Education Employment and Training Support for Young People Privacy Notice

This privacy notice explains how we use personal information to deliver support for young people to access and progress in education, employment, or training (EET).

The service is delivered by the Council’s Young People’s Service, which forms part of the Early Help and Prevention offer. It supports young people during key transition points, including those in school years 9 to 11 who need additional help planning their next steps, and young people aged 16 to 18 who are not in education, employment, or training or who are at risk of not meeting the Raising the Participation Age (RPA) requirements.

We have a statutory responsibility under the Education and Skills Act 2008 to track and monitor the participation and destinations of young people up to the end of the academic year in which they turn 18. Some young people also choose to receive ongoing, voluntary support beyond this point, including up to age 20, or for longer where they have special educational needs or an Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP).

This notice explains what personal information we collect, how it is used, who it is shared with, how long it is kept, and the lawful basis for this processing.

What information we collect, use, and why

We collect and use personal information to meet its statutory duty to promote and track participation in education, employment or training (EET) and to provide targeted support that helps young people make safe and successful transitions into adulthood.

Information is collected for two connected purposes:

• statutory participation tracking, and
• support and intervention, where a young person requires or requests additional help.

Personal data

We collect the following personal data about young people:

• Name, address and contact details
  To identify the young person, maintain contact, and provide information or support.
• Date of birth
  To confirm age, apply statutory participation‑tracking duties, and determine eligibility for services.
• Education details
  Including school, college or training provider, course or programme, start and end dates, and participation or destination outcomes.
  This information is required to meet statutory duties under education legislation and to support transitions into EET.
• Employment and training details
  Where applicable, including employment status, apprenticeship or training placements, and outcomes, to support sustained participation and progression.
• National education identifiers
  Including Unique Pupil Number (UPN) and Unique Learner Number (ULN), where required to accurately match records and avoid duplication across statutory education systems.
• National Insurance number (where applicable)
  Collected only where necessary for employment, apprenticeship, training programmes, or information sharing with partner agencies involved in funded education or employment provision.
  Parent or carer contact details (where applicable)
  To involve those with parental responsibility or a key supporting role, particularly for young people under 18.
• Contact, engagement and intervention records
  Including appointments, agreed actions, progress notes and outcomes, to ensure continuity of support and appropriate service oversight.

Special category data

Special category data is collected only where it is necessary and proportionate to provide appropriate support or meet statutory duties. This includes:

• Special educational needs and disability information
  Including Education, Health and Care Plan (EHCP) status, where this affects transitions, participation, or the support required.
• Health information relevant to participation
  Where necessary to understand barriers to EET or to put reasonable adjustments in place.
• Social care involvement
  Where required to coordinate support and safeguard a young person’s welfare.
• Religion or belief (where relevant)
  Collected where necessary for equality monitoring or to ensure that support, activities or placements are appropriate and respectful of religious needs.
• Ethnicity
  Used for equality monitoring and to ensure fair access to services.

Offence‑related information (safeguarding and risk management)

The Education, Employment and Training Support service does not routinely collect or manage criminal conviction data.

In some safeguarding circumstances, offence‑related information is shared with the service by other statutory agencies. This information is used to:

• assess risks to the young person or others,
• ensure appropriate safeguards are in place when delivering support or activities, and
• determine the safest and most appropriate way to provide support.

Offence‑related information is recorded and considered only where necessary to protect welfare and is handled in line with data protection legislation and safeguarding responsibilities.

Use of information for service monitoring and reporting

Personal information contained in case records is used to generate anonymised and aggregated management information to help us understand participation trends, monitor service delivery, and improve outcomes.

Analytical tools are used to support this reporting. These tools do not change the purposes for which information is collected, and reports used for service monitoring do not identify individuals.

Sources of Information

The information used by the Education, Employment and Training Support for Young People service comes from a range of sources, depending on whether it is required to meet statutory participation‑tracking duties or to provide additional support to a young person.

Information is obtained from the following sources where it is relevant, necessary, and lawful.

Young people and their families

We receive information directly from young people when they engage with the service or request support. Where appropriate, information is also provided by parents or carers, particularly for young people under the age of 18 or where a parent or carer plays an active role in supporting engagement with education, employment or training.

Schools, colleges and training providers

We receive information from:

• schools and academies,
• further education colleges,
• sixth forms, training providers, and apprenticeship providers

To support statutory participation tracking and to understand education, training or progression outcomes. This includes information about enrolment, attendance, start and leaving dates, and destination outcomes.

Department for Education and national education datasets

We receive information from national education systems and datasets provided by the Department for Education, including data used to support participation tracking and destination monitoring under the Education and Skills Act 2008. This information is used to ensure records are accurate and to avoid duplication.

Employment, skills and funding partners

Where relevant to a young person’s education, employment or training pathway, information is received from employment or skills‑related partners, including:

• training and apprenticeship providers,
• organisations delivering funded education or employment programmes

Including, where necessary, limited information such as National Insurance numbers to support funded provision or reporting requirements. This information is not collected as standard and is used only where required for defined purposes.

Internal council services

Information is shared with and received from other Cheshire West and Chester Council services where this is necessary to coordinate support or meet statutory duties. This includes:

• Children’s Services and Early Help teams,
• SEND services, including information relating to Education, Health and Care Plans,
• Safeguarding services, where concerns about a young person’s welfare require coordinated action.

Safeguarding and public protection partners

In safeguarding contexts, information is shared with or received from other statutory agencies involved in protecting young people. This can include offence‑related or risk information where it is necessary to assess safety, manage risk, or ensure appropriate safeguards are in place when providing support or activities.

Such information is shared only where required and is used strictly for safeguarding and risk‑management purposes.

Information from these sources is collected and used only where it is relevant to participation‑tracking duties, support planning, safeguarding, or statutory reporting, and is handled in accordance with data protection legislation and Council policies.

What is your personal information used for?

We use personal information to carry out its statutory duties and to provide appropriate support to young people as they prepare for and move into education, employment or training (EET).

Personal information is used for the following purposes:

Statutory participation tracking

• To track and monitor participation and destinations of young people in education, employment or training up to the end of the academic year in which they turn 18, in line with the Education and Skills Act 2008
• To maintain accurate records of enrolment, participation, and outcomes, and to avoid duplication across education systems

Support and intervention

• To identify young people who need additional support with planning their next steps or sustaining participation in education, employment or training
• To provide targeted advice, guidance and support, including action planning, referrals, and ongoing engagement where a young person chooses to receive help
• To support transitions, including from school to post‑16 education or training, and into employment or apprenticeships

Support for young people with additional needs

• To ensure appropriate support is provided for young people with special educational needs, disabilities, health needs, or other circumstances that affect participation.
• To make reasonable adjustments and remove barriers to engagement where required.

Safeguarding and risk management

• To identify, assess and manage safeguarding concerns where information indicates a risk to a young person or to others.
• To ensure that appropriate safeguards and support arrangements are in place when delivering activities, interventions or support at different locations.

Coordination with partners

• To coordinate support with schools, colleges, training providers, employment partners, and other statutory services where this is necessary to support participation or safeguard welfare.
• To ensure information shared with partners is relevant, proportionate, and limited to what is required for the specific purpose.

Service oversight and improvement

• To produce anonymised and aggregated information that helps us understand participation trends, monitor service demand, and improve the quality and effectiveness of support for young people.
• To meet statutory reporting and accountability requirements to central government and funding bodies.

Who do we share your personal information with?

We share personal information only where it is necessary, lawful, and proportionate to meet statutory participation‑tracking duties, provide support to young people, or safeguard their welfare. Information is shared on a need‑to‑know basis and only with organisations involved in education, employment, training, safeguarding, or statutory oversight.

Personal information is shared with the following organisations and services:

Schools, colleges and training providers

Information is shared with:

• schools and academies,
• further education colleges and sixth forms,
• training and apprenticeship providers,

to support participation tracking, confirm enrolment or attendance, coordinate transitions, and support progression into education, employment or training.

Department for Education and national education systems

Information is shared with the Department for Education and through national education datasets to meet statutory requirements under the Education and Skills Act 2008, including participation and destination monitoring and reporting.

Employment, skills and funded programme partners

Where relevant to a young person’s pathway, information is shared with organisations delivering education, employment or training programmes, including funded provision. This can include limited information, such as National Insurance numbers, only where required to support funded education or employment activity.

Other local authorities

Information is shared with other local authorities where young people move across Council boundaries or where coordination is required to ensure continuity of participation tracking and support.

Internal council services

Information is shared with other Cheshire West and Chester Council services where necessary to coordinate support or meet statutory duties. This includes:

• Children’s Services and Early Help teams,
• SEND services, including Education, Health and Care Plan processes,
• Safeguarding services, where concerns about a young person’s welfare require coordinated action.

Safeguarding and public protection partners

Where safeguarding concerns arise, information is shared with relevant statutory partners involved in protecting young people. This can include offence‑related or risk information where it is necessary to assess safety, manage risk, or ensure appropriate safeguards are in place when delivering support or activities.

Information shared for safeguarding purposes is limited to what is required to protect welfare and is handled with appropriate safeguards.

All organisations receiving personal information are required to handle it securely and in accordance with data protection legislation. Information is shared only for the purposes described in this notice.

Data Processors

We use data processors to support the delivery and administration of the Education, Employment and Training Support for Young People service. Data processors act on behalf of us and process personal information only in accordance with our instructions and data protection legislation.

Data processors support the following functions:

• Secure case management systems
  Electronic systems used to record participation‑tracking information, engagement activity, support plans, actions taken, and outcomes, ensuring continuity of support and appropriate oversight.
• Education data and reporting systems
  Systems used to manage statutory education datasets and to produce management information and reports. Reporting outputs used for service monitoring and improvement are anonymised or aggregated so that individuals are not identified.
• Council-approved IT, hosting and security services
  Corporate IT and cloud service providers used to host, store, and protect personal information, including scanned documents and internal records, with appropriate technical and organisational safeguards in place.

All data processors are contractually required to:

• process personal information only on our instructions,
• keep information secure,
• apply appropriate technical and organisational measures, and
• not use the data for their own purposes.

We remain the Data Controller and is responsible for determining why and how personal information is used as part of this service.

The Lawful Basis for Processing

We process personal information to deliver its statutory responsibilities and associated support for young people in relation to education, employment and training (EET).

We do not rely on consent as a lawful basis under the UK GDPR for this processing.

Agreement to engage with support (service‑level agreement, not UK GDPR consent)

Some support activities are voluntary. In those cases, young people are asked for their agreement to engage or permission to proceed with specific actions, such as:

• involvement in targeted support or interventions,
• sharing information with a named education, employment, or training provider, or
• referrals to partner organisations for specialist support.

This agreement supports transparency and choice for the young person. It is not relied upon as consent under the UK GDPR and does not determine whether we process information required to meet its statutory duties. Where a young person does not engage with additional support, we continue to process the limited information necessary to fulfil participation‑tracking and safeguarding responsibilities.

Personal data – UK GDPR Article 6

We process personal data under:

UK GDPR Article 6(1)(e) – Public Task
Processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority, including the Council’s responsibilities to:

• track and monitor participation and destinations of young people in EET,
• promote participation and progression,
• provide targeted support to young people who need help with transitions, and
• coordinate support with education, employment, and safeguarding partners.

UK GDPR Article 6(1)(c) – Legal Obligation
Processing is necessary to comply with legal obligations, including statutory duties relating to education participation, safeguarding, and reporting.

Special category data – UK GDPR Article 9 and DPA 2018 Schedule 1

Where special category data is processed, we rely on:

UK GDPR Article 9(2)(g) – Substantial Public Interest, supported by
Data Protection Act 2018, Schedule 1, Part 2, including:

• Paragraph 8 – Equality of opportunity or treatment (equality monitoring and fair access),
• Paragraph 16 – Support for individuals with a particular disability or medical condition (SEND/EHCP, reasonable adjustments), and
• Paragraph 18 – Safeguarding of children and individuals at risk (protection of welfare and coordinated safeguarding action).

Offence‑related information – safeguarding context

The service does not routinely collect or maintain criminal conviction data.
In defined safeguarding circumstances, offence‑related information is received from other statutory agencies and processed to:

• assess and manage risks to the young person or others,
• ensure appropriate safeguards are in place for activities and locations, and
• determine the safest and most appropriate way to provide support.

This processing is carried out under UK GDPR Article 6(1)(e) and Article 9(2)(g), supported by the Data Protection Act 2018 Schedule 1 safeguarding conditions.

Legislation relied upon

Processing for this service is supported by the following legislation and statutory guidance, including but not limited to:

• Education and Skills Act 2008
• Education Act 1996
• Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009
• Children Act 1989 and Children Act 2004
• Equality Act 2010
• Local Government Act 1972

International Data Transfers

The Education, Employment and Training Support for Young People service primarily stores and processes personal information within the United Kingdom.

In some circumstances, personal information is shared with organisations or authorities outside the UK where this is necessary to support a young person’s access to education, employment or training, or to safeguard their welfare. This includes situations where a young person:

• has recently arrived in the UK from another country, including as part of an asylum‑seeking or refugee family,
• has previously lived, studied or trained outside the UK and relevant information is required to support participation tracking or progression, or
• is moving from the UK to another country and information is shared to support continuity of education or training

Where personal information is transferred outside the UK, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect the information and uphold the rights of young people.

These safeguards include:

• Adequacy decisions
  Transfers to countries recognised by the UK government as providing an adequate level of data protection.
• Appropriate safeguards
  Use of legally approved mechanisms such as Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) or International Data Transfer Agreements (IDTAs) where no adequacy decision applies.
• Public interest and safeguarding grounds
  Transfers that are necessary to meet statutory education duties, support participation in education or training, or protect the welfare of a young person.
• Technical and organisational measures
  Secure transfer methods, access controls, and data minimisation to ensure that only the information required for the specific purpose is shared.

International data transfers are carried out only where necessary, proportionate, and lawful, and only the minimum information required is shared.

Retention Period

We retain personal information only for as long as it is necessary to meet statutory duties, provide appropriate support to young people, safeguard welfare, and comply with legal and regulatory requirements. All information is retained in line with our Corporate Retention Schedule.

The retention periods applied to information processed by the Education, Employment and Training Support for Young People service are set out below.

Participation tracking and EET support records

Records relating to participation tracking, engagement, support activity, and outcomes for young people are retained until seven years after the end of the academic year in which the young person turns 18.

This reflects our statutory duty to track participation and ensures accountability, audit, and continuity where historic information is required.

Extended support beyond age 18

Where a young person chooses to continue receiving support beyond age 18, records are retained for seven years from the date the young person last engaged with the service.

Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND / EHCP)

Where information relates to special educational needs or an Education, Health and Care Plan, records are retained until the service user’s 31st birthday, in line with statutory education and SEND retention requirements.

Safeguarding‑related information

Where information processed by this service forms part of a safeguarding concern, retention follows the applicable safeguarding record:

• Children’s safeguarding records: retained until the individual’s 25 birthday, or longer where required by statutory guidance.
• Safeguarding legal matters or serious case reviews: retained for 25 years.

This ensures compliance with safeguarding obligations and supports accountability and review.

Offence‑related safeguarding information

Where offence‑related information is recorded for safeguarding and risk‑management purposes, it is retained in line with the associated safeguarding record and not as a standalone criminal record.

Anonymised reporting and service monitoring

Where information is used for reporting, planning, or service monitoring, it is anonymised so that individuals are no longer identifiable.

Anonymised information is retained without time limit, as it no longer constitutes personal data.

When retention periods expire, personal information is securely deleted or anonymised in accordance with our record management and information governance policies.

Your Rights

The UK GDPR provides you with a several rights to control what personal information is used by us and how it is used by us.

Further guidance about these rights can be accessed from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) website.

If you are not happy about the way your personal data is being used, or you require further information about how we process your personal data, you can contact our Data Protection Team:-

• Online: Contact the DPO
• By post: Data Protection Officer, The Portal, Wellington Road, Ellesmere Port, CH65 0BA

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office using the following details:

• Website: Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)
• Instant Message: Live Chat
• By post: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
• Telephone: 0303 123 1113