Privacy Notice - Employment and Skills

This privacy notice is for the Employment and Skills and Employment and Skills - NHS Jobs Project teams.

Nature of work

Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council (SMBC) is a data controller in terms of the Data Protection Act.  We collect process and store a wide range of information, including personal information to deliver our services efficiently.  

We are responsible for managing the information that we hold and we recognise that this information is important to you.  We take our responsibilities seriously and use personal information fairly, correctly and safely in line with the UK’s Data Protection Laws.

The Employment and Skills Team of SMBC delivers targeted help and support to assist you on your journey into work, education or training through grant funded programmes. If you use this service for support, this Privacy Notice explains how your personal information is used, what it is used for, who it will be shared with and why. 

Legislation Underpinning the Service Area

Solihull MBC’s Employment & Skills Team acts as the data processor when we  collect your personal information as part of our funding arrangements with the European Social Fund (ESF) via agreements with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to enter into a contract of support based on your individual circumstances through our ESF funded programmes.

To enable us to fulfil our statutory duty to report to the Department for Education information personal information is also collected on the participation of young people in education, training or employment.

Where we need to share sensitive or confidential information, we will do so only with your consent, or where we are legally bound to do so.  

Anyone who receives information from us, is also under a legal obligation to do the same and will have a set of data protection clauses included in any contracts with us.

Type/Classes of information processed

We use this information to:

• Identify and provide you with the service you need
• Let you know what other services are available to you
• Help us develop and improve our services 
• Send reports to government departments 
• Identify employment and training opportunities
• Send you the information you need
• Deliver targeted help and support to assist you on your journey into work, training or education as required by our grant funders. 

Who information is processed about

The classes of personal information we process include:

• Full name
• Contact details
• Education and employment history
• Jobseekers’ customers journeys
• Any health or disability issues you may have, as self-declared at registration, that may impact the types of help and support we offer you
• Family circumstances – such as who you live with and their employment status
• Ethnicity
• Race
• Gender
• Housing information – such as homeless or at risk of homelessness
• Whether you are an offender of ex-offender
• Identity/right to work checks – such as passport, birth certificate, DWP employment status/benefits

Additional information processed, as a statutory requirement by Local Authorities for the tracking and participation of young people in education or training, such as:

• Special Education Needs
• Children under the Local Authority (Looked After Children)
• Teenage pregnancy
• Young parents
• Young Carers
• Post Year 11 and Year 12 offers of Education, Employment or Training
• Year 11’s attending a Solihull School
• Years 12 to 13 who reside in Solihull, or up to the age of 25 for those who have a current Education and Health Care Plan (EHCP)

Who information may be shared with

We will not share information with anyone outside of Solihull MBC except: 

• Where we have your permission to share
• Where required for the service we are providing you
• Where we are required by law, government or other regulatory bodies 
• With third parties, external partners and agencies assisting us in delivering our service to you
• With external partners to improve, and advance the service we provide to you.

We share your personal data with:

• Department for Work and Pensions – As a managing authority of the funding agreement
• Department of Education – As a statutory obligation
• Our partner organisations – If they are offering the support you may need
• Potential employers – So that you can apply for vacancies or opportunities
• Housing organisations – If you need help with housing
• External organisations  - Only when  we have identified support that you need from them
• Training providers – When you need to be referred
• Other internal Council departments.

How long we will keep your information

We will keep your information for as long as we need to. Information about you will be kept for 7 years after the last contract for Management.  For ESF grant funded programmes, we will keep information for 10 years after the end of the programme.  

Transfers Overseas

No personal information will be shared or transferred overseas.

Your rights

You have the right to: 

• Ask to see the personal information we hold about you
• Ask us to change information we hold about you if it is wrong
• Ask us to delete the information we hold about you
• Ask us to limit the way we use your personal information
• Complain to the Information Commission’s Office 

To exercise any of these rights please email the Employment & Skills Team.