- How we use your data
-
The fostering, contact and placement-finding service uses your data for:
- the assessment and approval of people wishing to become foster carers
- support and supervision of foster carers registered with the city council
- training and development of foster carers registered with the city council
- placement-finding and matching exercises for children requiring placements with foster carers registered with the city council
- contact (family time) sessions between children, families and the respective arrangements and feedback to foster carers.
- information-sharing with Ofsted for national audit and safeguarding
- disclosure of information to the Fostering Network for professional advice and mediation for all fostering households, on behalf of the city council fostering service (as required by National Minimum Standards)
- informing our internal placement sufficiency strategy for children coming into care
We are able to do this because:
- you have entered into an agreement with us and we can’t fulfil the expectations of that agreement without collecting and processing your data
- the Fostering Regulations 2011 say we must collect and process your information for these purposes
We have a duty to protect public funds, which include the allowances and discretionary payments made to foster carers. We may therefore 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.
Data protection law provides you with certain rights, but not all of these rights will be available to you in all situations. Where we are under a legal duty to use data for a particular purpose you will not have the right to prevent it being used in that way:
- you can ask to see the information we hold about you
- you can ask what is being done with the information we hold about you
- you can ask to have some of the data we hold about you deleted
- you can ask us to review a decision made about you by a computer, and ask for a new decision to be made by a person
- you can ask us to stop processing the data we hold about you
- you can ask us to make changes to data about you that you believe is inaccurate
- in some circumstances you can ask us to help you move your information to another organisation.
- you can ask us to restrict or limit what we do with your data, for example if you believe the data we hold is inaccurate, or if you believe the processing in unlawful
- Who to contact if you have questions
-
If you wish to contact us in relation to any of your information rights, email foi@stoke.gov.uk or write to Information Rights Team, Floor 2, Civic Centre, Glebe Street, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 1HH.
Complete the online form
If you wish to complain about how your personal information has been handled by Stoke-on-Trent City Council, contact the information rights team in the first instance using the details above. If you are not satisfied you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, or call 03031231113