What is the Local Offer?
The Local Offer provides information for children and young people (0-25) with special educational needs and/or disabilities and their families.
The Local Offer provides information about:
- education (schools, colleges and other education settings)
- health
- care provision
- training
- arrangements for travel to and from relevant early years settings, schools and post-16 institutions
- preparing for adulthood and independent living, including finding employment, accommodation and participating in society.
The purpose of the privacy notice
This privacy notice tells you how we maintain your privacy and protect your personal information when using the Local Offer website, including the services directory.
This privacy notice explains:
- how personal information is going to be used
- what it is used for
- who it might be shared with and why
- how long it is kept.
The information you provide helps us deliver our services effectively.
Personal and special category data
If you contact us via post, telephone, help form, feedback form or by email, we will use your contact details and any other information you provide to deal with or respond to your message.
We will only collect personal information that is necessary. You may choose to volunteer more information to assist with your enquiry. Personal information may include:
- first name
- family name or surname
- address
- telephone number
- email address
- details of special educational needs and/or disability.
Data Controller
West Sussex County Council (WSCC) complies with the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). It is registered as a ‘Data Controller’ with the Information Commissioner’s Office (Reg. No. Z6413427).
You can find details for the WSCC Data Protection Officer (DPO) on our Privacy Policy.
We ensure that your personal data is processed fairly and lawfully, accurate, kept secure and retained for no longer than is necessary.
The legal basis for processing personal data
Under the Children and Families Act (2014) and the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Code of Practice (2014):
‘Local authorities have a legal duty to publish a Local Offer, setting out in one place information about provision they expect to be available across education, health and social care for children and young people in their area who have SEN or are disabled, including those who do not have Education, Health and Care (EHC) plans.’ - SEND Code of Practice (2014) Section 4.
Processing is necessary for us to be able to provide the Local Offer service, which includes:
- maintaining a directory of services
- answering queries and providing customers with information about services
- signposting customers to relevant services.
If a child or other person is considered to be at risk of significant harm, we will have a duty of care to share the information with the relevant services without consent.
How we use your personal information
Our Privacy Policy determines how we use personal data. We use it specifically to:
- provide you with appropriate services including from external agencies
- measure whether our services are improving provision for children and young people with SEND
- help us develop and improve our services
- complete statistical returns to Government departments
- develop policies
- administer and protect public funds.
Who we share your information with
If you contact the Local Offer via email, phone or post for information or support:
We will not use your information to contact you again other than to respond to your enquiry. We will not share your details with any third party unless you have consented for us to do so to answer your enquiry.
If you contact the Local Offer to request to join the Local Offer services directory:
This involves completing a request form where you will need to provide personal data. This information will only be used to contact you in relation to your advertised record and the ongoing maintenance of it.
The information you provide will be made available via the internet and will go to WSCC’s corporate website (please note - information available via the internet may be accessed by people in countries and territories outside the European Union (EU), which may operate different levels of protection than apply in the United Kingdom).
The information you provide may also be disclosed in writing (post or email) or by telephone to internal WSCC directorates, health care professionals, other Local Authorities, tribunals and related professional bodies. Members of the public may also access this information face-to-face or online through our offices, newsletters, Hubs and outreach events.
Your personal data linked to your registration will be removed when you are no longer advertising on the directory.
See our Privacy Policy if you require more information about how we use this data.
How long we keep your personal data
If you contact the Local Offer via email, phone or post for information or support:
Personal data will not be retained for longer than is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are collected.
The council is currently reviewing and updating its retention policies. See our records management page for published retention schedules.
If you contact the Local Offer to request to join the Local Offer services directory:
Any personal information you provide to us as part of the service directory request form will be kept while your service is part of the directory and for a further 12 months.
If you would like to remove your service from the directory, email localoffer@westsussex.gov.uk requesting that the service is removed from the directory.
Cookies
When we provide services, we want to make them easy, useful and reliable. Where services are delivered on the internet, this involves the use of cookies. The cookies we use cannot be used to identify you personally. Find out more about our use of cookies.
Links to other websites
The Local Offer does contain links to other websites that are provided and maintained by third parties. If you follow a link to any of these websites, please be aware these sites will have their own privacy policies and we are not responsible for any of their content, terms and conditions.
Please do check any privacy policy before you submit any personal data.
Your rights
See our Privacy Policy for more information on your rights.
Complaints
See our Privacy Policy for information about making a complaint.