Schools privacy notice for staff

Portsmouth City Council is the Data Controller for the use of personal data in this privacy notice. The categories of schools workforce information that we process include:

• personal information (such as name, employee or teacher number, national insurance number)
• characteristics information (such as sex, age, ethnic group)
• contract information (such as start date, hours worked, post, roles and salary information)
• work absence information (such as number of absences and reasons)
• qualifications (and, where relevant, subjects taught)
• relevant health information such as disabilities and special needs
• addresses and other payroll information.

This list is not exhaustive, to access the current list of categories of information we process, please see the council’s Data Protection Privacy Notice.

We use workforce data to:

• a) enable the development of a comprehensive picture of the workforce and how it is deployed
• b) inform the development of recruitment and retention policies
• c) administer the payroll and enable individuals to be paid
• d) maintain sickness records and manage absences
• e) monitor equal opportunities
• f) make provision for disabilities or special needs.

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the legal basis / bases we rely on for processing personal information for general purposes are:

Article 6(1)(b) “processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract”

For the purposes of statutory data collections and workforce reporting, the legal basis is:

Article 6(1)(c) “processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject.”

The legal basis for using workforce information for workforce planning purposes is:

Article 6(1)(e) “processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller”.

In addition, concerning any special category data, the conditions under UK GDPR – Article 9 are:

Article 9(2)(a) the data subject has given explicit consent to the processing of those personal data for one or more specified purposes

OR

Article 9(2)(b) processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of the controller or of the data subject in the field of employment and social security and social protection law

OR

Article 9(2)(h) processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services.

We collect personal information from staff contracts, from our payroll system and from application forms. Additional information for the school workforce census may be gathered verbally.

Workforce data is essential for the council’s operational use. Whilst the majority of personal information you provide to us is mandatory, some of it is requested on a voluntary basis. In order to comply with UK GDPR, we will inform you at the point of collection, whether you are required to provide certain information to us or if you have a choice in this.

We hold data securely for the set amount of time shown in our data retention schedule. For more information on the council’s data retention schedule and how the council keeps your data safe, please visit the council’s retention schedule.

We routinely share this information with:

• the Department for Education (DfE).

We do not share information about school workforce members with anyone without consent unless the law and our policies allow us to do so.

When we share information about school workforce members this is to collect and report on school workforce information and provide workforce services on behalf of schools such as payroll.

We are required to share information about school workforce members under section 5 of the Education (Supply of Information about the School Workforce) (England) Regulations 2007 and amendments.

The council will share workforce information for statutory reporting and inspection purposes with the DfE and with Ofsted.

The council is under a duty to protect the public funds it administers, and to this end may use the information they hold about you for the prevention and detection of fraud.   It may also share this information with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds for these purposes.  For further information go to www.portsmouth.gov.uk and search for ‘National Fraud Initiative’.

The Department for Education (DfE) collects personal data from educational settings and local authorities via various statutory data collections. We are required to share information about our school workforce with the Department for Education (DfE) for the purpose of the School Workforce Census which is a statutory return under sections 113 and 114 of the Education Act 2005.

All data is transferred securely and held by DfE under a combination of software and hardware controls which meet the current government security policy framework.

For more information, please see ‘How Government uses your data’ section.

The UK-GDPR gives you certain rights about how your information is collected and used. To make a request for your personal information, contact the council’s Information Governance Team at: dataprotection@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.

You also have the following rights:

• the right to be informed about the collection and use of your personal data – this is called ’right to be informed’.
• the right to ask us for copies of personal information we have about you – this is called ’right of access’, this is also known as a subject access request, data subject access request or right of access request.
• the right to ask us to change any information you think is not accurate or complete – this is called ‘right to rectification’.
• the right to ask us to delete your personal information – this is called ‘right to erasure’
• the right to ask us to stop using your information – this is called ‘right to restriction of processing’.
• the ‘right to object to processing’ of your information, in certain circumstances
• rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.
• the right to withdraw consent at any time (where relevant).
• the right to complain to the Information Commissioner if you feel we have not used your information in the right way.

There are legitimate reasons why we may refuse your information rights request, which depends on why we are processing it. For example, some rights will not apply:

• right to erasure does not apply when the lawful basis for processing is legal obligation or public task.
• right to portability does not apply when the lawful basis for processing is legal obligation, vital interests, public task or legitimate interests.
• right to object does not apply when the lawful basis for processing is contract, legal obligation or vital interests. And if the lawful basis is consent, you don’t have the right to object, but you have the right to withdraw consent.

If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, you should raise your concern with us in the first instance or directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office at raise a concern with ICO.

For further information on how to request access to personal information held centrally by DfE, please see the ‘How Government uses your data’ section of this notice.

For more information, please see ‘How Government uses your data’ section.

Find out more about privacy information on the data the Department for Education (DfE) collects and uses.

We may need to update this privacy notice periodically so we recommend that you revisit this information from time to time. This version was last updated on 31/10/2024.

If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact the council’s Information Governance Team at: dataprotection@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.

The workforce data that we lawfully share with the Department for Education (DfE) through data collections:

• informs the Department for Education (DfE) policy on pay and the monitoring of the effectiveness and diversity of the school workforce
• links to school funding and expenditure
• supports ‘longer term’ research and monitoring of educational policy.

To find out more about the data collection requirements placed on us by the Department for Education including the data that we share with them, go to data collection census for schools.

The Department for Education (DfE) may share information about schools workforce employees with third parties who promote the education or well-being of children or the effective deployment of schools workforce staff in England by:

• conducting research or analysis
• producing statistics
• providing information, advice or guidance.

The Department for Education (DfE) will only share your personal data where it is lawful, secure and ethical to do so and has robust processes in place to ensure that the confidentiality of personal data is maintained and there are stringent controls in place regarding access to it and its use. Decisions on whether the Department for Education (DfE) releases personal data to third parties are subject to a strict approval process and based on a detailed assessment of public benefit, proportionality, legal underpinning and strict information security standards.

Find out more information about the Department for Education’s (DfE) data sharing process.

For information about which organisations the Department for Education (DfE) has provided information, (and for which project) please visit the following website: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-external-data-shares.

Under the terms of UK GDPR, you’re entitled to ask the Department for Education (DfE):

• if they are processing your personal data
• for a description of the data they hold about you
• the reasons they’re holding it and any recipient it may be disclosed to
• for a copy of your personal data and any details of its source

If you want to see the personal data held about you by the Department, you should make a ‘subject access request’.  Further information on how to do this can be found within the Department’s personal information charter that is published at the address below:

Department of Education Personal Information Charter

or

Requesting your personal information

To contact the department, find their contact details on the GOV.UK website.