Privacy notice - School Governor Services - online forms
Overview
This privacy notice tells you how we use your information, the reasons for doing so, and also what rights you have in connection with the information we hold about you, in connection with school governor services in East Sussex.
East Sussex County Council takes data protection seriously. Please be assured that your information will be used appropriately in line with data protection legislation, will be stored securely and will not be processed unless the requirements for fair and lawful processing can be met.
What information is being used?
We will in all cases use your name and contact details. If you have been appointed as a clerk or are applying to be a school governor in East Sussex then we may also use details about: relevant skills and experience, training and meeting attendance history, your preferences and also information received from referees and schools you have, are currently, or would like to, work with. If you are acting as a referee for an authority governor or are proposing someone as a school governor then we will also use information about the organisation you work for, your position in the organisation, your comment on the applicants’ suitability to meet the role of an authority governor.
Depending on the services we provide you with, we might also have other information about you in our databases.
How will your information be used?
We use the information to support clerks and governors in their role by entering information onto the Governors Online Database. We use relevant information to process application to become a school governor. We will also use the information to enable us to offer support, school information, guidance, and training and to fulfil our statutory obligation to secure school improvement.
All information is held securely in accordance with our Data Protection & Information Security Policy.
We aim to maintain high standards, adopt best practice for our record keeping and regularly check and report on how we are doing. Your information is never sold for direct marketing purposes.
Our staff are trained to handle your information correctly and protect your confidentiality and privacy.
Your information is processed in the UK or in a country with an adequacy agreement with the UK.
What is the legal basis for processing your information?
We collect and hold your information to enable us to comply with a legal obligation or because we are acting in the public interest or exercising our official authority. The local authority has statutory responsibility to promote high standards and ensure that appropriate strategies are in place to secure improvement. We also have a duty to monitor performance and take prompt and effective action when schools are not performing, using the full range of its intervention powers.
The clerk to governors is a public role and the processing of data is necessary for you to perform a task in the public interest or for your official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.
We have a legal obligation to nominate authority governors for appointment under the:
- School Governance (Constitution) (England) Regulations 2012 regulation 8
- School Governance (Federation) (England) Regulations 2012 regulation 16
We therefore have to collect and process personal data to enable us to comply with this obligation.
If we are entering into a contract with you it will be necessary for us to process your data for this purpose.
If we decide we need your consent to process your data we will contact you separately about this.
How long will your information be kept for?
The information you give through our online forms will be stored in our online forms system for 3 months, then deleted.
Your data will be transferred to a database. It will then be retained for 6 years from the date that either you, or the person that you are providing information about, cease to be hold the post of an authority governor or clerk to the governing body.
All information processed by Children’s Services is subject to a retention policy which details how long we will retain the information. This is governed by the category of data and the requirement to hold it in our records in line with statutory provisions or other operational requirements.
Sharing your information
Some of the organisations we may share your information with include:
- the school you have applied to or a school we have identified for you
- the referees you have specified
We only pass on information about you to other people if they have a real need for it and we always do it in line with the law. This is usually to assist them in providing the right service for you, or, to help us to plan and improve our services and to look into any concerns you may have about the services you receive.
We may also share your information if it is needed to protect you or someone else from harm.
Any sharing of personal data is always done:
- on case-by-case basis
- using the minimum personal data necessary
- with the appropriate security controls in place
- in line with legislation.
Information is only shared with those agencies and bodies who have a "need to know" or where you have consented to the sharing of your personal data to such persons.
We may use the information we hold about you to assist in the detection and prevention of crime or fraud. We may also share this information with other bodies that inspect and manage public funds.
Use of third party organisations
East Sussex County Council may share your information with trusted external organisations to process your data on our behalf.
This is to enable us to provide the services you need.
Any organisation commissioned by the Council will be under contractual obligation to comply with data protection legislation.
Your rights
Under data protection legislation, you have the right:
- to be informed why, where and how we use your information
- to ask for access to your information
- to ask for your information to be corrected if it is inaccurate or incomplete
- to ask for your information to be deleted or removed where there is no need for us to continue processing it
- to ask us to restrict the use of your information
- to ask us to copy or transfer your information from one IT system to another in a safe and secure way, without impacting the quality of the information
- to object to how your information is used
- to challenge any decisions made without human intervention (automated decision making)
Please visit data subject rights for further details.
How to find out more or complain
Should you have any further queries on the uses of your information, please speak directly to our service:
Governor Services
4th Floor St Mark’s House,
14 Upperton Road
Eastbourne
BN21 1EP
Phone: 01323 466885
Email: Governor Services
To complain about the use of your information, please contact our Customer Services Team or our Data Protection Officer.
Further information on making a complaint.
You can also contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) for further information or to make a complaint:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Phone: 0303 123 1113 (local rate)