- How we use your data
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When you apply for or use free childcare for two, three and four year olds (administered by Stoke-on-Trent City Council) we collect information about:
- your child’s name, address, date of birth, gender, ethnicity, childcare provider and details of how they take up their free childcare offer
- your child’s ethnicity (in line with article nine of the General Data Protection Regulation). The collection of this data is in the substantial public interest as it is a function conferred on a person by an enactment or rule of law (DPA 2018, Schedule 1, Part 2, Para 6(2)(a))
- parents' details in relation to 30 hours' childcare, such as their name, date of birth, the Department for Education Eligibility Reference Number (DERN) and National Insurance number
- parents' details in relation to eligibility for early years pupil premium such as their name, date of birth, national insurance number and National Asylum Support (NASS) number
- your child’s eligibility to the Disability Access Fund (confirming receipt of Disability Living Allowance)
We only keep this data for the time specified in our retention schedule or as required by law.
We use this data to:
- check if your child is eligible for free childcare (if submitting an application for a free childcare place for your two-year-old)
- calculate funding payments for childcare providers and schools
- check eligibility for early years pupil premium
- check eligibility codes provided for 30 hours' free childcare for working parents
- check eligibility for the Disability Access Fund
- provide information to the Department for Education for the annual early years census
- contribute to data that will inform the local authority’s duty to ensure sufficient childcare
- exchange with other local authority departments for the purposes of supporting parents to access funded childcare
- Highlight your potential eligibility for Healthy Start vouchers, helping women who are pregnant or have young children to buy foods such as milk and fruit (eligibility conditions apply)
We are able to do this because the law on early education and childcare says we must do it (statutory guidance from the Department for Education as part of the Childcare Act 2006 and Childcare Act 2016).
We have a duty to protect public funds so may use the information we have for the prevention and detection of fraud. We may share this information with other bodies for these purposes.
We may share data with our internal audit team to evaluate the effectiveness of the organisation’s risk management, control and governance processes. We may also share your data with the council's fraud team to help to prevent and detect fraud.