Independent Visitor Service for children and young people who are looked after privacy notice - Privacy notices

In order to provide this service and suitably match an Independent Visitor specifically to you, it is necessary for us to collect, hold and share appropriate personal information about you. This information will include:

• Basic details about you and your family such as your name, full address, telephone number, email address, GP details, NHS number, and National Insurance number (for young people supported by 16+ team only)
• Relevant personal sensitive information such as religion, ethnic origin, disability status, education status and information regarding your physical or mental health
• Assessments, reports and correspondence regarding you and your family/carers - both written by us and provided by third party agencies
• The third party agencies referred to above may include health professionals, police, educational establishments, advocacy services and any other organisation with whom you are currently or historically been involved with

All personal data held is processed in accordance with current data protection legislation. The data controller for the information outlined in this privacy notice is Herefordshire Council.

We will collect information about you, and your family/carers (where applicable) to:

• Make informed decisions regarding your safety and wellbeing
• Provide a statutory service for your care provision
• Keep you safe
• Meet your needs
• Ensure you are adequately supported and that any risks are managed

Pseudo-anonymised data will be used to report and monitor on the effectiveness of the Independent Visitor Service

The legal basis for processing the data is our legal obligations for social care provision, and the necessity for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the social care department. We may also process data on occasion to protect the vital interests of individuals.

The statutory legal obligation is covered by a variety of legislation which includes:

• The Children Act 1989, 2004 and 2006
• Working Together 2018
• Adoption Agency Regulations
• Care Leavers Act 2001
• Children and Social Work Act 2017
• Care Act 2014
• Equality Act 2010
• Children and Families Act 2014
• Code of Practice for Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND)
• Care Planning, Placement and Case Review Regulations 2010
• Fostering National Minimum Standards
• Chronically Sick and Disabled Persons Act 1970 section 2

Where the statutory requirements apply, Herefordshire Social Care is obliged to process personal data for the purposes outlined above.

We may share information about you or your family/carers with partner organisations where relevant and appropriate or where any issues, in particular safeguarding concerns, are raised.

For the purposes of this service, Herefordshire Council will share your information with the commissioned Independent Visitor Service provider, where this is relevant to comply with the local council's legal responsibility to ensure that you are appropriately supported.

We will not normally share your information with organisations other than our partner organisations without your consent, however, there may be certain circumstances where we would share without consent such as where we are required to do so by law, to safeguard public safety, and in risk of harm or emergency situations.

We will only share the minimum information for the purpose, on a need to know basis and with appropriate individuals.

We will only keep your information for the minimum period necessary. All information will be held securely and destroyed under confidential conditions.

Your entire record, as a child or young person, will be retained for the maximum retention period relevant for that file. If you would like further clarification on how retention periods are applied, please discuss this with your worker.

You have a number of rights under data protection law, including the right to request your information and to request that the information be amended or erased if incorrect.

To request your records, you will need to contact and provide proof of identification to the Information Governance Team, Herefordshire Council, Plough Lane, Hereford HR4 0LE or email informationgovernance@herefordshire.gov.uk

You also have a right to make a complaint about our handling of your personal data to the Information Commissioner's Office

If you have any questions regarding the Independent Visitor Service, please email ChildrensCommissioning@herefordshire.gov.uk or call 01432 260123 in the first instance.

You can email the council's data protection officer at informationgovernance@herefordshire.gov.uk

You will find more information about data protection and how it applies to you on the Information Commissioner's Office website.

Children's social care page