Privacy Policy

Recruitment, Selection, Employment, Training and Pay HR Operations Division

PRIVACY & CONSENT NOTICE

Halton Borough Council is the Data Controller for the personal information you provide.

The Council’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted on 0151 511 7002 or by email to Jonathan.Greenough@halton.gov.uk

We collect and hold information about you for the purposes of recruitment, selection, employment and pay. This notice explains how we use and share your information. Information may be collected on paper or online form, by telephone, email, CCTV or by a member of our

staff. We are fully committed to complying with Data Protection Act 2018 legislation, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which regulates how we process personal information.

The software we use to help manage recruitment processes is called Tribepad which is owned by Tribepad Limited.  This means that your personal data is processed by Tribepad Limited (the ‘data processor’) on behalf of Halton Borough Council, following the instructions the Council sets out.

What personal information do we collect about you for recruitment purposes?

As part of every recruitment process, Halton Borough Council collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants. This will include but is not limited to:

Your name, address and contact details, including email address, telephone number and date of birth
Details of your qualifications, skills, experience, employment history, other relevant experience and achievements
Whether or not you have a disability for which we need to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process
Proof of your entitlement to work in the UK
Equality monitoring information, including information about your gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, sexual identification, age, health and religion or belief.
Employment references and the results of any pre-employment screening
The outcome and results of any interviews or tests which formed part of the recruitment process
Pay details, national insurance number, tax coding and details of the bank or building society account

We collect this information in a variety of ways. For example, data might be contained in application forms, CVs or resumes, obtained from your passport or other identity documents, or collected through interviews or other forms of assessment, including tests and/or online tests.

We will also collect personal data about you from third parties, such as references supplied by your former employers, information from employment background check providers and information from criminal records checks. 

Data will be stored in a range of different places, including on your application record, in electronic HR Management Systems and on other IT systems (including email).

Why do you need my information?

We may need to collect and hold information about you in relation to recruitment, selection, employment and pay, in order to:

Enable other organisations to carry out their statutory services.
Confirm your identity in order to provide services to you.
Contact you by post, email or telephone.
Understand your needs to provide the services that you request.
Understand what we can do for you and inform you of other relevant services and benefits.
Update your personal record.
Maintain a record of the training that you have undertaken and the qualifications the organisation has supported you to attain.
To provide financial remuneration and associated benefits to which you are entitled Help us to build up a picture of how we are performing as an organisation.
Prevent and detect fraud and corruption in the use of public funds. Allow us to undertake statutory functions efficiently and effectively.
Allow to us to submit data as required to national central public bodies i.e. DfE, HMRC, HSE.
Make sure we meet our statutory obligations including those related to diversity and equalities.

We need to collect and process data during the recruitment process and to make offers of employment to each successful candidate. We will use this information to: 

Communicate with you about job applications made and provide you with alerts about vacancies for roles you have indicated you will be interested in.
Evidence how you meet the requirements of the job being applied for.
Make decisions about whether and how to progress your application through the various stages of the recruitment process. 
Initiate pre-employment and employment checks when job offers are made. 
Enter into an employment contract with successful candidates.
Help us maintain and promote equality in the workplace.

What legal basis allows you to use my information?

The Lawful Basis for Processing your Personal Data are;

Consent:- you have given clear consent for the Council to process your personal data for the purposes of recruitment & selection.
Contract:- processing of your personal data is necessary for the Council to fulfil its obligations regarding your contract of employment.
Legal obligation:- processing of your personal data is necessary for the Council to comply with the pay, employment, training and equalities laws.
Public task:- the processing is necessary for the Council to perform a task in the public interest or for its official functions.

Lawful bases for processing special category (sensitive) data:

We process information regarding race, ethnicity, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union, membership, data concerning health or sexual orientation.

You have given explicit consent to the processing of those personal data for one or more specified purposes, of recruitment, selection and employment.

Processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the recruitment, selection, employment and pay in so far as it is authorised by law.

Do I have to provide this information and what will happen if I don’t?

Yes, we will not be able to fulfil the Councils legal obligations regarding employment unless we have enough information, or your permission to use that information.

You are under no statutory or contractual obligation to provide data to Halton Borough Council during the recruitment process. However, please be aware that if you decline, it will not be possible for your application to progress as we will be unable to process the data needed to do this.

Who will my information be shared with?

Your information will be shared internally for the purposes of recruitment, selection, employment and pay and only be accessed and processed by authorised personnel for the performance of their duties.

We may disclose information to third parties, such as;

Tribepad Limited
Cheshire Pensions
Teachers Pensions Pension Regulator HMRC
Criminal Records Bureau Disclosure & Barring Service Police
Higher & Further Educational Establishments Training Providers
Schools
Health Organisations
Providers of psychometric tests for certain job roles
People named by applicants as referees

where it is necessary, either to comply with a legal obligation, or where permitted under the data protection legislation, e.g. where the disclosure is necessary for the purposes of the prevention and/or detection of crime.

How long will you keep this information for and why?

We will not keep your information longer than it is needed, in line with the Council’s Record Retention Policy and Schedule.

How will my information be stored?

Your information will be securely stored in electronic or hard format in secure Council buildings, as well as in our suppliers (Tribepad) software system.

We have a set of information security policies, provide training to staff who handle personal information and may treat it as a disciplinary matter if there is misuse of personal information.

We will dispose of paper records or delete any electronic personal information in a secure way.

Will this information be used to take automated decisions about me?

Will my data be transferred abroad and why?

What rights do I have when it comes to my data?

Right to be informed – through this Privacy Notice
Right to rectification – you have the right to have personal data rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete
Right to erasure – you have the right to have personal data erased and to prevent processing however the right to erasure does not apply in some circumstances.
Right to restrict processing – you have the right to block or suppress processing of your data, however this right does not apply in some circumstances.
Right to data portability – you have the right to obtain and reuse your data for your own purposes (copy or transfer personal data to another environment) in certain circumstances
Right to object to processing (to certain types of processing only) Rights related to automated decision making and profiling.
Right of Access - you have the right under General Data Protection Regulation 2018 to request a copy of your information and to know what it is used for and how it has been shared. This is called the right of subject access. To request a copy of your data or ask questions about how it is used download a copy of our form from

https://www4.halton.gov.uk/Pages/councildemocracy/Data-Protection.aspx and send it to Information Governance Service, Halton Borough Council, Service Improvement

Division, Municipal Building, Widnes, WA8 7QF. Or email informationgovernanceservice@halton.gov.uk

Who can I complain to if I am unhappy about how my data is used?

You can complain directly to the Council’s Data Protection Officer by writing to:

Data Protection Officer, Information Governance Service, Halton Borough Council, Municipal Building, Widnes WA8 7QF’.

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office using the following details: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF. Telephone: 08456 30 60 60 or 01625 54 57 45. Website: www.ico.org.uk

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