Privacy Notice for Equality Monitoring
Why the Council needs your information and how the Council uses it
To ensure equality for people with protected characteristics and ensure we understand and take into account differing needs, it is necessary for the Council to collect, store and process some personal information across its activities.
To do this, we need to gather information regarding the impact of our services and functions on people with different protected characteristics. We also need to make sure that we are using the information to inform service planning and improvement.
The information you have shared with Flintshire County Council may be used in a number of ways, for example:
- To enable us to meet all legal and statutory obligations by showing that we are eliminating unlawful discrimination and promoting equality of opportunity. As an organisation, we need to consider the impact that race, sex, gender reassignment, disability, age, sexual orientation and religion or belief may have on the life chances of members of our communities;
- To enable us to decide how best to provide accessible information and appropriate services to everyone, and see where there may be gaps;
- To assist in service planning, equality monitoring is vital for planning, targeting and measuring development in service provision. It can show inefficiencies in the way we organise services and indicate new opportunities to meet people’s needs;
- As a means of identifying if any policies or services are adversely affecting people with protected characteristics;
- To make sure that we are seeking the views of everyone in the community;
- To support the Council meet the criteria for accessing financial and other resources from external sources, as many funding organisations now require assurance from bidders that they meet equalities and diversity requirements; and
- For Procurement, this enables the Council to ensure that contracts are delivered in a way which promotes equality of opportunity.
What is the legal process for collecting and processing this data
The Council can collect personal and special categories of information to carry out tasks that they are under a statutory obligation to provide. Personal information is processed to comply with a legal obligation and/or because they are necessary for the performance of a public task.
Some Acts of law requires a duty to process information, these include:
- The Equality Act 2010;
- The Public Sector Equality Duty 2011; and
- The Socio-economic Duty 2021
Most of the information that is collected for equality monitoring is classified as special category personal data. Your data will be processed by Flintshire County Council as part of our public task for the specific purposes of equality monitoring, advancing equality and eliminating discrimination under the Equality Act 2010 and the Public Sector Equality Duty.
Your special category data will be processed by Flintshire County Council for reasons of substantial public interest on the basis of Section 10(3) and para 8 (equality of opportunity or treatment), Part 2 Schedule 1, Data Protection Act 2021 reasons of substantial public interest to ensure equality of opportunity or treatment.
What type of information is collected from you and where we get your information from
In order to provide these services, we may need to collect and process some personal data, particularly the special category of data including;
- Race;
- Sex;
- Gender Reassignment;
- Disability;
- Age;
- Sexual Orientation;
- Pregnancy and Maternity;
- Religion and Belief; and
- Marriage and Civil Partnership.
Where we get your information from
The Council obtain information for equality monitoring purpose from a range of sources, including:
- Surveys;
- Consultations;
- Face to face interviews;
- Over the phone; or
- Questions which could be added to the back of any forms or questionnaires already being completed, such as application forms for jobs, services or grants.
Who your information may be shared with (internally and externally)
We anonymise your data and collate with others to generate demographic information.
We only share anonymised information. We only share your information with any other person or company, where required to do so by law.
How long the Council keeps your information
We will endeavour to only keep information for as long as it is needed. However, some records will need to be retained for an appropriate period, for example for historical purposes to monitor progress/regression. In such case, your information will be pseudonymised or anonymised.
Once information is no longer required, it will be deleted or destroyed confidentially.
Further information
For further information on the use of your data including how to make a request under your individual rights above please visit our Data Protection page https://www.flintshire.gov.uk/en/Resident/Data-Protection-and-Freedom-of-Information/Data-Protection.aspx
or contact our Information Governance Team using the details below:-
Information Governance Team
Flintshire County Council
Ty Dewi Sant
St David Park,
Ewloe
Flintshire
CH5 3FF
Email: dataprotectionofficer@flintshire.gov.uk
https://www.flintshire.gov.uk/en/Resident/Data-Protection-and-Freedom-of-Information/Privacy-Notice.aspx
Please note that in certain circumstances access to your records may be limited, for example, if the records you have asked for contain information relating to another person.
You also have the right to rectify errors in your records, the right to object to the use of your information and the right to have your data erased. If you wish to exercise any of these rights, you should contact the Data Protection officer using the contact details provided below.
You have the right to be told if we have made a mistake whilst processing your data and we will self-report breaches to the Information Commissioner.
How do I complain?
You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, at:
The Information Commissioner ~
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Phone: 0303 123 1113 or 01625 545745
Website: www.ico.org.uk