Privacy notice: The Attendance Monitoring Team

1. Introduction

This Privacy Notice explains types of personal information we may collect about you when you interact with us. It also explains how we will store and handle that information, as well as keep it safe and secure.

We will keep our privacy notice under regular review and will advise you of any updates on our website.

This Notice was last reviewed in July 2021.

2. Who we are

The Attendance Monitoring Team works with Schools and Academies to provide support to children and their families in connection with school attendance and accessing education. Support to families is usually advice and guidance and in extreme cases legal action. The Attendance Monitoring Team have a responsibility to monitor children missing from education, child employment and entertainment licences, chaperone approval and school exclusions.

The Attendance Monitoring Team has a range of statutory and discretionary responsibilities. Enforcing school attendance is the main role of the Attendance Monitoring Team using Penalty Notice Warnings, Penalty Notices and Court Action.

For the purposes of Data Protection legislation, South Tyneside Council is the Data Controller.

3. What type of personal information do we collect?

In order to effectively and efficiently process requests for Penalty Notice Warnings, Penalty Notices, Court Documents, School Exclusion, Children Missing Education, Electively Home Educated Children, Child Employment, Entertainment and Chaperone Approval, the following information is collected:

Name
Address
Date of Birth
Gender
Contact number
Email address
Details of school absence and attendance
Education Provision
Medical information
Details of parent/carer including contact number, email address, address
Additional information in support of referrals/applications which can include any detail from the referrer/applicant

4. How do we collect personal information?

We may collect your personal information in a number of ways, for example:

Referrals from schools/academies
Applications from entertainment production organisations
In person, by telephone or in writing - e.g. letter or email
Family members acting on your behalf
In writing - for example letter or email
Online application forms
Information from another internal department
Information from an external agency
Solicitors acting on your behalf
Enquiries received from the following organisations:
- Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS)
- Police forces
- Home Office
- Children and Family Court Advice and Support Service (Cafcass)
- NHS e.g. GP, Consultant, School Nurse

5. Why we need your personal information and how we use it (purpose and legal basis)

We collect and process personal data on a lawful basis (Children and Families Act 2014 and the Equality Act 2010, S444(1) OF THE EDUCATION ACT 1996 Criminal Procedure Rules r.16.2, Criminal Justice Act 1967).

We collect and hold personal information relating to children, young people, parents, carers, and other family members. We also receive information from schools, academies, other local authorities, health and social care providers and the Department for Education (DFE)

We need to confirm your identity when processing an Enhanced DBS check with Disclosure and Barring Service, when we process child entertainment and chaperone approval requests so may need to collect photographic ID such as a passport or driving licence. We will also need to confirm your address so will need a copy of a utility bill containing your personal information. We may also need to know any relevant personal information that is relevant to your request in order to help locate any records we hold on you.

We also receive enquiries from various organisations listed in section 4 above who will provide personal details of the individuals they are making enquiries about.

6. Who might we share your personal information with?

To enable South Tyneside Council to provide effective joined-up social care and/or health partners and/or education providers we may share personal information.

Internal Council departments
Other local authorities (education, social care and other relevant services)
Employees and governing bodies of schools including non-maintained special schools, colleges and sixth form schools and academies.
Employees of entertainment production organisations and entertainment agencies
The management committees of pupil referral units
All early year's providers in the maintained, private, voluntary and independent sectors.
National Health Service including GP's, School Nurse Service and Consultants
Youth Offending Teams and relevant youth custodial establishments
Other third-party organisations as allowed by law
Agencies with whom we have a duty to cooperate with such as the police.
Language translation services, where it is necessary to translate information into or from a foreign language.
Solicitors, advocates or other support services nominated by you to assist you
Local Government Ombudsman and other regulatory authorities and auditors

We will not share your personal information with any other third parties unless you have specifically asked us to, or if we have a legal obligation to do so.

If you require more information about how the DfE stores and uses this data please visit https://www.gov.uk/guidance/data-protection-how-we-collect-and-share-research-data

We have a legal obligation to collect or use personal information to comply with the Council's legal duties.

You can decide you do not wish your personal information to be collected or shared or may want to set conditions on our use of it. If you do this, we may not be able to provide the service required or may only be able to provide it in a limited or different way.

We do not pass personal information to third parties for marketing, sales or any other commercial purposes.

7. How long will we keep your personal information?

Data will be kept in identifiable form for no longer than necessary as required for the purposes described. Following that, it will be securely deleted or anonymised if it is still required for ongoing statistical and trend analysis purposes.

8. How do we keep your personal information secure?

Your personal information is held on the Council's secure network and within our Attendance Monitoring electronic folder for the purpose of assessing, monitoring and processing referrals and applications.

Your personal information is protected using up to date technical and organisational security measures.

9. Is your personal information used overseas?

10. What are your rights?

Your individual rights are set out in law. Subject to some legal exemptions, you have the following rights:

Right to be informed
Right of access
Right to rectification
Right to erasure
Right to restrict processing
Right to data portability
Right to object
Rights in relating to automated decision making and profiling

Please see the relevant section of the Corporate privacy notice for further information.

11. Contact us

The Data Protection law gives you the right to apply for a copy of personal information about yourself. This is called a Subject access request.

The accuracy of your personal information is important to us to be able to provide relevant services accurately. We always work to make our record keeping more efficient.

In the meantime, if you change your address, email address, contact number, or any of your circumstances change or any of the other information we hold is inaccurate or out of date, please contact us:

By email: syp@southtyneside.gov.uk

By telephone: 0191 424 7400

In writing:

South Tyneside Council
The Attendance Monitoring Team
Town Hall and Civic Offices
South Shields
NE33 2RL

12. Further information

Information Commissioner's Office

The Information Commissioner is the UK's independent body set up to uphold personal information rights.

If you would like to know more about your rights under the Data Protection law, and what you should expect from us, visit Information Commissioner's Office.

If you have any concerns regarding our privacy practices or about exercising your Data Protection rights, you may contact the Information Commissioners Office:

Information Commissioner's Officer
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113 or 01625 545 745

Email: casework@ico.org.uk

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