Free School Meals

The proper handling of personal information by Carmarthenshire County Council is very important to the delivery of our services and maintaining public confidence.

Personal data is any information that relates to a person who can be directly or indirectly identified from the information. The terms ‘information’ and ‘personal data’ are used throughout this privacy notice and have the same meaning.

To ensure that the Council treats personal information correctly, we seek to adhere in full to the requirements of Data Protection legislation.

This privacy notice has therefore been produced to explain as clearly as possible what we do with your personal data.

1. The purpose for which we use your personal data

The information we collect about you will be used for the purpose of verifying your eligibility to receive free school meals.

Your contact details are also used to send you important updates about the School Catering Service, via our online payment provider (ParentPay).

The legal basis for the processing of your information is to comply with our legal obligations under the Education Act 1996 and the Human Rights Act 1998.

If you do not give us the information we need when we ask for it, this may result in us being unable to process your application and provide with the assistance you are entitled to.

2. What type of information do we use?

We collect the following types of personal data about you to deliver this service:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Date of birth
  • National Insurance Number
  • Telephone number
  • Email address
  • Your family composition
  • Your financial circumstances
  • Employment details

3. Do we use information received from other sources?

To provide this service, we collect information directly from you but also receive information from the following sources:

  • The Department for Education Eligibility Checking System
  • The Council’s Housing Benefit system
  • Northgate Public Services Helpline

The following types of personal data are obtained:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Date of birth
  • National Insurance Number
  • Telephone number
  • Email address
  • Your family composition
  • Your financial circumstances
  • Employment details

We need to collect this information to verify your entitlement.

4. Transferring your information abroad

We use Microsoft Office 365 to process our electronic documents under the terms of a strict agreement, which safeguards your information. This personal data is hosted on servers outside the UK, but only in EU countries which are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation.

 

5. Who has access to your information?

The personal data you provide us will not normally be shared with any other service within Carmarthenshire County Council, or with any third party outside the organisation.

However, there are specific situations where we may be required to disclose information about you, such as:

  • Where the Council is required to provide the information by law
  • Where disclosing the information is required to prevent or detect a crime
  • Where disclosure is in the vital interests of the person concerned

6. How long we will keep your information

We will keep your information for the duration you are awarded Free School Meals or for a period of 6 years (whichever is longest) in accordance with the Council’s Retention Guidelines.

7. Your Data Protection rights

You have the right to:

  • Obtain access to the personal data that Carmarthenshire Council is processing about you
  • Have any inaccurate or incomplete information rectified (corrected)
  • Withdraw your consent to processing, where this is the only basis for the processing
  • Make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the independent body in the UK which protects information rights

In some circumstances, you may have the right to:

  • Object to the processing of your personal information
  • The erasure of your personal data
  • Restrict the processing of your personal information
  • Data portability

8. Contact details

For more information regarding this privacy notice and your rights, please contact:

Data Protection Officer
Carmarthenshire County Council
County Hall
Carmarthen
SA31 1JP

Email: dataprotection@carmarthenshire.gov.uk

Contact details for the Information Commissioner’s Office along with further guidance on Data Protection legislation can be found on the ICO website .

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