Knowsley Hearing and Vision Specialist Service Privacy Notice

Who we are:

Knowsley Council’s Hearing and Vision Specialist Service (HaVSS) works with educational settings, health professionals and parents to bring about positive change for children, young people and their families. We work with children who have a hearing or vision need. Service staff consists of specialist teachers and support assistants who work to overcome barriers to inclusion whether it be as result of access to the curriculum, independence skills or dealing with the disability itself. We support staff in educational settings to make appropriate modifications in their delivery of the curriculum so that the access caused by the disability is lessened.  We record our involvement and provide reports as required. Our input is reviewed regularly with school staff as necessary.

The Hearing and Vision Specialist Service (HaVSS) is also responsible for writing sensory advice to support the statutory process of Education, Health and Care (EHC) needs assessment.

In order to provide specialist HaVSS support and affect change, we collect personal information from you. This Privacy Notice explains how and why we use this information, and how we keep your information secure.

Information collected by us

In order to provide specialist HaVSS support, we collect:

• Personal information (such as name, address, contact details, date of birth gender)
• Special category characteristics (such as ethnicity, religion, medical information)
• Reasons for support (such as concerns about learning, areas that require support and change)
• Assessment and plan information (such as explanation of the sensory need, further details of barriers to learning, strengths and needs, interventions and next steps to support outcomes)
• Images, digital and paper records that support our work with you

We also obtain personal information from other sources as follows:

• Current and previous involvement from other organisation’s (such as audiologists, ophthalmologist’s or therapists, paediatrician’s, speech and language therapists, teachers, social workers)
• Schools and other setting information (such as attendance and exclusion information, national curriculum and exam attainment and progress)
• Talking to school and setting staff to plan sensory specialist teaching and specialist support work, often in a planning and review meeting with the SENDCO
• Involvement with other children’s services teams from our existing records, or through attending multi-agency meetings such as Early Help. Or through the Early Help and Portage Teams

We can only collect information about individuals with consent.

Who will own my data once I submit it?

Your personal information and data will be owned by Knowsley Metropolitan Borough Council.

Why do you need my information?

We use your personal information to:

• Work with the child or young person to gain an understanding of strengths and needs
• Assess and advise on the most appropriate ways to support individual children
• Undertake consultation with adults who work with the child or young person
• Support and deliver interventions
• Provide schools, settings and parents with a report to inform their ongoing support for a child or young person. Sometimes, this report is copied to other services, such as health professionals with your consent
• Evaluate and quality assure the services we provide
• Provide sensory advice for an Education, Health and Care needs assessment

We only collect the information needed to support the client; and use this to inform next steps and decision-making.

What allows you to use my information?

The Children’s and Families Act 2014 and the Special Educational Needs and Disability Code of Practice (2015) underpins the statutory process for an EHC assessment.  When you agree to an EHC assessment, you are agreeing to a multi-agency statutory assessment and so the service does not need to seek consent for Hearing and Vision Specialist Service involvement as this would be repetition.

Within the SEND Code of Practice, it is expected that schools and settings should involve specialists to support meeting needs within their educational establishment.  Specialist teachers of the deaf or teachers of the vision impaired are named as one such service.  We need the consent of a person with parental responsibility for us to gather this information and to work in schools and settings. This is usually the child’s parent, carer, guardian or in some cases, social worker.

For young people over 16, after compulsory school age (the end of the academic year in which they turn 16) the right to make requests and decisions under the Children and Families Act 2014 applies to them  directly, rather than to their parent /carer.

You have the right to withdraw your consent at any point, and a specialist teacher will cease work with your child.  If you exercise your right to be forgotten, we will erase any electronic records and securely dispose of paper files.

The lawful basis for holding your personal data is ‘Public Task’ as we need the information to carry out our public functions as set out in these laws.  Where we collect special category (sensitive) personal information, we rely upon reasons of substantial public interest, to ensure equality of opportunity or treatment.

Who will my information be shared with?

We may share your personal information with:

• Teams within Knowsley Council working to improve outcomes for children and young people
• Your child’s school, setting, college or alternative providers
• Partner organisations such as health colleagues working for Bridgewater Trust, North West Boroughs, such as audiology and opthalmology, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, specialist nurses or mental health practitioners, working for CAMHS
• Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, such as community paediatrician’s, specialist nurses or named specialists
• St Helen’s and Knowsley Teaching Hospital staff such as specialist nurses or specialists based at Whiston Hospital and other hospital trusts
• Other professionals who you have asked to contribute advice or information to your child’s Education, Health and Care needs assessment
• Law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law

If your young child (early year’s age) is referred via the Child Development Team, your child will be discussed in a multi-agency referral meeting to make sure the most appropriate agencies are involved.

Do I have to provide this information and what will happen if I don’t?

You are required to complete a consent form allowing us to involve a member of the Sensory Impairment Service in supporting your child’s educational setting to create positive change through the application of specialist skills and knowledge.  If you do not complete all the required aspects of the form, the service may not be able to be involved with your child or the educational setting may not feel able to meet the needs of your child’s sensory need.

The service will not discuss or work on the behalf of an individual without consent from a person with parental responsibility, or the young person themselves if over 16 (subject to competency).

How long is your personal data will be kept?

We will hold your personal information securely and retain it from the child / young person’s date of birth until they reach the age of 35, after which the information is securely destroyed.

If the child or young person is adopted, we have to keep information for 100 years and then securely dispose of the information. If a child or young person has been Looked After by Knowsley Council, we have to keep information for 75 years and then securely dispose of it.

How will my information be stored?

Paper files are used to store information about individuals. These are stored securely in the Service’s base office.

Any electronic information will be securely stored by Hearing and Vision Specialist Service (HaVSS)

Will this information be used to take automated decisions about me?

No

Will my data be transferred abroad and why?

No. Knowsley’s electronic and paper records are held locally.

What rights do I have when it comes to my data?

Under the General Data Protection Regulation, you have the following rights with regards to your personal data: -

• The right to subject access – you have the right to see a copy of the personal data that the Council holds about you and find out what it is used for
• The right to rectification – you have the right to ask the Council to correct or remove any inaccurate data that we hold about you
• The right to erasure (right to be forgotten) you have the right to ask the Council to remove data that we hold about you
• The right to restriction – you have the right to ask for your information to be restricted (locked down) on Council systems
• The right to data portability – you have the right to ask for your data to be transferred back to you or to a new provider at your request
• The right to object – you have the right to ask the Council to stop using your personal data or to stop sending you marketing information, or complain about how your data is used
• The right to prevent automated decision-making – you have the right to ask the Council to stop using your data to make automated decisions about you or to stop profiling your behaviour. (where applicable)

To find out more about your rights under the GDPR, please visit the Information Commissioner’s website.

To request a copy of your data or ask questions about how it is used, contact:-

Dan Howarth, Data Protection Officer
Knowsley Council
Westmorland Road
Huyton
Liverpool
L36 9GL

Or email: Inforights@knowsley.gov.uk

Who Can I Complain To If I Am Unhappy About How My Data Is Used?

You can complain directly to the Council’s Data Protection Team by writing to: -

Dan Howarth, Data Protection Officer
Knowsley Council
Westmorland Road
Huyton
Liverpool
L36 9GL

Or via Knowsley Council’s Have Your Say website.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office using the following details: -

The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 08456 306060 or 01625 545745

Website: www.ico.org.uk

This privacy notice was updated in September 2024