Early Help Privacy Notice

Information

Last updated: 16 January 2023

Birmingham Children and Young People Partnership Early Help System Privacy Notice

This notice explains what personal data (information) Birmingham Children and Young People’s Partnership (“we”, or “the Partnership”) hold about you, how we collect, how we use and may share information about you. We are required to give you this information under data protection law.

Who we are?

The Partnership are responsible for delivering the Early Help System in Birmingham. The Partnership consists of: Birmingham Children’s Trust, Birmingham City Council, West Midlands Police, Birmingham Voluntary Service Council (BVSC), Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust and Birmingham and Solihull Integrated Care Board. Early Help System is not a single service but a Partnership of the above-mentioned organisations that provide help, advice, signposting and support to children, young people, and their families at the earliest opportunity.

Other organisations also support the Early Help System these include:

  • Education Settings (schools, nurseries & Post 16 education)
  • Childrens Centres • GP surgeries
  • Additional organisations as the Early Help System evolves.

All organisations engaged in the Birmingham Early Help system are Joint Data Controllers for the information held about you and have all signed a data sharing agreement.

Why we collect information about you?

The Early Help System is to help you as soon as possible and prevent problems from getting worse by providing you support, as early as possible. Early Help services can help families, children, and young people - pre-birth to 19 years old and 25 years old where there are special educational needs or disabilities. Early Help provide family support, give advice and guidance including linking to food banks, connect families to the professionals who can support them and coordinate the help required, support early help assessments, connect families into the local community resources to help families to be more resilient, and give small grants for emergency food assistance. Some families need support from more than one professional. We no longer make referrals for Early Help but connect and work together to support families, continuing to build relationships and supporting a range of needs of all family members. Whilst Birmingham Childrens Trust is the lead agency for Early Help, the partner agencies involved share a secure computer system called ECINs provided by  Birmingham City Council and operated on a day-to-day basis by Birmingham Childrens Trust, where families’ data is stored for the purposes of Early Help.

What information do we collect?

Information we collect includes:

  • name, address, date of birth, gender, and other contact information such telephone numbers, and email addresses
  • members of the household and other significant individuals
  • Education settings
  • NHS number
  • Identification of other organisations you are currently working with.
  • complaints

We will also process special category (sensitive) data which includes:

  • racial or ethnic origin
  • religious or other beliefs
  • sexual orientation
  • physical or mental health details including SEND needs
  • Basic background information i.e., subject to Child in need plan or other intervention plan

We collect personal/special category information through various sources including assessments and referrals, from other professionals, telephone conversations, email communication, face to face visits, surveys and questionnaires which may include criminal offence information. We will only hold your information for as long as is required by law and to provide you with the necessary services. The information will be stored in ECINs until the data subject reaches the age of 19 years or 25 years if Special Education Needs and / or Disability are identified.

Who will we share this information with?

We may share your information with:

  • NHS foundation Trust
  • Birmingham Community Health Care
  • Birmingham & Solihull ICB
  • Birmingham City Council
  • Birmingham Childrens Trust
  • West Midlands Police
  • All Education settings in Birmingham
  • BVSC
  • Birmingham Forward Steps
  • Forward Thinking Birmingham
  • Gateway Family Service
  • Compass
  • Family Action
  • Barnardo’s
  • Green Square Accord
  • Evolve
  • Birmingham & Solihull Women’s Aid
  • Richmond Fellowship
  • DWP
  • Probation Service
  • Other Local Authorities

What is the lawful bases for processing personal data?

Both Birmingham City Council and the Birmingham Children’s Trust have statutory duties to improve the well-being of children and families in our area. Section 17 of the Children Act 1989 puts a duty on the local authority to provide services to children in need in their area and Section 10 of the Children’s Act 2004 places a duty on the councils to improve wellbeing and to work with partners to do this. The Department for Education has also published Working Together to Safeguard Children which puts an emphasis on identifying those who would benefit from early help. The legal basis for the processing (use) of your personal data is based on consent provided by you. However, if the people helping you think that you, or someone you tell them about, are not safe, your personal information may be shared without your permission, for safeguarding purposes. Full details of legal bases can be found in the data sharing agreement.

How will we collect this information?

We will collect your data:

  • provided to us directly by you
  • provided by another individual, such as a carer or family member
  • provided by referring organisation

Each organisation engaged in the Early Help System is committed to using your information properly, keeping it safe, and retaining it for no longer than necessary.

This privacy notice applies to the partner agencies forming part of the Early Help System.

Your rights 

You are entitled to know what personal data the Early Help System is processing about you.

If you want to obtain your personal data please place your request here or if you want to exercise any of your other rights about the processing of the data please place your request here .

You can ask the Early Help System to stop processing your data at any time by withdrawing your consent by completing the appropriate section of the Early Help consent form and returning it to Early Help Locality Teams email address:- EarlyHelpLocalityTeams@birminghamchildrenstrust.co.uk

If you have a general data protection enquiry, or wish to exercise your UK GDPR rights you can contact Birmingham Children’s Trust Data Protection Officer by email (dpo@birminghamchildrenstrust.co.uk) or by post (Data Protection Officer, Birmingham Children’s Trust, Postal Address: PO Box 17363, B2 2EL).

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal information, the Birmingham Childrens Trust Data Protection Officer can be contacted through email at dpo@birminghamchildrenstrust.co.uk.

You can also complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how we have used your data.

The ICO’s address: Information Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF Helpline number: 0303 123 1113

ICO website: https://www.ico.org.uk