Fostering Services Privacy Notice
Shining Stars Fostering Agency
Shining Stars Fostering Agency is a Controller, a Joint-Controller and a Processor of personal and sensitive information for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA), which enacts the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
As a fostering agency we are governed by many different areas of legislation:
SPECIFIC FOSTERING LEGISLATION
- The Fostering Service Regulations (England) 2011
- Children Act 1989
- Care Planning Placement and Case Review (England) 2010
- The Fostering National Minimum Standards 2011
- The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review and Fostering Services (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2013
- Adoption and Children Act 2002
- Assessment and Approval of Foster Carers: Amended Guidance
- Care Standards Act 2000
- Children Act 2004
- Children and Families Act 2014
- National Minimum Standards: Adoption/Children’s Homes/Fostering
- The Data Protection Act 2018
- The UK General Data Protection Regulation
- The EU General Data Protection Regulation
- Children and Social Work Act 2017
- Working Together to Safeguard Children 2015
OTHER RELEVANT LEGISLATION
- Equality Act 2010
- VAT Act 1994
- Sex Discrimination Act 1975
- Race Relations Act 1976
- Disability Discrimination Act 1995
- Limitation Act 1980
Where stipulated by the above legislation, we will be required to retain your personal and/or sensitive information for the prescribed amount of time. Please refer to our data retention schedule for further information.Policy on Maintaining and Accessing Records
We collect, store, control and process Special Categories of Personal Information for the purposes of the provision of Social Care in compliance with the GDPR Article 9 2. (h)
Our compliance with the DPA will ensure that we do not keep your data for an excessive amount of time and that we handle your data with the respect and care that you deserve.
Should you need to contact us for data protection purposes the individual responsible for data protection compliance at Shining Stars Fostering is Guardian Saints. They can be contacted using the contact details at the end of this document .
The DPA has a set of rules and guidelines which we must follow when handling your information. These are referred to as Data Protection Principles. This privacy notice tells you what to expect when we, as a fostering agency, collect and store personal and sensitive personal information according to the different relationships that individuals may have with the agency.
The document tells you the purposes for which we may process your personal information and the legal basis for the processing (‘processing’ includes us keeping your personal information). It applies to information we collect about any stakeholders. The type of information and the rules around processing may differ for each party.
To help identify how we navigate through the GDPR we have outlined the various different parties with whom we may require personal and/or sensitive information on.
Visitors to our website
We collect the following information from visitors to our website:
- Details collected through forms, including information gathering forms, filled in when you contact us online
- Surveys and polls about the website
- Numbers of visitors to our pages and trends
Site usage information
We use third party tools on our website to ensure we are providing an effective website. In the main we use Google (Analytics, Adwords and Forms).
This tool measures traffic on our site and may be used for assessing our recruitment strategies.
Cookies
We use cookie technology to help log visitors to our web site. Cookies are pieces of data that are often created when you visit a website, and which are stored in the cookie directory of your computer. A number of cookies are created when you visit our website. The cookies do not contain any personal information about you, and they cannot be used to identify an individual user.
For further information visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.
You can set your browser not to accept cookies and the above websites tell you how to remove cookies from your browser. However, in a few cases some website features may not function as a result
Links to other websites
This privacy notice does not cover links within our website to other websites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit.
Changes to this privacy notice
We keep our privacy notice under regular review. We will update it if we undertake any new or amended processing. This privacy notice was last updated on: 12/06/2023
Your rights under the Data Protection Act
You have a number of rights which give you greater control over your information. To exercise your rights, please refer to the contact details at the end of this document.
The right to access
You have a right to ask us what personal information we hold about you, you can request a copy of your information. This is known as a ‘subject access request’ (SAR).
SARs should be made in writing and we ask that your written request is accompanied by proof of your identity.
We have one calendar month in which to provide the information to you in relation to this request (although we will try to provide this to you as promptly as possible).
Following your request, we will provide you with a copy of the information that we hold on you and make the information available for a period of 90 days.
Right to rectify
You can rectify the details of the information that we hold about you. If you need us to correct any mistakes contained in your information, you can let us know by using the contact details in this notice.
Right to erasure
You can request that the information we hold about you is deleted. We are subject to the data retention requirements in accordance with the regulations and legal frameworks described within this notice. Information outside of these requirements is kept and processed as it is in your own and our own legitimate interest for us to do so. If we hold your information in relation to an enquiry only and you decide you do not want to become a foster carer, us having your information is no longer in your interest and therefore it is not in ours either. If you request that your information to be deleted at this stage, we will comply with your request.
Please see the core retention policy periods below, for further information regarding our data retention policy please contact us using the contact details at the end of this document.
Fostering Services – retention schedule
| Type or record | Retention period |
| Adoption records | 100 years from the adoption date |
| Foster Parent (application withdrawn/refused) (relevant regulation): The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and The Fostering Services (Wales) Regulations 2003 | 3 years |
| Foster Carers (approved carers) (relevant regulation): The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and The Fostering Services (Wales) Regulations 2003 | 10 years from termination of approval |
| Foster placement records (and registers) of carers (relevant regulation): The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and The Fostering Services (Wales) Regulations 2003 | 10 years from the end of the placement |
| In-house foster placement records (and registers) of carers (relevant regulation): The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 and The Fostering Services (Wales) Regulations 2003 | At least 15 years after the last entry |
| Fostering Panel Minutes | 25 years from the date of the Panel |
| Initial enquiries from Prospective Foster Carers | 12 months after receipt of enquiry |
| Initial Visit to Prospective Foster Carer Reports | 12 months of decision not to proceed |
Looked after children- Note:Retention of records relating to young people is collected by this agency but retained by the responsible authority when placements cease.
| Type or record | Retention period |
| Looked After Children (relevant legislation: Arrangements for Placement of Children (General) Regulations 1991 and The Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010 | The 75th anniversary of the date of birth of the child (or, if the child dies aged 17 or less, for a period of 15 years from the date of death). |
| Court Orders | Any records that relate to proceedings in which an order is made in relation to a child must be retained until the order expires (typically the child’s 16th birthday). |
| Child Protection | Retain records of Section 47 (child protection) enquiries, investigations and case conferences until the child’s 24th birthday. |
| All other files (relevant legislation: Limitation Act 1980 and The Children Act 2004 Information Database (England) Regulations 2007 and The Children Act 2004 Information Database (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2010) |
The lesser of either: 1. if relating to a child, the 24th birthday of the child; or 2. if relating to more than one child, the 24th birthday of the youngest child; or 3. 6 years after:
The 1st anniversary of the death of the child that the records relate to. |
| Records in relation to Looked After Children — Case Notes etc | Once the placement has ended documentation relating to the child/young person will be returned to the Local Authority responsible for the care of that child. |
| Front Information Sheet & Placement Record | Once the placement has ended the front information sheet and placement record for each child will be stored securely for future reference (e.g. return of personal items located after child moves on). |
| Children’s Register | In accordance with the Fostering Regulations (England) 2011 Agency will be kept register of all children placed with the Agency for a period of 15 years from the date of the last entry. |
Restriction on processing
You have the right to require us to stop processing your personal information. When processing is restricted, we are entitled to store your information, but not do anything further with it. You can make an application to restrict processing where:
- You challenge the accuracy of the information (we must restrict processing until we have verified its accuracy). During the assessment you will be the source of information and the information should always be accurate.
- You challenge whether we have a legitimate interest in using your information – During the course of an assessment all information gathered will be of a legitimate interest.
- If the processing is a breach of the DPA or otherwise unlawful.
- If we no longer need the personal data but you need your information to establish, exercise or defend a legal claim.
- If we have disclosed your personal information to third parties, we must inform them about the restriction on processing, unless it is impossible or involves disproportionate effort to do so.
- We must inform you when we decide to remove the restriction giving the reasons why, however this will prevent us from proceeding with your enquiry.
Objection to processing
You have the right to object to processing unless it is in our legitimate business interests. We must stop using your information unless we can show there is a compelling legitimate reason for the processing, which overrides your interests and rights, or the processing is necessary for us or someone else to bring or defend legal claims.
Withdrawal of consent
If you request to withdraw your consent for us to have your information where consent is used as a legal basis for processing, we will oblige your request unless it is in our legitimate interest not to do so, however we will be unable to process your information any further.
Right to data portability
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We will make every effort to provide any data you request in a machine usable format for transfer to another information service. Due to the type and the complexity of your information it may not be technically possible to provide this in a format that can easily be transferred across platforms. We will provide you with media containing all your information.
Data portability applies only to:
- Personal data an individual has provided to a controller;
- This consists of your main details and information you supplied during your enquiry, application, assessment, and updates. This does not include data we have collected about you from other sources;
- Where the processing is based on the individual’s consent or for the performance of a contract;
- Data that is collected based on our legal obligations.
- Data processing that is carried out by automated means.
Why We Collect Information
| Data Type | Purpose | Legal Basis |
| Enquiries |
|
Legitimate interest |
| Referees |
|
We process your information under a Legal Obligation pursuant to the Fostering Services Regulations (England) 2011 |
| Prospective Foster Carer |
|
We process your information under a Legal Obligation pursuant to:
|
| Foster Carers |
|
We process your information under a Legal Obligation pursuant to:
|
| Backup Carer / Child Minder / Sitter |
|
We process your information under a Legal Obligation pursuant to:
|
| Panel members, and Independent assessing Social Workers |
|
We process your information under a Legal Obligation pursuant to:
|
| Sessional staff |
|
We process your information under a Legal Obligation pursuant to:
|
| Young People and Parents of young people in care (or other family members) |
|
We process your information under a Legal Obligation pursuant to:
|
| Contractors, Suppliers, Partners or Agents. This could include: Doctors, Schools, Dentists and Opticians, LADO, Volunteers, LA Customers: SSW’s, Managers, IRO’s |
|
Legitimate Interest Fulfillment of Contract Legal Obligation |
Sharing information
We do not share your information with any third parties unless we are legally obliged to do so under the legal framework described within this notice. We do not share your data with any third parties for marketing purposes.
Data Processing Locations
All data is processed within the UK or European Economic Area.
Contact Us
If you want to get in touch you can do so online or on the phone – Write to us at our Head Office address and we will pass the request on with our Data Control Officer/DPO.
Shining Stars Fostering Agency
The Lansdowne Building,
2 Lansdowne Road,
Croydon CR9 2ER
Phone: 02082636260
Our DPO Service:
Guardian Saints CiC
Eagle House
Cranleigh Close
South Croydon
Surrey CR2 9LH
We always strive to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information. We take any complaints we receive seriously. We encourage people to bring it to our attention if they think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading, inaccurate or inappropriate.
If you remain unhappy with our response to your complaint you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioners Office by writing to:
Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.
SSFA has a range Policies and Procedures concerning Social Work Practice, HR and Finance which are used to guide staff and for tendering and commissioning purposes. If any of the issues that are not covered please do contact your supervising social worker or our registered manager who will guide you to the appropriate policy. Shining Stars Fostering Agency Tri-X policies