Who will own my data once I submit it?
Local Authority Designated Officer (LADO), Knowsley Borough Council is the Data Controller for the personal information you provide.
Why do you need my information?
- Safeguard the welfare of children and young people
- For crime prevention and prosecution
- To manage complaints and allegations
- To support investigations and audits
- Collation of statistics to support quarterly and annual reports to Senior Leadership and Safeguarding Board
- To identify themes and patterns of behaviour in order to ensure proactive multi-agency responses
What allows you to use my information?
The council is required by law to safeguard children. This is detailed in legislation and guidance including Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015, Children Act 1989, Children Act 2004, Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act 2012, Education Acts, Keeping Children Safe in Education 2016.
The council is allowed to process personal and sensitive data to achieve these aims under GDPR Articles and the Data Protection Act.
- Necessary to comply with a Legal Obligation
- Public Task or Statutory Function
- Employment, Social Security or Social Protection Law
- Legal proceedings (obtaining advice/defending legal rights)
- Substantial Public Interest
- Health and Social Care
- Necessary for administration for justice
Who will my information be shared with?
We collect and share information with any organisation who can support our investigations including: Children, parents and families
- Schools and colleges
- Early Years and Childcare
- Health Services
- Police
- Children’s Social Care Services
- Adult Social Care Services
- Housing Services
- Prison Service
- Youth Offending Teams
- Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service
- Armed Services
- Voluntary and private sectors
- Faith Organisations
- Public Sources (if applicable)
Who do we collect information about?
We collect information about:
- Employees
- Customers
- Families
- Parents
- Adults
- Children
- Siblings
- Offenders
- Complainants
- Service Users
- Employers – private, voluntary and statutory sectors
Do I have to provide this information and what will happen if I don’t?
It is essential that any allegation of abuse made against a professional who works with children and young people or other member of staff or volunteer in any setting is dealt with fairly, quickly and consistently, in a way that provides effective protection for the child or children and at the same time supports the person who is the subject of the allegation. Each Local Authority has a Designated Officer in post to co-ordinate the management of allegations against those in a position of responsibility for children.
The criteria for consideration under Allegation Management would be any adult who works in regulated activity with children or young people and has behaved in a way that has harmed, or may have harmed a child, has committed a criminal offence against or related to a child and has behaved towards a child or children in a way that indicates they pose a risk of harm to children.
How long will you keep this data for and why?
North West LADO Retention Policy
This policy has been drawn up by the North West LADO group to provide guidance to LADO’s and other agencies around the retention of information that is collated by LADO’s. The policy needs to be considered in line with each LADO’s own organisation’s retention policy.
The purpose of the guidance is to ensure that agencies are fully aware of what information will be retained, for what purpose and for how long.
Prior to the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, there was no National Government Guidance in place to advice LADO’s around how long information should be retained.
The guidance from the Independent Inquiry advises all organisations to retain any and all documents, notes, emails and all other information, however held, which contains or may contain content pertaining directly or indirectly to the sexual abuse of children or to child protection care, (children relates to any person under the age of 18).
For all other information, the following timescales have been agreed by the North West LADO’s.
| Content/Type | Scenario | Timescale for Review | Action | Rationale |
Contacts, Initial Considerations and Referrals that do not progress |
All contacts, initial considerations and referrals into LADO where it is clear that there is no evidence to substantiate the allegation. |
Reviewed 10 years from the date of closure |
All information should be deleted or removed, unless at that point the LADO is able to rationalise why the information should be retained. |
A decision to retain information beyond 10 years may be taken by the LADO if patterns or behaviour are emerging that suggest the person could continue to pose a risk of harm. |
Malicious, False or Unfounded |
All cases that progress to strategy meeting whereby the allegation is found to be Malicious, false or unfounded. |
Reviewed after 10 years from the date of closure. |
If no additional information or evidence is brought to light during this period, the information should be deleted or removed, unless the LADO is able to rationalise why the information should be retained. |
A decision to retain information beyond 10 years may be taken by the LADO if patterns or behaviour are emerging that suggest the person could continue to pose risk of harm. |
Unsubstantiated |
All cases that progress to strategy meeting whereby the allegation is found to be unsubstantiated. |
No date for review. |
These records should be retained until the alleged perpetrator reaches the age of 100 years. Following this time they should be deleted and destroyed. |
For cases that are deemed unsubstantiated there is neither evidence to confirm nor deny the alleged incident happened and therefore the risk in deleting this information is too high information sooner. The decision made to retain records whereby the outcome is unsubstantiated comes from the Bichard enquiry regarding Ian Huntley who had a series of unsubstantiated allegations against him that presented a pattern of concern. |
Substantiated |
All cases that progress to strategy meeting whereby the outcome is found to be substantiated. |
No date for review. |
These records should be retained until the alleged perpetrator reaches the age of 100 years. Following this time they should be deleted and destroyed. |
Substantiated case should not be deleted or removed sooner than this time as the outcome suggests the person poses risk of harm to children and the information should remain. This allows for allegations that may be made once the person has died as per Jimmy Saville and Cyril Smith. |
Recording dates for review
When a case is closed by LADO a review date should be recorded 10 years for the date of closure.
For cases that are unsubstantiated or substantiated, at the time of the case closure, the date at which the alleged perpetrator turns 100 years old should be recorded as the date of review.
Cases that are reviewed and a rationale is provided to retain information, a new date should be recorded as to when the case should be reviewed again.
How will my information be stored?
Information is carefully stored on the Liquid Logic (secure management information system within Children’s Social Care) and on Knowsley Borough Council’s secure network. Only authorised professionals have direct access to the information but they may need to share some pieces of information with other agencies in certain circumstances.
Will my data be transferred abroad?
No.
Will this information be used to make automated decisions about me?
No.
What rights do I have when it comes to my data?
- The right to be informed through this Privacy Notice
- The right to rectification; you have the right to have personal data rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete
- The right to complain to the Information Commissioner if you feel we are processing your personal information unlawfully.
- The right to restrict processing activity in certain circumstances
- The right to object to certain types of processing activity
- The right to erasure – you have the right to have personal data erased and to prevent processing however, the right to erasure does not apply in some circumstances
Due to exemptions under the Data Protection Act 2018, your rights may not apply to information created by the court or that is part of a criminal investigation or proceeding.
You have the right under the General Data Protection Regulation to request a copy of your information and to know what it is used for and how it has been shared. This is called the right of subject access.
To request a copy of your data or ask questions about how it is used, please visit our data protection section or contact:
Data Protection Officer
Knowsley Council
Westmorland Road
Huyton
L36 9GL
Or email: data.protection.officer@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: -
Data Protection Officer
Knowsley Council
Westmorland Road
Huyton
L36 9GL
Or email: data.protection.officer@knowsley.gov.uk
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 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45
Website: www.ico.org.uk