Services for Young Children (SfYC) - Vulnerable Children Survey

Privacy Notice

Why do we collect and use this information?

Hampshire County Council is the Data Controller for the purpose of collecting and using information from your child(ren)’s Early Years Education Setting(s) to fulfil our duties as set out by the Department for Education. Hampshire County Council is specifically required by the Department of Education to maintain regular contact with families of vulnerable children who are not attending available Early Years Provision during the Covid19 pandemic. To achieve this, we are requesting Early Years Education Settings complete a survey outlining whether vulnerable children who are open to our social care department (namely looked after children, children on a child protection plan, children on a child in need plan or children in receipt of Early Help) are attending. The data will be collected by the completion of a SNAP survey.

We will hold this personal data securely and use it to:

  • ensure that children currently open to social care are attending Early Years Education Settings where applicable and able to obtain necessary support
  • flag children of particular concern with the relevant social worker
  • identify any emerging difficulties for children in care and highlight these to the social worker working with the child or family
  • support Early Years Education Settings in their handling of vulnerable children
  • comply with our Department for Education outlined responsibilities to ensure there are sufficient places available in Early Years Education settings for vulnerable children
  • monitor the demand and capacity being placed on Early Years Education Settings
  • comply with the Department for Education’s expectation that children in need under section 17 of the Children’s Act will attend Early Years Education Settings unless they are deemed by the social worker to be at less risk at home or have underlying health conditions
  • ensure compliance with our obligations under the accuracy principle of the General Data Protection Regulation (Article (5)(1)(d)), making sure our records about children receiving social care support are up to date

This process is only intended to take place for the duration of the Council’s response to the Covid19 pandemic.

The following sections provide further detail around the information we process setting out what allows us to do this (lawful basis), who we may share it with, how long we keep it for, alongside identifying any rights you may have and who to contact if you think we’re not handling your information in the right way.

The categories of information that we collect, hold and share

The following personal and special category information is processed:

  • child’s personal information (name, date of birth, address, Early Years Education Setting details)
  • information about the child’s involvement with social care. Specifically, whether the child is looked after, on a child protection plan, on a child in need plan or in receipt of Early Help
  • Early Years Education Setting attendance information
  • information about how the setting stays in touch with the family of the child

The lawful basis on which we use this information

We collect and use the information ensuring that we comply with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA2018) requirements for processing through:

  • Article 6(1)(e) - the processing is necessary 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)(h) – the processing is necessary for the provision of health or social care

These articles under the GDPR are supported by the following specific legislation:

  • Section 17 and 22 of the Children’s Act (1989)
  • Section 175 of the Education Act (2002)
  • Sections 6, 7, 7A, 8, 9A, 12, 13, 18.20, 34(1), 34(2), 46(1), 46(2) and 40 of the Childcare Act 2006

Under this lawful basis we do not require your consent to process this information but we are required, through this privacy notice, to ensure you are fully informed of why we are collecting this information and what we will do with it.

No automated decision making occurs for any parts of these activities controlled by the County Council. The County Council does not use profiling in the delivery of this service.

Storing and securing data

The information your child(ren)’s setting(s) provide for the survey will be checked against the County Council’s CAPITA One system. The information your child(ren)’s setting(s) provide for the survey will also be checked against Children’s Social Care Case Management System (CMS) and the Children and Families department’s caseload list. The information your child(ren)’s setting(s) provide for the survey will then be securely held on the County Council’s SwORD database. The data being processed will be refreshed on a weekly basis, in line with the expected return date of the survey and any previously held information will be deleted at this point.

The County Council’s SwORD database is hosted by the County Council in secure UK based data centres. No information leaves the European Economic Area (EEA) and the information is encrypted when in transit between County Council users and the data centre the information is hosted within.

Snap Surveys Limited and Snap Surveys NH, Inc is a data processor for this information for the purpose of delivering a contract to the County Council around the hosting and supporting of the Snap Survey system. The County Council uses Snap Survey to collect information provided to us, as identified under this privacy notice which may include children’s data contributed by the Early Years setting. Snap Surveys Limited and Snap Surveys NH, Inc will not disclose our Survey Data to anyone else, unless they are required to do so by law. View Snap Surveys Limited and Snap Surveys NH, Inc privacy policy.

The County Council takes its data security responsibilities seriously and has policies and procedures in place to ensure the personal data held is:

  • prevented from being accidentally or deliberately compromised
  • accessed, altered, disclosed or deleted only by those authorised to do so
  • accurate and complete in relation to why we are processing it
  • continually accessible and usable with daily backups
  • protected by levels of security ‘appropriate’ to the risks presented by our processing

The County Council also ensures its IT Department is certified to the internationally recognised standard for information security management, ISO27001.

Who do we share information with?

We do not share information with anyone unless there is a lawful basis that allows us to do so.

Information contributed to the survey will be shared with relevant social care teams in line with our statutory duties under section 17 of the Children’s Act (1989).

Depending on the individual circumstances of each situation, we may have to share this information with other teams within the County Council to fulfil other duties and powers to support our work. These might include our Children Missing Education (for ensuring the provision of full time education) or our Data Protection Team (for personal data incidents).

Requesting access to your personal data and your rights

Under data protection legislation, individuals have the right to request access to information about them that we hold. To make a request for your personal information, or your child(ren)’s contact the Children’s Services Department’s Subject Access Request (SAR) Team. Find out more about accessing your records.

You also have the right to:

  • prevent processing for the purpose of direct marketing
  • object to decisions being taken by solely automated means
  • in certain circumstances, have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed
  • claim compensation for damages caused by a breach of the Data Protection regulations

Under the GDPR, there is also a right to erasure but the right to erasure does not provide an absolute ‘right to be forgotten’. Where the data being processed is for the purpose of ‘complying with a legal obligation for the performance of a public interest task or exercise of official authority’ (Article 6(1)(e))’, this right does not apply.

Contact details 

If you would like more information about these services visit our childcare and early years pages.

Further information

The above information is the specific privacy notice for this service. For more information about your rights in relation to your personal data, see the County Council’s general privacy notice.

You have some legal rights in respect of the personal information we collect from you. See our Data Protection page for further details.

You can contact the County Council’s Data Protection Officer by email [email protected].

If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, you should raise your concern with us in the first instance or directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office.