Early Help Service Privacy Notice

Kensington and Chelsea’s Family Services provide a range of services for children and their families as part of the Early Help Service. The Early Help Service collects and uses personal information about you and your family. The council is registered as a Data Controller under the Data Protection Act 2018.

This privacy notice broadly explains what information we collect, the purpose for using it, the types of personal information and who we may share it with.

It applies to all personal information collected for or on behalf of the council by the Early Help Service whether by letter, email, face-to-face, telephone, online or any other method.

The privacy notice should be read in conjunction with the Children’s Services Privacy Notice at: https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/data-protection/childrens-services-privacy-notice

The Early Help Service includes:

• Targeted Early Help teams which aims to help families when difficulties first begin so that we can support them with finding solutions quickly.
• A Parenting support including parenting programmes to help parents increase their understanding and confidence as well as training sessions on practical issues.
• A School Inclusion Programme which is a team of family practitioners working in primary and secondary schools to support pupils, families and the school community with specialist advice and advocacy on education related matters.
• A team of Early Years Family Practitioners, who offer support, guidance and practical sessions to families with children under 5 to support parents to help their children reach their developmental milestones.

Purpose for processing your information

We use the data we have and collect for the following purposes to:

• assess and identify the needs of children and families we work with.
• record details of when we make contact with you through home visits or in Council
• offices, Family Hubs or other venues.
• reflect and understand the views, wishes and feelings of children and their parents or
• carers.
• ensure your family receives appropriate help and support from the local authority.
• inform other public or voluntary services about what support they can assist you with.
• provide advice, emotional support, practical assistance, and safety measures for
• children and their families.
• monitor take-up of the services we provide to make sure they meet the needs of local
• families.
• evaluate the degree to which our services and programmes improve outcomes for&
• children.
• prevent crime and fraud, assisting other public bodies to do their work safely and
• effectively

We collect the following information

The categories of personal information that we collect and use may include the following:

• personal and family details
• lifestyle and social circumstances
• health needs
• financial details
• employment and education details
• NHS number
• housing needs
• visual images
• details of personal appearance and behaviour
• student and pupil records
• case file information including details of your views about what you and you family need and the support being provided.

The lawful basis that applies to the processing and sharing of the above personal data is Article 6(1)(e) public task.

To process sensitive data (special category under the UK GDPR) the condition is Article 9(2)(h)

How we collect your information

We collect your information when you have requested support from any of the Early Help services. We also collect information when another service which already knows you, your child or family makes a referral to Early Help. We expect other services to have discussed their wish to make a referral with you and got prior agreement for this to happen. The usual route through which we receive referrals is by telephone, email or an online form, the Early Help Family Hub Referral which is received on the service’s case management system, Mosaic. We may also receive information through telephone calls to the Early Help Duty desk in which case the details required in our referral form are gathered verbally.

Once we receive a referral, you are not obliged to accept any service we offer you. However, we will keep a record of the referral being received.

If you accept the service offered from Early Help, we may also gather further information about your family through telephone contact with you or in face to face meetings. This is to ensure that we have assessed the needs of your family and that we have a record of the services offered and progress made. Where appropriate we will produce with you a Team Around the Family Plan(TAF). This plan will detail the support that you need and have agreed to receive as well as who will help you with your needs. This plan is shared with you but will also be shared with all of the services that are supporting you and your family, unless you tell us not to. It will be stored securely as part of your records.

Who the information is shared with

Your information will be held on Mosaic, our secure database system. Your information may, with your agreement, be shared with a range of other services which may have a role in providing the support your family needs.

We will only share information with these organisations where it is appropriate and legal to do so. We will also share information, for example, if there is a risk of serious harm or threat to life, for the prevention and detection of fraud or crime, assessment of any tax or duty or if we are required to do so by any court or law. Where this is necessary, we are required to comply with all aspects of the Data Protection Act 2018.

How long do we keep your information?

We will only keep your information for as long as is required by law and in accordance with the council’s corporate retention schedule.

Your Rights and Access to your information

You have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you. The Data Protection Act 2018 also gives you additional rights about the information we hold about you and how we use it, including the right to:

• object to and restrict further processing of your data; however, this may have an impact
• on the services we are able to deliver to you.
• request to have your data deleted where there is no compelling reason for its continued
• processing and provided that there are no legitimate grounds for retaining it.
• request your data to be rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete
• have your data transferred or copied should you move to another authority
• not be subject to automated decision-making including profiling

If you want to see information stored about you, you will need to submit a ‘Subject Access Request’. Please send an email to this address for further details: [email protected]

Changes in your personal circumstances

You must notify us immediately if there are any changes in your circumstances and personal details so we can maintain an accurate and up to date record of your information.

If you have any concerns

You have a right to complain to us if you think we have not complied with our obligation for handling your personal information; please send an email to this address if you wish to send a complaint: [email protected]

If you are not satisfied with the council’s response you have a right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Changes to our privacy policy

As the council creates new services, this may generate further need to amend the privacy notice. If our privacy notice changes at any time in the future, it will be posted on this page.