Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub Privacy Notice

Who are we?

South Tyneside Children's Services and Multi Agency Safeguarding Hub provide services to children, young people, parents and carers in the South Tyneside area. South Tyneside Council is the Data Controller and is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (registration number Z5765988).

We hold information about the children, young people, parents and carers who we provide services to. We look after this information carefully, and we always work to comply with relevant data protection legislation.

What records do we keep?

We keep information about you so we can provide you with services that meet your needs. We collect information for the purposes of identifying extra needs for children and families, keeping children and young people safe, ensuring children and young people get the best services they need, to help prevent or detect crime and to maintain public safety.

We keep information about past and present referrals that have been made to us. These referrals may include personal information relating to:

any person at risk
any suspected perpetrator(s)
parents, next of kin, family members, carers
any other person or persons at risk who may be living at the property

We use your information to:

Assess and provide the services you need or that we are statutorily required to provide
Keep in touch with you
Look into any concerns you may have
Produce statistics and give information to other government organisations
Monitor and plan our services

The information we hold about you depends on your circumstances and the services we provide to you. In all cases, we hold your name and address. We might also hold some other information about you:

Your date of birth
Your gender
Your ethnicity
Other contact details such as telephone numbers and email addresses
Other personal identifiers such as national insurance number, local authority reference number, health reference number
Information about any medical conditions you may have
Information about the services you receive or have received from us
Details of our contract with you, any assessments you have had and your care plan
Information about you from other organisations including any previous involvement with other agencies
Previous convictions and / or information about the risk you pose to others
Domestic violence history

We also collect information about professionals and members of the public who make referrals to us, including:

Name and contact information
Job title
Organisation
Relationship to the child at risk

Please note that professionals cannot remain anonymous when making a referral.

We may collect information about you in several ways. This could be information provided to us by you, such as filling in a form or meeting with a member of staff. Sometimes we get information about you from other services you are involved with, such as schools or health visitors, but this will always comply with data protection laws.

What is our legal basis for collecting your personal data?

Most of the reasons why we process your personal data are contained in legislation to protect and safeguard children and young people. We will use your personal information in the following circumstances:

UK GDPR Article 6(1) (a) - that you have consented to the processing
UK GDPR Article 6(1)(c) - processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject
UK GDPR Article 6(1)(e) - the processing is necessary for you to perform a task in the public interest or for your official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law

To process special category data we must also be able to identify a condition in Article 9 (2) UK GDPR. Most commonly, we will use your personal information under the following conditions:

processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person where the data subject is physically or legally incapable of giving consent
processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest and is set out in law
processing is necessary for the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services

To process criminal offence and criminal conviction we use Article 10 UK GDPR and schedule 1 conditions - Criminal offence data | ICO.

Whilst the majority of information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it is provided to us on a voluntary basis. In order to comply with data protection legislation, we will inform you whether you are required to provide certain information to us or if you have a choice in this. We will also tell you how you can change your mind if you no longer want us to process your information.

What information do we share and who do we share it with?

There are times when we need to share and receive information from other organisations so that you receive the services you need. Sometimes, the information we share is to produce statistics, so you will not be able to be identified from this information.

We will only share your information with other people or organisations in line with the law. By law, the organisations we share your information with must keep it confidential and use it only for the purposes allowed.

We may share or receive your information from the following organisations:

Connexions
Department for Education (DfE)
Office for Standards in Education, Children Services and Skills (Ofsted)Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC)
Department for Work and Pensions
Nurseries, schools and colleges
Your GP, health visitors and other medical professionals
Integrated care boards
Hospitals and NHS trusts
Your local primary care trust
Care providers
Criminal justice agencies such as Northumbria Police, the courts, youth offending services, probation services, community rehabilitation services
Partner agencies such as children's centres, commissioned services and organisations that we ask to provide services to you, community and voluntary sector, Job Centre Plus, other local authorities, housing providers, domestic abuse services, substance misuse services, any other support agencies that are relevant to you and your family's needs

We will usually ask for your permission to share your information. However, if information is needed as part of our statutory duties or as part of a criminal investigation, or when we need to protect you or other people from harm, we may share your information without consent.

Personal data that is collected for any of the purposes outlined in this notice is never used for direct marketing purposes and is not sold on to any other third parties.

How long do we keep your records?

We will only keep your records as long as we have a business need for them in accordance with our retention schedule, or as long as the law tells us to keep them.

Transfer outside the UK

We will not normally need to transfer your information outside of the UK. If your data needs to be transferred, we will make sure that an adequate level of protection is in place.

Automated Decisions

No automated decisions are made using the personal data you provide for the above purposes.

Your rights

Under data protection legislation, you have the right to request access to information about them that we hold about you. If you are aged 13 or over, we will usually consider you to be old enough to understand your rights and to make a Subject Access Request yourself, if you want to. If you are younger than 13, your parent will normally have to make a request on your behalf.

To make a request for your personal information, please contact the Data Protection Team at data.protection@southtyneside.gov.uk or by calling 0191 424 6539.

You also 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
claim compensation for damages caused by a breach of the Data Protection regulations

If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, we request that you raise your concern with us in the first instance.

The contact details of our Data Protection Officer are:

Nicola Robason, Director of Governance and Corporate Affairs
Email: data.protection@southtyneside.gov.uk
Telephone: 0191 424 6539

If you feel that the Council has not handled your information correctly you can contact the Data Protection Officer at the above contact details or the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO). The ICO is the Government's Independent Body responsible for overseeing data protection. In most cases the ICO will only review cases that have exhausted the Council's internal procedures.

The ICO's contact details are as follows: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, SK9 5AF or by email to casework@ico.org.uk

More information can be found on the ICO's website at www.ico.org.uk

We will notify you of any changes to this privacy notice

This privacy notice was last updated on 11 October 2023. If we use your personal data for any new purposes, updates will be made to the policy information and changes communicated via our website, where necessary in accordance with current data protection legislation.