Fostering Privacy Notice

For the processing to which this notice relates to be carried out we use the following information:

• personal information – such as: your name, date of birth, address, telephone number, background information including education and your family, employment information and employer references
• Special category personal information – such as: your ethnicity, sexual orientation, information about your physical and mental health, personal relationships, religion, information for disclosure and barring checks, safeguarding and medical checks and personal references

We will collect your information using:

• online application forms
• paper application forms
• face-to-face applications and queries
• telephone applications
• Microsoft Teams

The amount and type of personal data the Fostering Service will collect from you will depend on why and how you are contacting or interacting with us, and the service or information you are requesting. We will only ask you for the information that is necessary to provide you with responses to what you are contacting us about.

Where we use systems or apps such as Microsoft Teams to contact or gather information from you we will let you know.

We will use your information:

• to deliver the fostering service
• for foster carer recruitment campaigns
• to answer enquiries about becoming a foster carer
• to confirm your identity
• for foster placement matching
• to ensure that children, young people and foster carers receive a high level of care and support
• to help improve our service
• to provide anonymised reports, such as evaluations of the fostering service

Any reports, presentations and statistics for publication or use outside of the authorised council staff, will be anonymised and cannot be linked back to you, your family or individuals. Reports containing anonymous information may also be shared with the general public and other organisations.

We will protect your data and make sure nobody has access to it who shouldn’t. For example to prevent unauthorised access to files restrictions are in place to ensure that only employees who need the information to perform a specific task are given access to your information, which is kept in the council’s secure network.

The Fostering Service collect and use your information to enable us to meet our legal responsibilities to make sure children in care are safe and well. This involves supporting children in places that meet their needs. For some children this is foster care. The table below sets out the legal basis for each of the activities that this Privacy Notice covers:

Personal Data Activity	Legal basis - GDPR Article 6	S8 DPA	UK Legislation
The provision of fostering services	(1)(c) to do so is necessary because of a legal obligation that applies to the City of Doncaster Council	Not Applicable	Children Act 1989 Boarding Out of Children Regulations 1991 Children Homes Regulations 2001 Fostering Services Regulations 2011 Fostering Services National Minimum Standards 2011 Care Planning, Placement and Case Review Regulations 2010 (amended)
Special Category Data Activity	Legal basis - GDPR Article 9	DPA 2018 condition	Other considerations
The provision of fostering services	(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.	Part 2 of Schedule 1

Criminal Data Activity	DPA 2018 condition required
Criminal offence data shared as part of the foster carer assessment process	Part 2 of schedule 1

We may also use your information to contact you to take part in surveys, campaigns or consultations about our foster care services. We will either ask for your consent to do this or will rely on the legitimate interests of the council as the lawful basis, to contact you for this purpose. This is because it's reasonable for us to ask you for your feedback, comments and opinions about this service as it is essential to help us meet our internal and external obligations in delivering the fostering service.

We sometimes need to share your information within the City of Doncaster Council or with other organisations. We will only share your information when necessary and when the law allows us to, and we will only share the minimum information we need to. For Fostering matters we may need to share your information with:

• Social work practitioners and senior managers
• Independent reviewing officers
• The Safeguarding Team
• Ofsted 
• Health agencies
• The police
• Other local authorities
• Education providers

In certain cases we may also share your information with other individuals and organisations. For example:

• to support foster carer recruitment and foster carer awareness
• if you make a complaint to your Councillor
• sharing in relation to a safeguarding issue
• to help prevent a crime

Sometimes, we might share your information without your knowledge.

We may be required or permitted under data protection legislation to disclose your personal data with social carers, health personnel or the emergency services without your explicit consent, for example if we have a legal obligation to do so, such as for:

• safeguarding
• law enforcement
• fraud investigations
• regulation and licensing
• criminal prosecutions and court proceedings
• in an emergency situation

The City of Doncaster Council will never sell your information to anyone else.

We will keep your information for different periods of time, depending on what we are using it for. We only keep your information for as long as we need to, after which we will securely delete the information.

We will keep your information for only so long as is necessary – the table below sets out typical timescales for each activity:

Activity	Time information kept for
For client records relating to the provision of foster care	75 years from the child’s 18th birthday
For records relating to the creation and management of providing foster care places	For 10 years after ceasing to be a foster care

The law gives you specific rights over your information. These rights are:

• to be informed of our use of information about you;
• of access to information about you;
• rectify information about you that is inaccurate;
• to have your information erased (the ‘right to be forgotten’);
• to restrict how we use information about you;
• to move your information to a new service provider;
• to object to how we use information about you;
• not to have decisions made about you on the basis of automated decision making;
• to object to direct marketing; and,
• to complain about anything the City of Doncaster Council does with your information (please see the ‘Complaints’ section below).

Some of the rights listed above apply only in certain situations, and some have a limited effect. Your rights are explained further in the Individuals’ Rights Procedure on our website, as is how to make a request under one or more of them.

You can request information about yourself by making a subject access request on this page of the City of Doncaster Council’s website.

This notice is kept under regular review to make sure it is up to date and accurate.

The City of Doncaster Council is required by law to have a DPO. The DPO has a number of duties, including:

• monitoring the City of Doncaster Council’s compliance with data protection law;
• providing expert advice and guidance on data protection;
• acting as the point of contact for data subjects; and,
• co-operating and consulting with the Information Commissioner’s Office (see ‘Complaints’ below).

The City of Doncaster Council’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted by email at information.governance@doncaster.gov.uk 

If you are unhappy with the way in which your information has been handled you should contact the City of Doncaster Council’s Data Protection Officer so that we can try and put things right.

Alternatively, and if we have been unable to resolve your complaint, you can also refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is the UK's independent body set up to uphold information rights, and they can investigate and adjudicate on any data protection related concerns you raise with them. They can be contacted via the methods below:
Website: www.ico.org.uk
Telephone: 0303 123 1113
Post: Information Commissioner’s Office Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF