or young person being referred (i.e. pupil):
- Contact details such as name, address, telephone number;
- Reason for the referral;
- Prior contact between the child, young person and their family and the organisation that made the referral (e.g. the school);
- Date of birth;
- Gender;
- Details on how well the child/young person performs at school e.g. school grades, examination results etc.
In certain circumstances, we may also need to collect and use more sensitive information about the child or young person depending on the difficulties they are experiencing. This may include information relating to:
- Health, wellbeing and special educational needs.
- Child Looked After status (e.g., in care) and any safeguarding that might be relevant
- Ethnicity
- Religion
- Sexual orientation
We also collect information relating to the child or young person’s parents/carers and sometimes family members. At a minimum we will need to know:
- Contact details (including name, address, telephone number, email address)
- Date of birth (to be used if court proceedings have been initiated)
- Family environment / situation
3. Where does the service get my information from?
The personal information we collect about the child, young person and their families can come from a variety of different sources as listed below:
- The vast majority of the information we collect will be provided to us directly by the child, young person and their parent/carer for example during support services, home visits, telephone calls and by letter.
- We will also receive information from the organisation making the referral, other Council services and trusted partner organisations that we work closely with and are involved in providing support to the child or young person. These organisations will vary depending on the difficulties the child/young person is experiencing and the support services they require.
- The service also generates its own information such as assessments and progress reports and recommendations.
4. What we will do with your personal information?
In the main we will us this information to:
- Provide advice and guidance to schools regarding the difficulties the child or young person is experiencing so that they can put support in place to assist them to reach their full potential;
- Hold joint meetings (known as panel meetings) with our partners to review the child’s / young person situation and to identify and deliver the best possible support for the child
- Monitor progress of the support provided to the child / young person and make recommendations.
- Work with other Council services to gather the information needed to made an accurate assessment on the child’s needs and to arrange the support that they need e.g. financial services (free school meals, housing benefit), school admissions, access and inclusion, children’s services etc.
- Work with other local authorities if a child/family has moved in or out of RCT to help them establish a child’s whereabouts;
- Work with the Magistrates Court in circumstances where we have to start court proceedings (please note if this happens we will ensure that you are kept informed at every stage);
- To ensure the safeguarding and wellbeing of children and young people.
5. What is the legal basis for the use of this information?
The legal basis for our use of the personal information will generally be one or more of the following:
- To satisfy our legal obligations under:
- The Education Act 1996
- The Education (Pupil Registration) (Wales) Regulations 2010
- The Crime and Disorder Act, 1998
- The Social Services and Wellbeing Act (Wales) 2014
- To carry out a task in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority in our capacity as a public body.
6. Does the service share my personal information with any other organisation?
As mentioned above, for the Service to undertake its legal duties and to provide the child / young person and their families with the support they need we are required to share information with a number of trusted third party organisations and partners.
These partners will vary depending on the difficulties the child / young person is facing and the support they require, but will typically include:
- Child's school (past and present)
- Health Services such as the local health board, doctor, health visitor, hospital, consultants etc.
- Other Council Department such as Children’s Services, Access and Inclusion, Schools Admissions, Free School Meals, Housing Benefits, Housing, Youth Offending Service etc.
- Other Councils who have or have had involvement with the child or their family (e.g. where the child has moved).
- Magistrate Court
- Law enforcement agencies such as the Police (in the case of safeguarding concerns)
- Voluntary sector agencies involved in providing support to the child / young person
7. How long will my information be kept?
We will keep your personal information for up to 7 years.
8. Your information, your rights
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) outlines your rights, including the right to access the personal information the services hold 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: AWS@rctcbc.gov.uk
By telephone: 01443 744298
In writing: Attendance and Wellbeing Service, The Pavillions, Clydach Vale, CF40 2XX