Information sharing and data protection statement
We will use the information
provided to consider whether to conduct a needs assessment under the
requirements of the Children and Families Act 2014 and other legislation. We may also share relevant information on a
confidential basis with the Department for Education and Local Government,
other Government agencies and other public bodies involved with the
implementation of the new legislation as required to meet our statutory
obligations.
The information that you and other professionals
provide will normally be shared with your consent.
Examples of situations when
we may share information without your consent are:
- If we need to find out urgently if a child is at risk
of harm or we need to help a child who is at risk of harm.
- If we need to help an adult who is at risk of harm.
- If we need to help prevent or detect a serious crime.
Why we collect your information
The Blackpool Council SEND service will need to hold data about parents/carers,
children and young people when:
- One
of more of the teams within the SEND service has been asked to give
advice, carry out an assessment or provide support to a parent/carer, this
is often referred to as SEND support
- An
education, health and care needs assessment has been requested. This is
the first stage towards deciding if an education, health and care plan is
needed
When you start a request for an assessment you are starting a
legal process. This means that Blackpool Council is required to obtain advice
and information from a range of services including health professionals. A parent/carer or young person can start the request for an assessment
themselves. The request can also be started by an education setting (nursery,
school, or college). The information provided is to allow us to assess the
level of support that is needed and also personalise any support to achieve
agreed outcomes.
We use the information to make sure that educational settings
know about the needs and requirements of the child/young person. We need to
ensure that the right level of support is given. If an EHC Plan is issued this
will need to be shared with all agencies involved in giving support to the
child/young person. We are required to do this by legislation.
Our lawful basis
The lawful basis for Blackpool Council to collect and use your
personal information is because:
it’s necessary for the council to perform a task in the public
interest or whilst conducting its official functions, and the task or function
has a clear basis in law.
The relevant statute that underpins the processing is:
- Children
and Families Act 2014
- Education
Act 1996
- Care
Act 2014
- Special
Educational Needs and Disability Regulations 2014
To enable us to process special category(ate) we use the
following provision in GDPR: for health and social care purposes (with a clear
basis in law).
We will in certain circumstance seek your consent for such
things as;
- Contacting you regarding collecting your feedback or if you wish
to receive information about events and services.
What types of information do we collect?
The SEND Code of Practice explains who we must ask for advice if you have requested an EHC Needs Assessment.
- Your name, name of child/young person, dates of birth, contact information including address, email, telephone numbers
- Special category data is required so that we can meet our legal obligations including: Information about social care, health and special education needs, Religion and ethnicity
- We will collect the views of and opinions of parents/carers and the child/young person
- We might need to speak to young people without their parents/carers present in order to ensure that we really understand their views and these are taken into account.
- In addition, education settings may send us your information or it might come to us directly from you. This may include reports from professionals.
- We may also obtain additional reports with your consent.
Who do we share your information with?
- If an EHC needs assessment has been requested decisions are made by a panel of officers which include staff from the local authority, the NHS, and education professionals. Information is shared with the panel.
- If an EHC plan is issued this will need to be shared with all agencies involved in giving support to the child/young person. This is so that everyone knows about the needs of the child/young person and that the agreed support is provided and monitored and/or evaluated.
- We do not transfer your information to a third country (that is a country outside of the EEA).