Children and Families Multi-Agency Part Time Timetable Privacy Notice

This privacy notice is designed to help you understand how we use personal information when delivering our children and families services. It includes the services covered, the information we will use to deliver the services, who we will share it with, and how long we will keep it.

There is a statutory obligation on education authorities to ensure children/young people aged 5-16 receive suitable full-time education.

A part-time or reduced timetable is one in which there is a session during the school day when a child/young person is not required to attend any provision arranged by the education authority.

We monitor part-time or reduced timetables to ensure that each timetable is no longer than 12 weeks or a term and they are not used to manage a pupil’s behaviour.

Part timetables may be applicable when all of the following circumstances apply together:

A child/young person is unable to sustain full-time attendance in school due to health or medical needs, or emotionally based school non- attendance. In the part-time timetable policy we state that the circumstances that Part-time timetables may be used are: As part of a Pastoral Support Plan, as part of an Individual Healthcare/Medical Plan, or as part of a Reintegration Plan
There is full agreement with parents/carers and the child/young person that part-time attendance is appropriate for a limited duration
There is a clear plan with time limits and support for re-integration of the child/young person to full-time education

The policy also states that before a part-time/reduced timetable is implemented the school should discuss with teams below if a child/young person:

Is a Child in Care - a representative from the Virtual School
Is a Child in Need, or subject to a Child Protection Plan - Children’s Social Care.
Has an Education, Health, and Care Plan (EHCP) - the SEND Team
Is in Year 11 - Young People’s Service’s team.

Cheshire and Merseyside NHS

Provides advice on health to comply Education Act 1996 and Working Together to Improve School Attendance 2024 and all subordinate regulations.

What information we collect, use, and why

Whenever you get in touch with us either in person, by phone or online, we need to collect certain information to ensure we can provide the best possible support. This information helps us identify you, understand your needs, and tailor our services accordingly. We categorise the information we collect into three main types: personal data, special category data, and criminal data.

Personal Data

We collect the following personal data to deliver our services:

Name, address, and contact details: To discuss part-time timetables with the necessary teams at panel and the school a child attends.

Date of birth: To verify a child’s identity and ensure that the child is receiving suitable education.

National identifiers (e.g., NHS number, National Insurance number): To uniquely identify pupils to assess the education they receive.

Family relationships and friendships: To understand your support network and identify appropriate services.

Housing needs: To ensure housing issues are not impacting on a child’s access to education.

Case file information: To maintain accurate records of the part time timetables implemented by schools.

Special Category Data

We collect the following special category data to deliver our services:

Physical or mental health details: To ensure that health issues are not a barrier to attendance and to access appropriate health services.

Racial or ethnic origin: To ensure equality and diversity in service provision.

Social care support outcomes: To monitor the impact of part time timetables for children on Social Care plan.

Criminal Data We collect the following criminal data to deliver our services:

Criminal proceedings, outcomes, and sentences: To ensure correct absence codes for part time timetables are used in school registers and there is parental agreement for the timetable. This ensures that absence is authorised and will not lead to prosecution under sec 444(1) Education Act 1996 for unauthorised absence.

Sources of Information

We primarily collect information directly from you. However, in certain circumstances we also receive information from:

Central Government Agencies – Department of Education Daily Attendance Return

Other Local Authorities – Attendance data and part time timetable forms from schools and settings in other Local Authorities and from statutory services in other Local Authorities were pupils from another LA attend a school in Cheshire West

Health – Information where a child is open to a health service
Police – Information for children who have been exposed to domestic violence and are on safety plans from MARAC

Commissioned partners – To discuss the suitability of a part time timetable for a child open to support services commissioned by the Council.

What is your personal information used for?

We use your information to:

To ensure all pupils of compulsory school age receive a full-time education suitable to their age, aptitude and any special educational needs they may have.
In order to improve our service delivery, in certain circumstances we use personal information to create statistics which help us to see how our services are being used and how they should be funded.
To evidence positive outcomes to funding agencies.
To monitor timetables and challenge if necessary
Provide Part timetables for all children aged 5-16 years of age
To ensure that schools are not putting children on reduced timetables without parental consent.
To consider if your timetable needs to be closed/extended.
To have regular review dates which include the pupil and their parents to ensure it is only in place for the shortest time necessary.
To have a clear ambition and be part of the pupil’s wider support, health care or reintegration plan.
To have a proposed end date that takes into account the circumstances of the pupil. In some limited cases, a pupil with a long-term health condition may require a part time timetable for a prolonged period.

Who Do We Share Your Information With?

We share your information only when necessary or required by law. This includes sharing with the following organisations for the reasons outlined below:

Health Service Providers (e.g., NHS, GPs, hospitals): to advise the panel on the suitability of a part time timetable for a child’s health need

Education Providers: To support your educational needs and ensure you receive appropriate educational services.

Police: To monitor part time timetables for children who have been exposed to domestic violence and are on safety plans from MARAC .

By sharing your information with these organisations, we aim to provide you with comprehensive and coordinated support, ensuring your needs are met effectively and efficiently.

Data Processors

We use data processors to support our activities and ensure efficient service delivery. These data processors include:

Liquid Logic Case Management System: To log your contact with us and manage case information, ensuring we can provide you with accurate and timely support.

By using these data processors, we aim to enhance our service delivery, ensure the security of your information, and provide you with the best possible support.

Data Controller

Cheshire West and Chester Council is the Data Controllers for this processing.

The Lawful Basis for Processing

Most of the personal information we collect is provided by you. Under Article 6 of the UK GDPR, we rely on the following lawful bases for processing your personal data:

Public Task (UK GDPR Article 6(e)): We need to process your data to perform a task in the public interest or as part of our official functions.
Criminal conviction and offences – Article 10

Special Category Data

When we collect special category data, we rely on the following lawful bases under Article 9 of the UK GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018)

Substantial Public Interest (UK GDPR Article 9(2)(g) and DPA 2018 Schedule 1): We need to process your data for reasons of substantial public interest, as required by UK legislation.
Data Protection Act 2018 Section 10(1)(b) and (3) and Schedule 1 Part 2, Paragraphs 5 and 6.

The legislation we rely on when using your personal information to meet our legal obligations or public tasks includes but is not limited to:

Working together to improve school attendance Statutory guidance for maintained schools, academies, independent schools and local authorities August 2024
Keeping children safe in education 2024
Working Together to Safeguard Children 2023
The School Attendance (Pupil Registration) (England) Regulations 2024

Will your information be used to make automated decisions or in AI?

Your information will not be used for any automated decisions and will not be used in any AI processing. Should we consider the use of AI at any point in the future, and if you are still open to the SEND Team, we will notify you of what is planned and when.

Will any information be transferred abroad?

No, your information is not transferred abroad. If you move abroad and request that information, be sent to the new education authority or educational institution, we will arrange for it to be sent provided you give written consent.

How long we will keep your personal information?

We will only use your personal information whilst delivering the service to you and to deal with any questions or complaints that we receive about this unless the law requires us to keep it for a longer period. In practice, this means that your personal information will be retained for the relevant period listed below dependant on our involvement with you:

25 years from your date of birth then deleted.

If we need to use your information for research or reports, your information will be anonymised and any information taken from notes (handwritten or typed) during any consultation sessions will be securely destroyed. The information will continue to be used in a summarised and anonymised form in any research reports or papers that are published. The anonymised information in the papers that will be of historic interest and will be held in public archives indefinitely

Your rights

You have a number of rights regarding your personal data. You can ask for a copy of the information we hold about you, ask us to correct anything that is wrong and object (with justification) to its continued use.

You have the right to:

be informed of data processing (covered by this Privacy Notice)
Ask to see the information that we hold about you (also known as a Subject Access Request)
withdraw consent (where data is processed under consent)
have any inaccuracies in your data corrected.
have information erased.
restrict processing of data
data portability (have your data transferred to another Authority)
intervention in respect of automated decision making.
complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (information below)

To exercise any of these rights please contact DPO@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk

Contact us and complaints.

You have the right to complain if you are unhappy with the way your request is handled or disagree with a decision made by the council about your data. If you want to make a complaint you can contact the Data Protection Team (DPO) and request a review of the decision: DPO@cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk

If you are not satisfied with any outcome from the DPO you may wish to apply to the Information Commissioner's Office at:

The Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire,
SK9 5AF