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Children and families

Early Help Privacy Notice

City of York Council (CYC) current data protection notification is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – reference Z5809563. We regularly review this privacy notice, and it was last updated in November 2024.

CYC is committed to ensuring that personal data is handled in accordance with the principles set out in data protection legislation and guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

This privacy notice tells you what to expect when we collect personal information about you. It applies to the services CYC provides for the supporting families programme and early help.

CYC is the controller for this information unless we specifically state otherwise in this privacy notice.

This privacy notice should be read in conjunction with other relevant CYC privacy notices and/or policies and procedures.

When appropriate we will provide a ‘just in time’ notice to cover any additional processing activities not mentioned in this document.

How we collect your information

We get your information from the following sources:

  • directly from you
  • from partner agencies such as:
  • schools
  • childcare
  • health services
  • police
  • voluntary or charity organisations
  • government departments e.g. Department of Work and Pensions (DWP)

When you or your family are referred to or approach City of York Council for help, you yourselves are usually the first and most important source of information about your circumstances.

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What personal data we process and why

We will only process your personal data and special categories of personal data that is necessary to provide our services to you e.g., your name, contact details, relevant information about any members of your household who will be in receipt of the support.

Where we process data relating to criminal convictions and offences, this may include details of any past criminal convictions or offences.

The delivery model for Early Help in York is the Supporting Families programme. This programme works on the basis of four principles being in place for a family:

  1. a whole family assessment
  2. an action plan.
  3. a named lead worker
  4. being fully informed

The support you receive may include an assessment of need, targeted support based on the need within your family and signposting to other relevant support that may help you.

We will use your information to:

  • ensure that services and practitioners understand how they can best help you.
  • help inform what services and interventions require commissioning across the City of York to support families and communities

You can withdraw from our services at any time by email: mash@york.gov.uk or your named lead worker.

We will always ask for your consent to take part in surveys, consultation etc to get your feedback, about the service and support you and your family has received. You can withdraw your consent at any time by email: mash@york.gov.uk.

We will use information about you and your family to create statistics and reports that are anonymous and cannot be linked back to you or your family. We will use statistics to see how the Council and its partners are supporting families, to help design better services for families and to contribute to national surveys and in reports and returns to government where required.

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Automated decision-making

We do not carry out any automated decision-making in the services CYC provides for supporting families and early help.

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Collecting information automatically

Please see our Cookies Policy for further information about the information we collect automatically when you use our website.

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Children’s information

Where we provide services directly to children or young people, the information in the relevant parts of this notice applies to children and young people, as well as adults.

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Lawful basis for processing your personal data

Any personal data including special category data and criminal offence data that we process about individuals is done so in accordance with one or more of the following Article 6,9 and 10 of the UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

  • Article 6(1)
    • (a) Consent: the individual has given clear consent for the council to process their personal data for a specific purpose
    • (c) Legal obligation: the processing is necessary for the council to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations).
    • (e) Public task: the processing is necessary for the council to perform a task in the public interest or for our official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.
  • Article 9(2)
    • (a) explicit consent
    • (g) Reasons of substantial public interest (with a basis in law)
    • (h) Health or social care (with a basis in law)

This is supported by Schedule1, Part 2 (6) of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the legal frameworks such as:

  • Working together to safeguard children 2023.
  • The Education Act 2011
  • Children Act 1989
  • Children Act 2004
  • SEND Code of practice
  • Early Years Statutory Framework
  • Crime and Disorder Act 1998
  • Offender Management Act 2007
  • Domestic Abuse Act 2021
  • Domestic Abuse Act 2021

Where we process personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences, this is also under Article 10 UK GDPR that covers processing in relation to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures. In addition, section 11(2) of the DPA 2018 specifically confirms that this includes personal data relating to the alleged commission of offences, or proceedings for an offence committed or alleged to have been committed, including sentencing.

Some of the Schedule 1 conditions for processing special category and criminal offence data require an Appropriate Policy Document (APD) to be in place, that sets out and explains the procedures for securing compliance with the principles in Article 5 and policies regarding the retention and erasure of such personal data. This document explains this processing and satisfies the requirements of Schedule 1, Part 4 of the DPA 2018 and supplements this privacy notice.

Our Appropriate Policy Document provides further information about this processing.

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How long we keep your personal data

We will only keep your information for as long as it is needed then it will be securely and confidentially deleted or disposed of.

You can find more details about how long the council keeps records in the council retention schedule.

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Data sharing

We will only share your information where it is appropriate to do so to provide co-ordinated and seamless services which are right for you, and/or your family. For example, with:

  • other council services
  • third parties including our data processors, partners, or contractors, who undertake work on our behalf
  • schools
  • Police
  • Probation Services
  • Health providers (including GPs, midwives, Health Visitors, substance misuse and mental health services)
  • local housing providers (Home Group, York Housing Association, Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust)
  • Department for Work and Pensions (including the Job Centre)
  • community and voluntary Services (such as Citizen’s Advice, domestic abuse services, victim support services)
  • childcare providers

In some circumstances, such as under a court order or safeguarding, we are legally obliged to share your information.

We will always satisfy ourselves that we have a lawful basis on which to share the information and document our decision-making and satisfy ourselves we have a legal basis on which to share the information.

Additionally, we are required under the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended) to transfer records to the City or National Archives (TNA) for permanent preservation. Full consideration will be given to Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation when making decisions about whether such records should be open to the public.

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Data processors and/or third parties

Where we have third parties providing parts or all of our services for us, we have contracts or agreements in place with them. These are:

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Transfers of personal data

We do not routinely transfer personal data outside of the UK but when this is necessary, we ensure that we have appropriate safeguards in place and that is done in accordance with the UK data protection and privacy legislation.

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How we protect your information

We're committed to keeping your information safe and secure. There are several ways we do this, such as:

  • IT security safeguards such as firewalls, encryption, and anti-virus software
  • on-site security safeguards to protect physical files and electronic equipment
  • training for all staff and elected councillors
  • policies and procedures

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Your rights in relation to this processing

To find out about your rights under data protection law, you can go to the Information Commissioner's Office website.

You can also find information about your rights in our Privacy Notice.

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, want to exercise your rights, or if you have a complaint about how your information has been used, please contact us on email: information.governance@york.gov.uk, or on telephone: 01904 554145, or write to:

Data Protection Officer
City of York Council
West Offices
Station Rise
York YO1 6GA

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Also see

Data Protection Officer

West Offices, Station Rise, York, YO1 6GA

Telephone: 01904 554145

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