Application for an early learning and childcare place
Data Controller
We are a local authority established under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994. Our head office is located at Newtown St Boswells, Melrose TD6 0SA. You can contact us on 0300 100 1800 or customeradvice@scotborders.gov.uk.
Data Protection Officer
Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted using the contact details for us as set out above or by email at dataprotection@scotborders.gov.uk
How we will use your information
We provide Early Learning and Childcare placements. The personal information provided will be used to assess your application for a place for your child in a setting within Scottish Borders. We also use your information to verify your identity / parental rights where required, contact you by post, e-mail, or telephone and to maintain our records.
We are collecting and using this information as it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest by ourselves. If you do not provide us with the information, we have asked for then we will not be able to provide this service to you.
For more information about Early Learning and Childcare please visit our website.
The information you have provided will be retained for one year after the child has left the service.
Who we may share your information with
Your information will be accessed by our staff who need to use it in order to provide the service described above. This could include staff in services out with Education and Lifelong Learning such as Social Work and Practice. Your information will be shared with the following third-party organisations:
- SEEMiS to enable the safe electronic storage of pupil records and information.
- ParentPay, EPS and CRB to allow the school to offer cashless catering and to receive payment for school trips and events.
- Groupcall to allow the school the school to communicate with you; and
- Netmedia to enable the online arrangement of parent’s evenings.
We are legally obliged to share certain data with other public bodies such as:
- The Scottish Government for examination, career guidance and monitoring purposes.
- The NHS for health monitoring purposes and will do so where the law requires this.
We use an electronic system called SEEMIS to hold and process educational data. Personal information will be uploaded and held on the SEEMIS system and the fact you have applied for an early learning and childcare centre place will be recorded.
If you have requested a place at an Early Learning and Childcare setting which is offered on behalf of ourselves (e.g., not run by Scottish Borders Council), personal information will require to be shared with the approved setting. This information will be shared because the processing is necessary for a contract we have with the setting.
We are legally obliged to safeguard public funds so details will be checked internally for fraud prevention and verification purposes and may be shared with other public bodies for the same purpose.
We are legally obliged to share certain data with other public bodies such as Police Scotland, National Health Service, HMRC, other public authorities and will do so where the law requires this, and it will be proportionate.
Your information may also be shared and analysed internally in order to provide management information, inform service delivery reform and similar purposes to meet our duty to achieve best value and continuous service improvement.
In general, we do not transfer personal data outside either the UK or the European Economic Area (EEA) and on the rare occasions when it does so we will inform you. We will only transfer data outside the UK and the EEA when it is satisfied that the party which will handle the data and the country it is processing it in will provide adequate safeguards for personal privacy.
Decision-Making
We do not use profiling or automated decision-making processes. Some processes are semi-automated (such as anti-fraud data matching), but a human decision maker will always be involved before any decision is reached in relation to you.
Third Party Information
If you have provided anyone else's details to us, please make sure that you have told them that you have given their information to ourselves. We will only use this information as part of the assessment of your need for services and to contact them in connection with delivery of any such services. If they want any more information on how we will use their information they can visit our website or by email dataprotection@scotborders.gov.uk
Your rights
You have the right to request access to any personal data held about you by ourselves. You can also request that we restrict the use of your information or even object to any further processing. You can do this by contacting the Data Protection Officer using the contact details provided above. We will respond to your request within thirty calendar days.
For more information on your rights please visit our website or if you would like a hard copy of this information, please contact us using the contact details provided above.
How to raise a complaint
We aim to directly resolve all complaints about how we handle personal information. If your complaint is about how we have handled your personal information, you can contact our Data Protection Officer by email at dataprotection@scotborders.gov.uk or by telephone on 0300 100 1800 or online
However, you also have the right to lodge a complaint about data protection matters with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), who can be contacted by post at:
Information Commissioner's Office,
Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
You can contact the ICO by phone on 0303 123 1113 or visit their website for more information.
If your complaint is not about a data protection matter you can find details on how to make a complaint on our website.