Who will own my data once I submit it?
Knowsley Council
Why do you need my information?
The School Admissions Team in the Council is responsible for co-ordinating the allocation of reception, junior and secondary school places as part of the annual admissions round and is involved with in-year admission applications (i.e. where a child is moving schools either within the authority or from a school outside of the authority area). The Local Authority also process requests for appeals in schools when admission has been refused. The information requested and provided on your school admission application and any associated supporting information you provide ensures that your application is processed fairly and efficiently.
What allows you to use my information?
The Department for Education ‘School Admissions Code’ (2021) has a statutory force and underpins legislation set out in the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 which requires parents/carers to apply for a school place, express school preference and allows opportunity to express the reason/s for preference. The ‘School Admissions Appeal Code’ (2022) has a statutory force and underpins legislation set out in the School Standards and Framework Act 1998 which sets out the requirement to allow a parent/carer to appeal for a school place if they have been refused.
Who will my information be shared with?
Internal and external agencies we may share your information with:
- Education providers to advise them about upcoming admissions (this includes the governing bodies of community, voluntary aided schools and academy trusts who may need to take allocation decisions in accordance with school policy)
- Other local authorities, to enable us to co-ordinate the single offer of a school place
- Fair Access Panels, to enable them to appropriately place complex admissions
- Department for Education to comply with statutory data collections
- Other teams within the Council so the school allocation process can be correctly administered (e.g. Council Tax, Electoral Roll, Special Educational Needs)
- Members of Parliament or Borough Councillors if you have asked them to act on your behalf.
- Independent Admission Appeal Panels and their clerking service
- Local Government Ombudsman who investigates maladministration in respect of school admission applications and appeals
- The Benefits Service, to help them identify pupil free school meal eligibility
- Local health services in order to support the delivery of local and national health initiatives e.g. child immunisation programmes
We may also use the information you provide for the following purposes:
- For statistical purposes (data will be anonymised) to inform decisions on school place planning, school organisation proposals, policy proposals and performance management
- The prevention and/or detection of crime or fraud
Do I have to provide this information and what will happen if I don’t?
You are requested to complete all aspects of the relevant application and disclose all relevant information to ensure your school place request is processed accurately. If you do not provide the information requested this could affect the school placement of your child.
How long will you keep this data for and why?
The information you provide will be held by Knowsley Council in accordance with their retention policy and schedule.
How will my information be stored?
Your information will be securely stored on the Management Information System used by the Council to undertake and manage the school admission and admission appeal process. The current system used is Liquid Logic EYES, but the Council retains the right to change its provider at any time.
Hard/electronic copies of your application form and supporting documentation will be stored securely and will typically be destroyed within 12 months of allocation completion unless retention policy requires it to be kept for a longer period.
Will this information be used to take automated decisions about me?
Yes - the information you provide will be used to determine whether your child is eligible for a school place against the relevant school admission policy.
Will my data be transferred abroad and why?
No – there should be no requirement to transfer your data abroad
What rights to 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 of 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 sop 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 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:-
Data Protection Officer, Knowsley Council, Westmorland Road, Huyton, L36 9GL