YPS Privacy notice
This following information explains why the Young People's Service (YPS) need to hold information about young people; what data we may hold; how information is stored and the circumstances when it may be shared.
Why do we need information about you?
The Young People's Service (YPS) are required by law to hold some information about you. We record and store this and other information to help us to:
Ensure you are safe and well:
- If you are involved in any activities with the YPS, we will need to know your contact details and emergency contact details and perhaps any medical information, such as if you need to use an inhaler.
- We also are required to hold information about you if you are at risk or in need of protection from harm.
Provide you with the right support at the right time:
- It may be that you need information advice and guidance at different times – we want you to be able to have access to such support when you need it and we may contact you about this;
- You may come to us to ask for support. Information about you will 'help us to help you' in such circumstances.
Give you access to opportunities, such as positive activities, training, education, volunteering and work:
- You may access our website or centres for information about new opportunities, such as being involved in a Youth Council or applying to college. We need to ask for some information here to keep in touch with you and to let you know of such opportunities.
Report on and improve the way we work:
- We want to offer a wide range of high quality activities and support services that will enable you to develop socially, personally and achieve what you want to do.
- We need to monitor and evaluate how we do as a Service – this helps us plan better services for the future and compare Lancashire YPS with other similar services. For this reason, we may include anonymous information about your involvement in the YPS in reports to partner organisations, to show, for example:
- How many young people the YPS has contact with in Lancashire
- How many young people are in employment, education or training
- How many young people gain accreditations through the YPS
- How many young people there are from different ethnic groups in Lancashire
- We may also undertake research or allow others to do so, to help us gain feedback on how well we are doing – in these circumstances, information that identifies you, such as name and address, will not be used without your consent.
Reporting to the Department for Education (DfE)
We have to provide a monthly report to the DfE which identifies young people's education, employment or training status in Lancashire.
The Department for Education uses information about young people for statistical purposes, to inform, influence and improve policy and to monitor the performance of the services for children and young people.
This is why we need to keep in contact with Lancashire young people, either directly or though contact with schools and colleges, to ensure information about you is up-to-date and accurate.
What Information do we hold?
We collect up-to-date information from you and receive information about you from other organisations, such as schools, colleges, training providers and other Local Authority Youth Support services.
We hold personal information to enable us to identify you and keep in touch with you, including:
- Your name
- Your date of birth
- Your address
- Your telephone number
We also hold more sensitive information which will help us to know what you are doing at the moment and which may help us to give you any support you might need, including:
- Qualifications and other achievements
- Gender, ethnic origin and special educational needs
- Your school/college or employment status
Where necessary we hold other information to help us give you the right support at the right time, for example, if you have told us you need help finding somewhere to live or if you need support to gain access to other services. This data is only recorded when it is appropriate to you getting the support you need.
How do we protect information about you?
We are required by law to protect the personal and sensitive nature of your information. Everyone working for the YPS is under a legal duty to keep your records confidential.
We store your information in paper and electronic records, which is kept confidentially and securely to prevent any unauthorised access or use. We aim to make sure that all information about you is accurate and as up-to-date as possible, which is why we will check it with you when we see you.
Who sees your Information?
Only authorised staff may see your information. All staff that have access to the YPS database systems have been trained in using those systems within the law and within rules applied by Lancashire County Council on data security and information sharing. All employees are aware of how to handle paper and electronic records securely.
One of our databases is jointly shared with other Local Authorities that provide Youth Support services in Lancashire, (Blackburn with Darwen and Blackpool Councils) and Via Partnership. There is a Data Protection Agreement which applies to this shared database and employees of these organisations are bound by the same level of Data Protection duties.
Who do we share your information with and what do we share?
As mentioned previously, some information about you is shared in reports as statistical information. These reports do not identify you.
We will not share any identifying information about you with anyone outside of YPS or Lancashire County Council without your consent, unless the law says we must:
- This could be when there is a risk to yours or another person's wellbeing or to prevent crime and disorder, or
- Because we are required to share the information with the Department for Education, as mentioned above.
Anyone who receives information from us is also under a legal duty to keep it in a secure and confidential manner.
Can you see your records?
You are entitled to know what information we hold about you. If you find that any of your information is wrong, tell us so that we can correct it.
If you want access to the information we hold, you can write to our Information Governance Team.
If you have a complaint about how we use your information in the YPS, you should contact:
Catherine McManmon
Strategy Manager
YPS
2nd Floor Eastcliff JDO
Preston PR1 3JT
Email: catherine.mcmanmon@lancashire.gov.uk
Our Commitment to you
- Any personal or sensitive information about you will be stored securely in electronic or in paper form.
- We will protect your information from being misused and treat your information with the highest standards of confidentiality
- Your records will be updated with any changes to ensure information about you is as accurate and up-to-date as possible. We need your help to do this.
- We will ask for permission to share your information in the majority of cases.
- Information about you will only be shared without consent when there is a risk to your or another person's wellbeing; to prevent crime and disorder, when it is required by Law. You will be informed if this happens whenever possible.
- We will inform you why we are using your information - and we will only use it for those purposes.
- We will not ask you about anything which is not relevant to your involvement and participation in the Service or the support you need at the time.
- We will respect your rights under the Data Protection Act 1998 - this includes your right to see information that has been recorded about you
- We keep personal records for some time after you have stopped participating within the services we offer. This is so that you can restart later if you chose to or to report on things that have happened in the past.
- Your records will be safely archived or destroyed according to YPS Retention and Archiving policy.
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