Privacy Notice for School Staff

Privacy Notice for School Staff (How we use workforce information)

The categories of school information that we process include:

personal information (such as name, employee or teacher number, national insurance number)
characteristics information (such as gender, age, ethnic group)
contract information (such as start date, hours worked, post, roles and salary information)
work absence information (such as number of absences and reasons)
qualifications (and, where relevant, subjects taught)

This list is not exhaustive.

Why we collect and use workforce information

We use workforce data to:

enable the development of a comprehensive picture of the workforce and how it is deployed
inform the development of recruitment and retention policies
enable individuals to be paid

Under the General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the legal basis/bases we rely on for processing personal information for general purposes are:

for the purposes of Data Collection as instructed by the DFE in accordance with the legal basis of Article 6 and one from Article 9 where data processed is special category data from the UK GDPR) – Further details can be found at https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/lawful-basis-for-processing/

In addition, information concerning any special category data can be found at: https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/lawful-basis-for-processing/special-category-data/:

Collecting workforce information

We collect personal information via various methods including application forms and staff contract forms for example.

Workforce data is essential for the school’s/local authority operational use. Whilst the majority of personal information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it is requested on a voluntary basis. In order to comply with UK GDPR, we will inform you at the point of collection, whether you are required to provide certain information to us or if you have a choice in this.

Storing workforce information

We hold data securely for the set amount of time shown in our data retention schedule. This is available to view upon request.

Who we share workforce information with

We routinely share this information with:

our local authority (where applicable)
the Department for Education (DfE)

Why we share school workforce information

We do not share information about our workforce members with anyone without consent unless the law and our policies allow us to do so.

Local authority

We are required to share information about our workforce members with our local authority (LA) under section 5 of the Education (Supply of Information about the School Workforce) (England) Regulations 2007 and amendments.

Department for Education

The Department for Education (DfE) collects personal data from educational settings and local authorities via various statutory data collections. We are required to share information about our children and young people with the Department for Education (DfE) for the purpose of those data collections, under:

We are required to share information about our school employees with the Department for Education (DfE) under section 5 of the Education (Supply of Information about the School Workforce) (England) Regulations 2007 and amendments.

We are required to share information about our school employees with the (DfE) under section 5 of the Education (Supply of Information about the School Workforce) (England) Regulations 2007 and amendments.

We are required to pass information about our school employees to the Department for Education (DfE) under section 5 of the Education (Supply of Information about the School Workforce) (England) Regulations 2007 and amendments.

All data is transferred securely and held by the Department for Education (DfE) under a combination of software and hardware controls which meet the current government security policy framework.

For more information, please see ‘How Government uses your data’ section.

Requesting access to your personal data

Under data protection legislation, you have the right to request access to information about you that we hold. To make a request for your personal information, contact Lindsey Egan or John Cook (Data Protection Officer)

You also have the right to:

to ask us for access to information about you that we hold.
to have your personal data rectified, if it is inaccurate or incomplete.
to request the deletion or removal of personal data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing.
to restrict our processing of your personal data (i.e. permitting its storage but no further processing)
to object to direct marketing (including profiling) and processing for the purposes of scientific/historical research and statistics.
not to be subject to decisions based purely on automated processing where it produces a legal or similarly significant effect on you

If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, we ask that you raise your concern with us in the first instance. Alternatively, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/

For further information on how to request access to personal information held centrally by the Department for Education (DfE), please see the “How Government uses your data’ section of this notice.

Contact

If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact: Lindsey Egan (l.egan@claremount.wirral.sch.uk) or John Cook (john@cookslawers.co.uk)

How Government uses your data

The workforce data that we lawfully share with the Department for Education (DfE) through data collections:

informs the Department for Education (DfE) policy on pay and the monitoring of the effectiveness and diversity of the school workforce
links to school funding and expenditure
supports ‘longer term’ research and monitoring of educational policy

Data collection requirements

To find out more about the data collection requirements placed on us by the Department for Education (DfE) including the data that we share with them, go to https://www.gov.uk/education/data-collection-and-censuses-for-schools.

Sharing by the Department

The Department may share information about school employees with third parties who promote the education or well-being of children or the effective deployment of school staff in England by:

conducting research or analysis
producing statistics
providing information, advice or guidance

The Department for Education (DfE) has robust processes in place to ensure that the confidentiality of personal data is maintained and there are stringent controls in place regarding access to it and its use. Decisions on whether the Department for Education (DfE) releases personal data to third parties are subject to a strict approval process and based on a detailed assessment of:

who is requesting the data
the purpose for which it is required
the level and sensitivity of data requested; and
the arrangements in place to securely store and handle the data

To be granted access to school workforce information, organisations must comply with its strict terms and conditions covering the confidentiality and handling of the data, security arrangements and retention and use of the data.

To contact the department: https://www.gov.uk/contact-dfe

How to find out what personal information the Department for Education (DfE) hold about you

Under the terms of the Data Protection Act 2018, you’re entitled to ask the Department for Education (DfE):

if they are processing your personal data
for a description of the data they hold about you
the reasons they’re holding it and any recipient it may be disclosed to
for a copy of your personal data and any details of its source

If you want to see the personal data held about you by the Department for Education (DfE), you should make a ‘subject access request’. Further information on how to do this can be found within the Department for Education’s (DfE) personal information charter that is published at the address below:

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-education/about/personal-information-charter

To contact the department: https://www.gov.uk/contact-dfe