Privacy Notice

Who are we?

Together for Children works on behalf of Sunderland City Council to deliver Children's Services in Sunderland.

We hold information about the children, young people, and 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 use your information to:

• Assess the services you need
• 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
• 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

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 laws apply to the information we hold?

Together for Children will always have a lawful basis for using your personal data. Usually, we are processing your information for one of the following reasons:

• We have a legal obligation to process the data
• We need to protect your vital interests, or those of someone else
• We are carrying out tasks in the public interest that are set out in law, or public functions set out in law
• You have a contract with us
• You have said it is okay for us to use your information

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?

There are times when we need to share information with 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 your information with 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)
• Schools and colleges
• Your GP
• Hospitals and NHS trusts
• Your local primary care trust

We will usually ask for your permission to share your information. However, if information is needed 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.

How long do we keep your records?

We will only keep your records as long as we have a business need for them, or as long as the law tells us to keep them. You can click here to see what records we hold and how long we keep them.

Your rights

Under data protection legislation, individuals have the right to request access to information about them that we hold. If you are aged 12 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 12, your parent will normally have to make a request on your behalf.

To make a request for your personal information, please contact:

Access to Files Team, Sunderland City Council. City Hall, Plater Way, Sunderland, SR1 3AA

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:

Data Protection Officer. Sunderland City Council, City Hall, Plater Way, Sunderland, SR1 3AA
Telephone: 0191 520 5555
Email: data.protection@sunderland.gov.uk

Alternatively, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/.