Children and young people's wellbeing survey privacy notice - Privacy notices

Herefordshire Council is undertaking a comprehensive survey of the attitudes, perceptions, and behaviours of children and young people in Herefordshire across a number of topics related to health and wellbeing.

The overall aim of the survey is to improve understanding of the health and wellbeing of children and young people in Herefordshire, and the extent to which they feel part of their local communities. This information can then be used to review and plan future service.

Anonymised statistical data will be shared with individual education settings and with Herefordshire’s Children and Young People’s Partnership, who work to address issues affecting children, young people and their families. Topic areas which the survey covers include:

• Healthy lifestyles (including diet, exercise, sleep, oral hygiene)
• Alcohol, drugs and smoking/vaping
• Self-esteem and mental health
• Bullying, including cyber-bullying
• Family life, including caring responsibilities
• School life
• Being part of the community
• Perceptions of safety
• Healthy relationships and consent
• Travel to school

All personal data held, is processed in accordance with data protection law. The Data Controller for the information outlined in this privacy notice is Herefordshire Council.

The surveys will predominately be carried out in education settings and the Data Processor is the School Health and Education Unit (SHEU) who will process your information on behalf of the council.

The data collected will be amalgamated into anonymised statistical data for the following purposes:

• To produce an evidence base in the form of a comprehensive and representative data set which provides detailed information on the health, wellbeing and views of Herefordshire’s children and young people
• To establish baseline indicators and outcomes related to children’s health and
• wellbeing which could be used to measure change over time
• Build a collective understanding of children and young people’s lifestyles and behaviours
• Provide a valuable source of evidence for school improvement work
• Inform Herefordshire Council and broader partnership strategies and plans related to the health and wellbeing of children and young people
• Amalgamated data for each individual school will be shared with that school alongside amalgamated Herefordshire data for comparative purposes. This will enable schools to identify key differences against Herefordshire results and plan in line with the specific needs of their pupils.

The legal basis for processing the data is in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority.

The Children Act 2004 requires the council and its partner agencies to work together to improve the wellbeing of CYP in the local areas (sections 10 and 11). Further legislative requirements for the council to take views of CYP into consideration when planning and providing services are:

• The Children Act 1989 (as amended by Section 53 of the Children Act 2004) which requires local authorities to give due regard to a child's wishes when determining what services to provide under Section 17 of the Children Act 1989, and before making decisions about action to be taken to protect individual children under Section 47 of the Children Act 1989. These duties complement requirements relating to the wishes and feelings of children who are, or may be, looked after (Section 22 (4) Children Act 1989), including those who are provided with accommodation under Section 20 of the Children Act 1989 and children taken into police protection (Section 46(3) (d) of that Act);
   
• The Equality Act 2010 requires public authorities to have due regard to the need to eliminate discrimination and promote equality of opportunity. This applies to the process of identification of need and risk faced by the individual child and the process of assessment. No child or group of children must be treated any less favourably than others in being able to access effective services which meet their particular needs;
   
• The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) is an international agreement that protects the rights of children and provides a child-centred framework for the development of services to children. The UK Government ratified the UNCRC in 1991 and, by doing so, recognises children's rights to expression and receiving information
   
• In addition, Working together to Safeguard Children statutory guidance (2018) states that local organisations and agencies should have a clear understanding of the collective needs of children locally when commissioning effective services. As part of that process, the Director of Public Health should ensure that the needs of children are a key part of the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) developed by the Health and wellbeing board.

We may share your information, in amalgamated statistical form, with local partner organisations, in
order to inform strategy development and service planning, including but not limited to:

• All directorates of Herefordshire Council
• Herefordshire Clinical Commissioning Group
• Herefordshire schools
• Voluntary sector representatives
• West Mercia Youth Offending Services
• West Mercia Police
• Wye Valley Trust
• Healthwatch
• Early year’s Sector representatives
• Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Foundation Trust
• Secondary School representatives
• Primary School representatives
• College representatives
• Special School representative
• Economic Partnership Development Group representatives
• Herefordshire Safeguarding Children Board

Anonymised summarised findings from the survey will be published online.

We will not normally share your information with organisations other than our partner organisations without your consent, however, there may be certain circumstances where we would share without consent such as where we are required to do so by law, to safeguard public safety, and in risk of harm or emergency situations. Any information which is shared will only be shared on a need to know basis, with appropriate individuals. Only the minimum information for the purpose will be shared.

We will only keep your information for the minimum period necessary. Herefordshire Council will retain amalgamated statistical data only. The information outlined in this privacy notice will be kept in line with the council’s retention schedules. All information will be held securely and destroyed under confidential conditions when no longer required.

Details of how SHEU will retain data can be found in the SHEU privacy notice.

You have a number of rights under data protection law, including the right to request your information and to request that the information be amended or erased if incorrect.

To request your records, you will need to put your request in writing and provide proof of identification to the Information Governance Team, Herefordshire Council, Plough Lane, Hereford HR4 0LE or via email, informationgovernance@herefordshire.gov.uk

You also have a right to make a complaint about our handling of your personal data to the Information Commissioner’s Office.

If you have any questions or concerns about how your information is used, please contact Children’s Commissioning (ChildrensCommissioning@herefordshire.gov.uk) in the first instance. You can also contact the Data Protection Officer at Herefordshire Council, Plough Lane, Hereford HR4 0LE, email: informationgovernance@herefordshire.gov.uk

More information about data protection and how it applies to you can be found on the Information Commissioner’s Office website.