Privacy notices

Slough Borough Council collects and holds personal information relating to children and young people. We need this information in order to comply with the statutory obligations placed on us by the government and so we can deliver and manage services for and on behalf of educational providers e.g. schools as well as early years education providers, childcare providers, children, young people and families.

The information we collect comes from the sources above and from other organisations. All information is held and processed in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018.

For more information, please visit the Your Privacy page on this site.

The categories of children and young people’s information that we process include:

• personal identifiers and contacts (such as name, unique pupil number, contact details and address)
• characteristics (such as ethnicity, language, and free school meal eligibility)
• safeguarding information (such as court orders and professional involvement)
• special educational needs (including the needs and ranking)
• attendance (such as sessions attended, number of absences, absence reasons and any previous schools attended)
• assessment and attainment (such as key stage 1 and phonics results, post 16 courses enrolled for and any relevant results)
• behavioural information (such as exclusions and any relevant alternative provision placements put in place)

Why we collect and use child and young person’s information

We use children and young people’s data to:

• enable us to carry out specific functions for which we are legally responsible
• enable us to deliver and manage services including those provided for and on behalf of children, young people, parents, schools and other stakeholders
• assess the planning and performance of new and existing services
• derive statistics which inform key policy decisions such as the funding of schools
• assess performance and targets of our schools
• help investigate any worries or complaints you may have about the services we deliver

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the legal basis / bases we rely on for processing personal and special category information for the above purposes are:

• Article 6 – General Data Protection Regulation, paragraph 1, section (a), (c), (d).
• Article 9 – General Data Protection Regulation, paragraph 2, section (a)

In addition, we collect information on our children and young people in order to comply with the obligations placed on us by the Department for Education (DfE) i.e. for the purpose of statutory data collections, as outlined under section 3 of The Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.

Further information on the statutory data collections we are required to participate in, and their legal basis can be found on the GOV.UK site.

Collecting children and young people’s information

We collect personal information via secure file transfer systems including those used between schools, local authorities and partner organisations. Information is also obtained via online or hard copy application / data collection forms.

Children and young people’s data is essential for the local authority’s operational use. Whilst the majority of personal information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it is requested on a voluntary basis. In order to comply with the data protection legislation, we will inform you at the point of collection, whether you are required to provide certain personal information to us or if you have a choice in this.

Storing children and young people’s information

We hold our data on secure systems and premises, and retain it for no longer than necessary. All of our staff undertake mandatory information security and data protection training and understand their obligations with regard to data handling. Access to systems, networks and premises are strictly controlled. All technology is regularly tested and patched to ensure the highest possible level of security.

Who we share children and young people’s information with

We routinely share children and young people’s information with:

• youth support services (pupils aged 13+)
• the Department for Education (DfE)
• NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit’s (SCWCSU) Child Health Information Service

We also share information with the Police on receipt of a formal request in order to help prevent and detect crime.

Why we regularly share children and young people’s information

We do not share information about our children and young people with anyone without consent unless the law and our policies allow us to do so. Further information on the legal basis for sharing can be found in the sections which follow.

Education and training

We hold information about young people living 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). Under parts 1 and 2 of the Education and Skills Act 2008, education institutions and other public bodies (including the Department for Education (DfE), police, probation and health services) may pass information to us to help us to support these provisions.

Youth support services - pupils aged 13+

Once our pupils reach the age of 13, we also pass pupil information to the provider of youth support services as they have responsibilities in relation to the education or training of 13-19 year olds under section 507B of the Education Act 1996.

This enables them to provide services as follows:

• youth support services
• careers advisers
• post-16 education and training providers

The information shared is limited to the child’s name, address and date of birth. However where a parent or guardian provides their consent, other information relevant to the provision of youth support services will be shared. This right is transferred to the child / pupil once he/she reaches the age 16.

Data is securely transferred to and held by the youth support service and is held for no longer than necessary.

Department for Education

The Department for Education (DfE) collects personal data from educational settings and local authorities via various statutory data collections. We are required to share information about our children and young people with the Department for Education (DfE) for the purpose of those data collections, under section 3 of The Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2013.

All data is transferred securely and held by DfE under a combination of software and hardware controls which meet the current government security policy framework.

For more information, please see the ‘How Government uses your data’ section.

NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Support Unit’s Child Health Information Service (SCWCSU)

NHS England has responsibility within the NHS by section 7A of the National Health Act 2006 and agreements made under it for the commissioning of a Child Health Information System (CHIS) services and systems.

South Central and West CSU is commissioned to maintain the CHIS, as data processor on behalf of NHS England as the data controller.

Both SCWCSU and Slough Borough Council have a statutory obligation to support the delivery of the healthy child programme and the sharing of data ensures that service delivery is efficient in front line delivery, and therefore provides the best outcomes for children. The sharing of data with the NHS is required:

• to enable the mandatory and statutory recording and reporting of Child Health data.
• to assist with checking that children of statutory school age living in the Local Authority are known to the Local Authority, GP’s and SCWCSU.
• to assist the Named Nurse for Looked After Children in ensuring all Looked After Children have a complete immunisation status.

The legal basis for sharing is covered in S251b - Health and Social Care (Safety and Quality) Act 2015.

Requesting access to your personal data

Under data protection legislation, parents and pupils have the right to request access to information about them that we hold. For more information, please refer to the Your Privacy page on this website.

You have the right to:

• object to processing of personal data that is likely to cause, or is causing, damage or distress
• prevent processing for the purpose of direct marketing
• object to decisions being taken by automated means
• in certain circumstances, have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed; and
• a right to seek redress, either through the ICO, or through the courts

If you have a concern or complaint about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, you should raise your concern with us in the first instance or directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

Contact

If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact: dataprotectionofficer@slough.gov.uk.

How Government uses your data

The pupil data that we lawfully share with the DfE through data collections:

• underpins school funding, which is calculated based upon the numbers of children and their characteristics in each school.
• informs ‘short term’ education policy monitoring and school accountability and intervention (for example, school GCSE results or Pupil Progress measures).
• supports ‘longer term’ research and monitoring of educational policy (for example how certain subject choices go on to affect education or earnings beyond school).

Data collection requirements

To find out more about the data collection requirements placed on us by the Department for Education (for example; via the school census on the GOV.UK site).

The National Pupil Database (NPD)

Much of the data about pupils in England goes on to be held in the National Pupil Database (NPD).

The NPD is owned and managed by the Department for Education and contains information about pupils in schools in England. It provides invaluable evidence on educational performance to inform independent research, as well as studies commissioned by the Department.

It is held in electronic format for statistical purposes. This information is securely collected from a range of sources including schools, local authorities and awarding bodies.

Find out more about the National Pupil Database (NPD) on the GOV.UK site.

Sharing by the Department for Education (DfE)

The law allows the Department to share pupils’ personal data with certain third parties, including:

• schools
• local authorities
• researchers
• organisations connected with promoting the education or wellbeing of children in England
• other government departments and agencies
• organisations fighting or identifying crime

More information about the Department’s NPD data sharing process is on the GOV.UK site. 

Organisations fighting or identifying crime may use their legal powers to contact DfE to request access to individual level information relevant to detecting that crime. Whilst numbers fluctuate slightly over time, DfE typically supplies data on around 600 pupils per year to the Home Office and roughly 1 per year to the Police.

For information about which organisations the Department has provided pupil information, (and for which project) or to access a monthly breakdown of data share volumes with Home Office and the Police please visit the DfE external data sharing page on the GOV.UK site.

You can contact DfE via the GOV.UK site.