SEND Team privacy notice

This notice explains how the Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Team process the personal data.

The Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) service is responsible for carrying out duties under the Children and Families Act 2014 in relation to statutory assessment processes, and the ongoing monitoring of children and young people who have Education, Health and Care (EHC) Plans. This includes information and advice sought for annual review, tracking information, disagreement resolution or mediation processes and processes relating to appeals to the Special Educational Need and Disability Tribunal (SENDT), as well as responding to enquiries from families. We also administer and approve additional high needs funding applications for children and young people in relation to the special educational provision they may require across early years, school, and post compulsory settings. We work in a coordinated way with other children and young people’s services in Cheshire West and Chester and with partner organisations to ensure we deliver the best possible outcomes for children and young people with SEND, and to ensure we are fully compliant with the Children and Families Act 2014 and associated regulations and Code of Practice.

This includes the processing of personal data relating to individual children and, where necessary, members of their family.

Who will own any data I provide?

Cheshire West and Chester Council will become the data controller of any personal data you provide, this means that we are responsible for ensuring we process it securely and appropriately and in compliance with Data Protection and other relevant legislation. You still retain rights regarding that data, and we cover these later.

What personal information is being processed and why?

While assessing and planning SEND support, providing advice and guidance to parents and carers, and providing the most suitable educational provision, we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

Personal information (such as name, address, contact details, date of birth, parent/carer name(s) and contact details, gender).
Details of special educational needs and disabilities.
Ethnicity.
Information about physical or mental health.
Basic personal information (including name, contact details (email address), workplace (early years setting), district area, job role) when you register to attend workshops, events, or courses.

As part of the EHC needs assessment, we will gather information not only from parents, carers, and young people themselves, but the relevant educational setting (nursery, school, college etc.) will also provide us with information. This allows the SEND Team to establish the level of support needed, and to personalise the package of help they can offer.

While some of the data we collect will also be via the views and opinions of parents/carers, as well as previous educational settings, we may also speak to the child or young person involved, often without parents/carers present, in order to ensure that we really understand their views, needs and wishes.

We will also obtain personal information from the following other sources and the SEND Code of Practice explains who we must ask for information, although parents/carers may add to this list:

Other organisations or teams that can provide us with advice and information (such as Adult or Children’s Social Services, educational psychologists, mental health services, doctors, school nurses and other NHS providers)
Schools or post-16 settings currently or previously attended.
Early education providers currently or previously attended (such as nurseries, pre-schools, childminders).
Other Councils, other departments in Cheshire West and Chester Council or other organisations that provide services on our behalf.
The National Health Service (NHS) Commissioning Board and Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs)
NHS Trusts, Foundation Trusts, and Local Health Boards
Youth Offending Teams and relevant youth custodial establishments
The First-tier Tribunal (Special Educational Needs and Disability)
Agencies with whom we have a duty to co-operate, such as police.
Other third-party organisations, where the Law allows us to.

As part of the process, the SEND Team will gather information about social, health and special educational needs, religion, and ethnicity. This is classed as special category data and, under Data Protection law requires the SEND Team to ensure it is only processed with appropriate protections in place.

Why do you need the data you collect?

We need the information to ensure we can provide you or your child with the appropriate service, as well as making sure any educational settings know about an individual’s needs and requirements. This allows both us and them to determine whether they would be an appropriate setting as well as to ensure that they can provide the right support and assistance to benefit all those involved.

We use personal information to:

identify an individual’s SEND needs.
clarify the nature of an individual’s needs.
identify the support they require which will help them to achieve their outcomes.
know who we need to speak to, so we can ask them to send us information and advice relating to your child.
make decisions about whether to conduct a statutory needs assessment or issue an Education, Health, and Care (EHC) Plan
make decisions about the content of an EHC Plan including outcomes, placement, and provision.
support the ongoing monitoring of the provision specified in an EHC Plan where one is issued.
inform EHC Plan annual review and monitor your child’s progress.
keep you up to date on SEND related news and developments.
support disagreement resolution or mediation processes and processes relating to appeals to the Special Educational Need and Disability Tribunal (SENDT)
make decisions about whether to provide additional funding to the setting where your child is educated (such as High Needs Funding and Early Years SEN Inclusion Funding)
help to resolve any disagreements.
enable coordinated working with other teams and organisations.
evaluate and quality assure the services we provide.
analyse service provision and effectiveness, and model patterns of service involvement to support future service delivery planning.
assess for specialist equipment.
inform future commissioned services and educational placements requirements.
provide support and advice.

Who will information be shared with?

If an individual is going through an EHC needs assessment, information will be sent to everyone who we have asked for advice. We will inform parents/carers who we will ask for advice during any initial meeting.

We will also share information with educational settings including any current nursery, school, or college settings which parents/carers have told us they would like to be named in an EHCP and any other settings that we feel may be able to meet the relevant special educational needs and provide a suitable place.

Information will be shared with other educational settings regardless of whether they have been identified as a parental preference in order to allow for all options to be considered, as well as to comply with our legal obligations to assess ‘Nearest for Need’ options.

We will tell parents/carers which settings we are sharing information with. The information we share will include the EHC Plan, the advice that came in to help us write it and information from reviews of the EHC Plan that occur every year.

Where identified as necessary, we will also share personal information with:

Other departments in the Council working to improve outcomes for children and young people.
Commissioned providers of local authority services (such as education or health services)
Schools, colleges, and early years providers as well as wider education or training providers
Local multi-agency forums which provide SEND advice, support, and guidance.
Educational Psychologists
Other local authorities and social care or health providers outside of the Local Authority
Department of Education
Providers of independent advice and guidance (such as contracted SEND consultants)
Mediation and support services

We share information that we have gathered as part of a statutory needs assessment and to resolve disagreements as part of formal and informal processes in relation to mediation or formal appeals through the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal.

We will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law.

When we share information, we will ensure we only share the information necessary to achieve the identified purpose and will not share any information that is not necessary. This is to ensure we comply with data minimisation requirements whereby we are committed.

What allows us to use and share this data?

The SEN team is responsible for carrying out legal obligations under Part 3 and section 19 of the Children and Families Act 2014, and in accordance with Special Education Needs Code of Practice 2015.

We are also collecting your data for the purpose of reviewing external placements, financial and budgetary decisions and accurately tracking workflow throughout the team. Our legal basis for collecting this data is because it is considered necessary to enable us to carry out our tasks, functions, duties or powers, or to perform a task carried out in the public interest.

We also collect your special category data, such as health or mental health information under the Provision of Health and Social Care, with respect to the Special Education Needs Code of Practice 2015 and 2018 and Section 19 of the Children and Families Act 2014 and Equalities Act 2010. This data collection will be proportionate to the aim pursued. The GDPR lawful basis for processing is Article 6 1, (c&e) and Article 9 2, (h).

Do we need the consent of parents/carers to process/share this data?

Most data we process as part of the EHCNA/EHCP procedure does not require the consent of parents/carers. Once you have agreed to engage with the EHCNA process we are required to collect and use personal data in line with legal requirements or to enable us to carry out tasks in the public interest. As a result, once a parent/carer has engaged in the process, they are confirming their understanding and acceptance that personal data will be processed and shared as part of the procedure and will be asked to confirm this in writing. Should our processing of personal data require consent of any form, we will clearly identify when this is.

What if a parent/carer does not wish data to be used or shared?

If a parent/carer does not wish required personal data to be used or shared as part of the EHCNA /EHCP process, we will be unable to progress any application as we would not be able to assess individual EHC needs or identify appropriate settings. The use and sharing of such data are a requirement for engaging in the SEND process.

What if a parent/carer objects to the sharing of data with a school or other agency?

While we will always consider parental wishes, we are required to assess all available options and as a result are required to share data with other schools and agencies. Where a parent objects to this sharing, for example with schools other than their preferred setting, we are required to set out why we consider any sharing of data to be necessary and whether we will continue to do so regardless of any objection.

How long we will keep your personal information?

We will only keep information for as long as we need to unless we must keep it for legal reasons. SEN Data will be retained until the service users 31st birthday in accordance with the Children and Families Act 2014 s.46. Information about children who are looked after will be kept until their 75th birthday.

How your information is stored

Your information is held on an electronic case management system. Any paper information that you or others provide will be scanned onto the case management system. You will have an individual reference number, and your electronic record can only be looked at by workers who work within the SEND Team or children’s social care/family support services known to you. Each worker has a separate user number and a password, and checks are made regularly to make sure that only workers that need to look at your case file does so.

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.

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