Education Services Privacy Notice - Counselling Services

Educational Services - Privacy notice school counselling services

As the 'data controller' for the personal information - or data - we hold about you, South Ayrshire Council decides how your personal information is used/processed, and what it is used for. This statement provides more details about this and provides information on how to get in touch with us if you need to know more.

Your personal data - what is it?

Personal data is information relating to a living person who can be identified from that data. Identification can be based on the information alone, or in conjunction with any other information. The processing of personal data is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (GDPR).

What Personal Data will we collect from you?

We will only collect the personal information we need to provide you with relevant information, services and support. The personal data we will collect includes:

Name
Date of Birth
Gender
Stage
Mental Health and Wellbeing Issues (that you wish to discuss during your private Counselling Session)

How will we use your information?

We will use your information to provide support to you on issues relating to your mental health and wellbeing, as part of the Counselling Services provided by your school.

What is the legal basis for using/sharing your information?

The Council provides all of our school pupils with a private and confidential counselling service to support health and wellbeing. The service can be accessed by all pupils, who actively apply to engage with the service and agree to work with our counsellors. While the agreement of pupils and/or guardians is always sought when engaging with the service, our legal basis for processing the personal data used within the service once this engagement takes place is our public task, i.e. our provision of an educational service to the children within South Ayrshire.

Who will we share your information with?

We will not share information discussed within Counselling Services with any other third party, unless there is a significant concern about the safety of the pupil or an agreement to refer onto other third parties to provide additional supports. This may include:

NHS Ayrshire & Arran
CAMHS
Other mental health and wellbeing professionals
Social Work

Statistical data, which will be anonymised, requires to be reported to the Scottish Government to monitor the health and wellbeing of children in Scotland. This does not include sharing any information disclosed within sessions, names, or any data that could identify anyone using the service.

How long do we keep hold of your information?

Your counselling notes will be placed in a sealed envelope and held unopened on your pupil file. The envelope with your notes will be held for 5 years after you leave school, in line with South Ayrshire Council pupil file retention policies. After this agreed period the information will be destroyed in a secure manner in accordance with the local authority guidelines.

What are your rights?

You can ask us to:

Correct your personal information if it is inaccurate;
Complete your personal information if it is incomplete;
Restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances; and
Erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
You also have the right to object to the processing of your personal information.

What are the consequences of failing to provide personal information?

We will be unable to provide you with our Counselling Service if we do not receive your personal information, we need this to ensure we are providing you with the most appropriate supports and to monitor your progress during the Counselling support.

What about Automated Decision- Making?

The Council does not use profiling or automated decision-making. Some processes are semi-automated (such as data matching for the prevention or detection of fraud), but an actual person will always be involved before any decision is reached affecting any individual.

Do you require this statement in a different format?

Please contact us if you require this information in an alternative format.

How can you get in touch with us?

If you wish to obtain any records held by the Council relating to you, or if you have any general data protection queries, please contact the Council's Data Protection Service at:

Data Protection Officer
South Ayrshire Council
County Buildings
Wellington Square
Ayr
KA7 1DR

Email: DataProtection@south-ayrshire.gov.uk

Telephone: 01292 612 223

Are you dissatisfied with the way your Personal Information has been handled?

If you are unhappy with the way we have dealt with your personal information, you can complain to the Council's Data Protection Officer using the contact details noted above. If you remain dissatisfied after contacting us, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner (https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/):

Information Commissioner's Office - Scotland
45 Melville Street
Edinburgh
EH3 7HL

Email: Scotland@ico.org.uk

Telephone: 0303 123 1115