PN041 - Education Psychology Service Privacy Notice

Torfaen County Borough Council is committed to protecting your privacy when you use our services. This Privacy Notice is designed to give you information about the data we hold about you, how we use it, your rights in relation to it and the safeguards in place to protect it.

TCBC Service Area: Children and Family Services
Work area: Education Psychology Service
Contact Details: Alyson Costa, Lead Educational Psychologist
Privacy Notice Name: Education Psychology Service

Data Controller: Torfaen County Borough Council, c/o Civic Centre, Pontypool, NP4 6YB

If you wish to raise a concern about the handling of your personal data, please contact the Data Protection Officer on 01495 762200 or email dpa@torfaen.gov.uk

Who provides your data to the Council?

We receive personal information indirectly from a range of sources, as below:

  • Initially data is provided by schools who then prioritise who The Service work with, based on level of pupil needs.
  • If the child is too young to be attending school (Early Years), initially information is shared by Paediatricians and other Health colleagues, Early Years Practitioners or via the Early Years Intervention Panel.
  • Personal data, may be also obtained from: Social Care; Health Boards; Families First; Other Local Authorities.

The personal information we process is provided to us directly by you, should an involvement be taken forward.

How does the Council collect this information?

  • Computer based applications
  • ‘Request for Involvement’ paperwork from school, social care, medical professional.
  • Meetings with parents and children/young people.

What information does the Council collect about you?

The Council collects and processes a range of information about you. This includes.

  • Name
  • Date of Birth
  • Address
  • Gender
  • Ethnicity
  • Educational attainment
  • Medical needs
  • Social Care family circumstances (if applicable)
  • Early life history
  • Additional Learning Needs
  • Observation notes
  • Cognitive assessments

Why does the Council process your personal data?

Under Article 6 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful basis we rely on for processing this information is:

(e) We need it to perform a public task.

  • Legally, The Service is required to carry out pieces of work to support Statutory Assessments in adherence to the SEN Code of Practice

Consent is obtained from the parent/carer to engage in the service, however, consent is not the legal basis we rely on to process your personal data.

Special categories of personal data:

We collect the following special category data:

  • personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin
  • data concerning health
  • data concerning a person’s sexual orientation

We collect this under Article 9 of the UK GDPR.

We do not collect criminal data

Who has access to your data?

Your data is shared internally only with the appropriate staff where it is necessary for the performance of their roles.

Your data may also be shared externally with organisations for the purposes of joined up, holistic assessment. These may include, but not be limited to;

  • Schools/Early Years settings.
  • NHS/Health Board.
  • Other Local Authorities if your child moves to another area.
  • Youth Offending Service.

Apart from where previously stated, we do not pass your details to third parties unless we are lawfully required do so.

Is the Data transferred out of the UK?

No

How does the Council keep your data secure?

The Council has internal policies in place to ensure the data it processes is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed. Access to this data is restricted in accordance with the Council’s internal policies and in compliance with the UK GDPR.

Data will be stored securely in:

  • Electronic form – on a secure network drive.

Where the Council engages third parties to process personal data on its behalf, they do so on the basis of written instructions. These third parties are also under a duty of confidentiality and are obliged to implement appropriate measures to ensure the security of data

How long does the Council keep your data?

The Council will hold your personal data only for the period that is necessary and will follow organisational and Local Authority standards in this area. At the end of the retention period the Council will securely destroy or dispose of the data in line with retention schedules.

  • Pupil files are retained for 35 years from date of closure.

Are we making automated decisions/profiling with your data?

No

Your rights

You have a number of Rights you can exercise:

  • Access - to obtain a copy of your data on request
  • Rectification – to require the Council to change incorrect or incomplete data
  • Object, Restrict or Delete - under certain circumstances you can require the Council to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing
  • Data portability – to receive and/or transmit data provided to the Council to other organisations (this applies in limited circumstances))
  • Withdraw your consent at any time (where consent has been given)
  • To know the consequences of failing to provide data to the Council
  • To know the existence of any Automated Decision-making, including profiling, and the consequences of this for you.
  • To lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (Information Commissioners Office)

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact Alyson Costa, Lead Educational Psychologist, T.C.B.C., Civic Centre, Pontypool, NP4 6YB.

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office (Wales), 2nd Floor, Churchill House, Churchill Way, Cardiff, CF10 2HH. Telephone 0330 414 6421 or e-mail Wales@ico.org.uk

Last Modified: 20/07/2023 Back to top