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Data Protection & FOI

Data Protection

With the new GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) in force from 25th May 2018, we are confirming our data protection.

The GDPR has replaced the Data Protection Act 1998.

BDSCP is a Data Processor.  We are hosted by Bradford Council, which is our Data Controller and we use their training,  guidance and policies. Please visit the Bradford Council website for more information.

We have no cookies on our website or training portal. All who receive our newsletter, promotional emails and learning and development information will have opted in with their consent. We will refresh this consent annually.

Statutory organisations have their own policies for data protection and processing. Contact your own safeguarding lead.

Charities, faith and other voluntary sector groups mostly will have guidance from their own sectors about gaining, keeping and sharing information.

Freedom of Information

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) provides the public with a general right of access to information held by public bodies, such as local government, the police, the NHS and state schools.

The Bradford District Safeguarding Children Partnership (BDSCP) is a statutory partnership in its own right set up under the Children Act 2004 and is not a public authority for the purposes of the FOI. It is therefore exempt from the duty to provide information under the FOI.

Section 3 of the FOI provides that:

(2) For the purposes of this Act, information is held by a public authority if—

(a) it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person, or

(b) it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

A FOI request may be made directly to partner agencies of the BDSCP.  Where a BDSCP partner which is deemed to be a public authority under the FOI holds information for its own purposes, then it does so otherwise than on behalf of another person and the information held will be subject to the FOI. However, partners in possession of BDSCP minutes, documents, reports etc. are holding this information on behalf of ‘another person’ (the BDSCP) and it is therefore not liable to disclosure under a FOI request.

Details of how to access information from a public body can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at https://ico.org.uk/your-data-matters/official-information/

May 2018 Data Protection Changes

There are important changes to data protection that came into force on 25th May in the UK. This will not affect how we share information as volunteers and professionals about children at risk of significant harm or those in need.

Privacy Notice

BDSCP is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. Through this privacy notice we have sought to be as transparent as possible to fully explain how your personal information is held and processed. This notice explains how we collect, use and share your information and how we keep it and how we keep it secure.

This privacy notice also explains when and why we collect personal information about people who engage or come into contact with us, whether via our multi-agency training offer, those whose children have been subject to BDSCP reviews, through our learning from case reviews, or Child Death Overview Panel.

Information collected about you

We only collect personal data that is absolutely necessary  for our learning and development as you enroll on a course, and any information we collect about you will be in accordance with data protection laws and other statutory obligations we are bound to follow, such as around learning and improvement case reviews.

Why we need your information

We need your personal data in order to provide you with learning and development or our safeguarding newsletter.  We will only collect personal that is absolutely necessary and any information we collect about you will be strictly in accordance with the data protection law and other statutory obligations which we are bound by. For the purposes of CDOP and learning and improvement case reviews, we have strict data protection and retention practices in line with the Council who host us. We are bound by statutory guidance in the information we obtain for case reviews and child deaths.

Information for those who work with children and their families 

Good information sharing between professionals is vital in relation to child protection.  Numerous learning and improvement case reviews, such as Serious Case Reviews (SCRs) show that children can be seriously harmed or die when professionals don’t share information.  Professionals should always seek agreement to share information when it is right to do so and where this does not place a child or adult at risk.  However, if there is no agreement, or if information is seen as “third- party”, this should NEVER be used as an excuse for not sharing information, holding a professional’s meeting or having a conversation with a fellow professional when there are good reasons to be worried about risk to a child.

Golden Rules for Information Sharing

Some professionals worry about their responsibility to keep information private under the Data Protection Act 1998 – but there are simple ways to make sure you share information appropriately:

  1. Remember that the Data Protection Act is not a barrier to sharing information but provides a framework to ensure that personal information about living persons is shared appropriately.
  2. Be open and honest with the person (and/or their family where appropriate) from the outset about why, what, how and with whom information will, or could be shared, and seek their agreement, unless it is unsafe or inappropriate to do so.
  3. Seek advice if you are in any doubt, without disclosing the identity of the person where possible.
  4. Share with consent where appropriate and, where possible, respect the wishes of those who do not consent to share confidential information. You may still share information without consent if, in your judgement, that lack of consent can be overridden in the public interest. You will need to base your judgement on the facts of the case.
  5. Consider safety and well-being: Base your information sharing decisions on considerations of the safety and well-being of the person and others who may be affected by their actions.
  6. Necessary, proportionate, relevant, accurate, timely and secure: Ensure that the information you share is necessary for the purpose for which you are sharing it, is shared only with those people who need to have it, is accurate and up-to-date, is shared in a timely fashion, and is shared securely.
  7. Keep a record of your decision and the reasons for it – whether it is to share information or not. If you decide to share, then record what you have shared, with whom and for what purpose.

Professionals working with children, parents or adults in contact with children, should always share information with children’s social care where there is reasonable cause to suspect that a child may be suffering or is at risk of suffering significant harm. Sharing information under these circumstances is legitimate and in the public interest.

Guidance on Information Sharing

Further details and guidance on information sharing can be found in the document Information Sharing Advice for Practitioners:  providing safeguarding services to children, young people, parents and carers, HM Government, July 2018.

A number of Government departments, including the Department for Education (DfE), published a letter in March 2015 addressed to Local Authority Chief Executives which set out the commitment to sharing information for the protection of children.

 

West Yorkshire Safeguarding Children Procedures

Useful Documents (Please also visit our Learning and Resource Hub)