Privacy Notice

Overview

As a local authority Birmingham City Council (the council) and Birmingham Adult Education Service collect, holds and processes information, including personal data about you.
We understand that your personal data is important to you, and we have a responsibility to you regarding the information we hold about you, to ensure that the information we collect is used proportionately, correctly and safely.

Being transparent with you and providing accessible information about how we use your information demonstrates our commitment to the General Data Protection Regulations, hereafter referred to as GDPR. (Regulation (EU) 2016/679).

We are committed to safeguarding your privacy and in this document we explain how we will handle your personal data.

Purpose BAES use learner information

Why do we collect and use learner information?

We collect and use learner information under the West Midlands Combined Authority and the Education and Skills Funding Agency contract for the provision of learning. We also collect learner information to pass to the Learning Records Service who create a Unique Learner Number (ULN) for each learner

We use the learner data to:

• Report to the West Midlands Combined Authority and the Education and Skills Funding Agency
• Obtain unique learner numbers from the Learning Records Service
• Support learning
• Monitor and report on learner progress
• Provide appropriate pastoral care
• Assess the quality of our services
• Comply with the law regarding data sharing
• Carry out statistical analysis that allows us to target and plan the provision of services

The categories of learner information that we collect, hold and share with the West Midland Combined Authority and the Education and Skills Funding Agency:

• Personal information (name, unique learner number, date of birth, address)
• Characteristics (where provided) such as ethnicity, residency status, employment status, disability
• Achievement of qualifications and learning goals, destination information

The categories of learner information we collect and hold within Birmingham Adult Education Service:

• Email address, phone number
• Income based benefits claimed
• Attendance information (such as sessions attended, number of absences and absence reasons)
• Disclosures made regarding learner health issues and convictions
• Support needs to provide appropriate learning support
• Emergency contact details provided by learners
• Online initial assessments outcomes (where applicable)
• The starting point of your learning, your reason for learning and information about your progress information towards your learning goals.
• Learner photos for ID cards

The categories of learner information that we collect, hold and share with other agencies with your consent:

• Laser Learning Portfolio e-system (health and social care learners) – name, address, date of birth, email, phone number
• Equal Platform (health and social care learners)- name and email address
• Results of assessments e.g. dyslexia assessments for exam access arrangements – relevant awarding body and Joint Council for Qualifications.

Other agencies with whom we may be obliged to share information:

• Local authority social services
• Police
• Department of Work and Pensions
• Public Health England

Timespan for storing learner data

We hold learner data for the year in which the learner studies plus 6 years; the exception is enrolment data which is held for the year in which you study plus 25 years. Safeguarding records are held for 3 years or until the learner leaves BAES, whichever is the later date.

Qualifications

For learners enrolling for qualifications, the Learning Records Service will give us a learner’s unique learner number (ULN) and may also give us details about the learner’s previous learning or qualifications.

Why we share learner information?

We do not share information about our learners with anyone other than those listed above without consent unless the law and our policies allow us to do so.

Our learners aged 16-19

We will also share certain information about learners aged 16+ with our local authority as they have responsibilities in relation to the education or training of 13-19 year olds under section 507B of the Education Act 1996.

This enables them to provide services as follows:

• Post-16 education and training providers
• Youth support services
• Careers advisers

Your Rights

Under data protection legislation, parents and learners have the right to request access to the information about them that we hold. You also have the right to:

• ask for access to information about you that we hold
• have your personal data rectified, if it is inaccurate or incomplete
• request the deletion or removal of personal data where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing
• restrict our processing of your personal data (i.e. permitting its storage but no further processing)
• object to direct marketing (including profiling) and processing for the purposes of scientific/historical research and statistics
• not to be subject to decisions based purely on automated processing where it produces a legal or similarly significant effect on you

If we are processing your personal information using your consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time. For further details on the rights you have please see our privacy notice on our website at www.birmingham.gov.uk/privacy

If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, you should raise your concern with us in the first instance or directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office at https://ico.org.uk/concerns/

Contact

If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice, please contact the Information Line on 0121 303 4318 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.