Privacy notices

How we use children and young person’s information

We are committed to protecting your privacy when you use our services.

This privacy notice informs children, young people and their parents/carers how Croydon Council use your personal information and how we protect your privacy in compliance with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018.

This notice explains what information we hold about pupils, the reasons for holding it, the third parties to whom it may be passed on to when carrying our statutory functions, and any other activity involving our use of your personal data, such as collecting, storing, sharing, and destroying.

The categories of personal information that we collect, process, hold and share:

• personal information (such as name, date of birth, unique pupil number and address)
• characteristics (such as ethnicity, language and free school meal eligibility)
• special education needs information
• education assessment, progress and attainment information
• education/learning history and planned destinations
• relevant medical and health information
• attendance, exclusions and behavioural information
• parents/carers contact information
• youth offending information
• child employment and performance licensing information
• relevant social care information records
• youth activities participation records

Why we collect and use this information

We use children and young person’s data to:

• enable us to carry out  statutory functions for which we are responsible, including school admissions, attendance, exclusions, alternative education provision, encouraging post-16 education/training participation, safeguarding and welfare of children  
• assess any Special Educational Needs a child or young person may have
• produce statistics and reports which inform decisions such as the funding of education, training provision and school place planning. Statistics are used in such a way that individual children cannot be identified from them.
• assess performance and to set targets for schools’ improvement
• evaluate, monitor and review service provision
• evaluate and develop education policy and strategies
• comply with Department for Education (DfE) and other government departments’ research and statistical returns
• inform targeting of support and services to families, children and young people who are most in need

The lawful basis on which we use this information

We use your personal information:

• when you, or your legal representative, have given consent
• to comply with any  data sharing arrangement
• when it is necessary to perform our statutory educational duties under relevant legislation and associated statutory guidance including but not limited to:
• promoting the education or wellbeing of Croydon’s children/young people
• safeguarding and promoting the welfare of Croydon’s children including those children placed out of authority
• ensuring fair access to educational opportunity
• promoting the educational achievement of Croydon’s Looked After Children including those children/young people placed out of authority
• if we need to establish, exercise or defend our legal rights, including protecting public interests or in the exercise of official authority
• It is necessary to protect someone in an emergency
• It is necessary to deliver health or social care services
• For law enforcement, prosecutions and Court proceedings
• when it is necessary in a contract for the supply of services

Collecting this information

Whilst the majority of children and young person’s information provided to us is mandatory due to compliance with a legal obligation, some of it is provided to us on a voluntary basis. To comply with the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, we will inform you whether you are required by law to provide certain information to us; if you do have a choice to provide information that is not mandatory, your explicit consent will be requested. You do have the right to withdraw your consent if this is applicable to processing your data. If this is the case, we will let you know.

The parent/carer is responsible for their child’s consent up to age 16. From age 16 onwards the young person can provide their own consent.

Storing this information

Personal data will not be retained for longer than necessary in relation to the purposes for which they were collected. Based on best practice and statutory guidelines, data storage and retention periods vary depending on service need and the age of a child at point of interaction with our services.

There is usually a legal reason for keeping your personal information for a set period of time. For each service, our data retention schedule lists how long your information may be kept for – this ranges from months for some records to decades for more sensitive records. Following the relevant retention period, we will securely destroy the information.

Who we share this information with

We may share children and young person’s information with:

• council’s internal departments so they can carry out their statutory roles and support our service (e.g. social care, housing, Complaints Team, Business Intelligence Team, Corporate Finance Team, Legal Services Department, Information Management Team)
• the Department for Education (DfE) who have legal powers to collect pupil, child and workforce data that schools, local authorities and awarding bodies hold
• Home Office and other agencies with whom we have a duty to co-operate (eg Ofsted, HMRC, Education Skills and Funding Agency)
• youth support services to enable them to provide information regarding training and careers as part of the education or training of 13-19 year olds
• schools and other educational/training settings
• governing bodies of schools, including non-maintained special schools
• governing bodies of further education colleges and sixth form colleges
• proprietors of academies including free schools, university technical colleges and studio schools
• management committees of pupil referral units
• independent schools and independent specialist providers
• early years providers in the maintained, private, voluntary and independent sectors that are funded by Croydon Council
• The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability)
• NHS commissioning board, NHS trusts, local health boards, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs)
• other local authorities (education, social care, relevant housing, employment and other services)
• emergency and medical services (eg ambulance, school nurse or GP)
• commissioned social care services
• youth offending and probation services, police and courts, and youth custodial establishments
• employers of young people
• relevant agencies and parties in relation to safeguarding and child protection matters
• your legal representative or another advocate (if you have instructed one)

Education and training

We collect and use personal information for the purpose of meeting our obligation to provide your child with education  and to work with our partners to provide and improve education and training services to children and young people in the Croydon area.

We hold information about young people living, looked after and/or educated in our area, including about their education and training history. This is to support the provision of their education up to the age of 20 (and beyond this age for those with a special educational need or disability). Education institutions and other public bodies (including the DfE, police, probation and health services) may pass information to us to help us to support these provisions. 

Youth support services and pupils aged 13+

Once our pupils reach the age of 13, we pass their contact details to the provider of youth support services as they have responsibilities in relation to the education or training of 13 to 19 year olds. This enables them to provide youth support service and careers advice.

A parent / guardian can request that only their child’s name, address and date of birth be passed to their provider of youth support services by informing us at post16@croydon.gov.uk. This right is transferred to the child/pupil once he/she reaches the age of 16

Pupils aged 16+

We will also share relevant information about pupils not in education, training or employment (such as their contact details) aged 16+ with the provider of youth support services as they have responsibilities in relation to the education or training of 13-19 year olds.

This enables them to provide the following services:

• post-16 education and training
• youth support services
• careers advice

For more information about services for young people, visit the Education, Training & Jobs webpage (Young Croydon website).

Looked after children and previously looked after children

Local authorities must discharge their statutory duty of the Children Act 1989 to promote the educational achievement of looked after children. That includes those children placed out of authority.

Local authorities have a duty under the Children Act 1989 (as amended by the Children and Social Work Act 2017) to promote the educational achievement of previously looked after children in their area.

The National Pupil Database (NPD)

The law requires us to provide information about our pupils to the DfE as part of statutory data collections. Some of this information is then stored in the national pupil database (NPD). The legislation that requires this is the Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.

To find out more about the NPD, go to https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-pupil-database-user-guide-and-supporting-information.

The Department may share information about our pupils from the NPD with third parties who promote the education or well-being of children in England by:

• conducting research or analysis
• producing statistics
• providing information, advice or guidance

The Department has robust processes in place to ensure the confidentiality of our data is maintained and there are stringent controls in place regarding access and use of the data. Decisions on whether DfE releases data to third parties are subject to a strict approval process and based on a detailed assessment of:

• who is requesting the data
• the purpose for which it is required
• the level and sensitivity of data requested: and
• the arrangements in place to store and handle the data

To be granted access to pupil information, organisations must comply with strict terms and conditions covering the confidentiality and handling of the data, security arrangements and retention and use of the data.

For more information about the department’s data sharing process, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/data-protection-how-we-collect-and-share-research-data

Requesting access to your personal data

Under GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, parents/carers and young people have the right to request access to information that we hold about them. To make a request for your (or your child’s) personal information, contact the Council’s Information Management Team at SAR@croydon.gov.uk.

Further information

The GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 give you a number of rights to control what personal information is used by us and how it is used by us. Information about your data rights is listed in the Council’s corporate privacy notice on the council’s website.

If you have any questions or concerns about the way we collect, store or use your personal information, please contact in the first instance CRSProject@croydon.gov.uk.

For independent advice about data protection issues, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk .

We reserve the right to amend this privacy notice at any time and will keep it under review. If we do make any changes, we will post the current version to our website at this address.

Last updated: May 2018