General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Privacy Statement
The Leeds Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service (SENDIASS), is committed to respecting the rights of service users to confidentiality and anonymity when seeking advice and will comply with the 2018 General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR).
There may be circumstances where the service is legally required to share information without a service users agreement, such as raising or responding to significant concerns relating to safety or wellbeing.
The service is funded by Leeds City Council but operates at an arm’s length and maintains a records management system that is externally hosted from Leeds City Council, to ensure that it can offer a confidential and impartial service.
Information gathered
With service user agreement, Leeds SENDIASS will record personal information about children and young people aged 0-25 years and about their parents/ carers or advocates, on their standalone record management system (electronic database).
The service will only store and use personal information provided to respond to service user enquiries and provide them with relevant information, advice and support on matters related to Special Educational Needs and/or Disabilities (SEND).
This information can include:
- name of the child or young person that the contact relates to
- their age and date of birth
- relevant information about their education
- relevant information about any special educational needs, health needs, care needs and/ or disabilities
- contact information (email and telephone) for those with parental responsibility for children under the age of 16 and/or are advocating on behalf of a young person aged 16-25 years.
- postcode
Service users are under no obligation to provide this information, but it may limit the range of support that service may be able to offer if it is not provided.
Service users may also choose to give consent for the service to obtain additional information from sources such as other support agencies, schools, colleges, NHS services or Local Authority teams. The service would only access or discuss information that is relevant to supporting with or advising on the individual enquiry.
Leeds SENDIASS will use provided information to:
- inform any signposting, advice and support provided
- have an accurate on-going record of any contacts or enquiries
- conduct regular monitoring and service needs analysis
- inform service improvement
- assist with complaints and dispute resolution
- provide anonymised reporting or statistics to the Local Authority, to help to inform and shape local policies and practices
Information retention
At the time of an initial contact, the service will create an individual record on their confidential, electronic records management system (database). This record will form an on-going and accurate log of the initial, and any future service contacts or enquiries relating to a child or young person aged 0-25 years.
Copies of documents sent to the service to inform any ongoing advice or support work are uploaded to and securely stored on the electronic records management system, until the enquiry they relate to has concluded. Hard copies of any documentation will be disposed of confidentially.
The service will perform an annual audit that will ensure that records are removed or anonymised where:
- a young person has reached the age of 26 years
- in the case of parent/ carer records, there has been no service contact for 3 years or more.
- uploaded documents have been stored for more than 12 months and do not pertain to any on-going enquiry support.
Withdrawal of consent and exercise of individual rights
Service users can withdraw their agreement to work with Leeds SENDIASS at any time. Should they choose to do so, the service will no longer process their information for the purposes originally agreed to, unless there is a legitimate basis, in law, for doing so.
To withdraw an agreement to work with Leeds SENDIASS, please contact:
Service users have rights in respect of the information held about them and their child, including the following:
- the right to access - you can ask for copies of your personal data
- the right to rectification - you can ask to rectify inaccurate personal data and to complete incomplete personal data
- the right to erasure - you can ask to erase your personal data
- the right to restrict processing - you can ask to restrict the processing of your personal data
- the right to data portability - you can ask that your personal data is transferred to another organisation or to you
- the right to complain to a supervisory authority - you can complain about the processing of your personal data
- the right to withdraw consent - to the extent that the legal basis of processing of your personal data is consent, you can withdraw that consent
You can also read more about service users
rights information
Data protection officer
Third-Party Links
This website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins, and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you.
The service does not control these third-party websites and is not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave this website, you are encouraged to read the privacy notice of every website you visit.
