Privacy Notice - Engage Service

Nature of work

Early Help is a way of supporting people to avoid problems, or to deal with them before they get worse. Problems may emerge at any point during childhood and adolescence.

The Early Help model ensures long term sustainability and community empowerment, with an aim for families to be helped at the earliest point, improving children and young people’s life chances and reducing demand for crisis services.

The Engage service, which is part of Solihull Council’s Early Help offer, work with children, young people and families to provide support to them before the need for crisis services and brings together individuals, people providers, groups and organisations, direct work, community provision and community capacity working across five collaborative areas in a needs-led flexible and holistic approach.

This is a non-statutory function within Solihull Council and consent will be sought to work with families.

Why we need your information

We will use your personal information for a limited number of purposes and always in line with our responsibilities, where there is a legal basis and your rights under Data Protection Legislation.

We will process personal information:

• for the purpose for which you provided the information, e.g. the processing of a request for support from the Engage Service
• to work with other agencies who are/may also be working to support children, young people and families
• to enable us to communicate with you and provide the services you need or are entitled to
• to monitor our performance in providing services to you; to gather statistical information to allow us to plan future provision of services and to obtain your opinion about our services
• to meet various legal requirements
• to enable us to perform statutory functions for data gathering and data returns as outlined by Central Government
• for the prevention and/or detection of crime including fraud
• for general processing where you have given your consent for us to do so
• where it is necessary to protect individuals from harm or injury
• where it is permitted under Data Protection legislation, for example, to comply with legal obligations 

We aim to always keep your information accurate and up to date.  You can help us to do this at any time by letting us know if any of the information you have given us, such as your address, changes.

Type/Classes of information processed

We process a variety of information relating to individuals including:

• personal details
• family details
• lifestyle and social circumstances
• financial details
• employment and education details
• housing needs

We also process what is referred to as special categories of information that may include data revealing:

• racial or ethnic origin
• religion

Who information is processed about

The classes of personal information we process include:

• Children and young people under the age of 19 years of age (or 25 if they have a special educational need)
• family members

Who information may be shared with

Where necessary or required we share information with:

• Family members, associates or representatives of the person whose personal data we are processing
• Healthcare professionals social and welfare advisers or practitioners
• Educational Establishments
• Charitable Organisations
• Other Council Departments
• Law Enforcement Agencies

How long we will keep your information

We will not keep your information any longer than needed. The length of time will vary from service to service and will be guided by either legislation or the Council's internal retention records guidance which states how long records should be retained.

Transfers Overseas

Information is not transferred overseas.