Privacy Policy

What information we collect and why

The data you complete when you join one of our learning opportunities is being gathered for the purpose of adult learning enrolment. Step2Skills will use this information to fulfil our contract with the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), on behalf of the Secretary of State for the Department of Education (DfE).

Your personal information is used by the DfE to exercise its functions and to meet its statutory responsibilities, including under the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act 2009 and to create and maintain a unique learner number (ULN) and a personal learning record (PLR). We have to show, for the funding we receive, that we are only recruiting eligible learners. For more information on this, go to ESFA privacy notice - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

We will contact you 2-5 months after you have completed your learning with us, to find out what you did next. This helps us show the impact of your learning and is part of our funding requirements.

 

How we collect the information

Your enrolment information will be processed directly by the Step2Skills delivery team, or via our subcontractors at the time of enrolment, depending on who you do your learning with. Our subcontractors are subject to our strict data management controls and enter your data onto our management information system. They then send your enrolment form and signed learner agreement to us, after the course and we file this securely. For online courses where enrolment cannot take place in person, we require submission of identification evidence, to be sent via email or upload. Such documents will be stored securely and will be destroyed within one month of the start of your course. For documents uploaded to our online enrolment system this is an automated process, however if you send any documents over email, you will be notified that the evidence has been destroyed by return of email.

All other information we collect will be done via consent with you at the time we ask for it e.g. publicity information, permission to have photos taken.

 

What we will do with your information

The information you give us will be held by Step2Skills. We are legally obliged to collect this information to satisfy our contract with the Education and Skills Funding Agency, for Ofsted and for our equality duty as set out in the Equality Act. We will only share your information with third parties who support us to deliver these contracts:

• The ESFA who funds us and the European Social Fund (ESF) where applicable (where they match funding)
• A subcontractor who we fund to deliver your learning – this is your learning provider for the course you do. You will know who that is because you will enrol with them directly.
• The organisation who will contact you to find out what you did after your learning with us (a requirement of our funding), currently J2 Research.
• The management information system provider - Monterpoint– we upload data for our funding body through this system
• The exam board – if you are taking exams with us
• The online enrolment system and/or learning and assessment platforms you use with us (where strict data protection rules apply)

We will share information with other third parties only if it is in the interests of health and safety or safeguarding. We may also share information with the police or other agencies if it is necessary for the following purposes:

• the prevention or detection of crime
• the apprehension or prosecution of offenders
• the assessment or collection of any tax or duty or any imposition of a similar nature.

 

How we keep your data safe

Subcontractors and the Step2Skills team input your data to our Management Information System once you have enrolled. Enrolment paperwork is sent to Step2Skills to be securely stored in a locked facility and then securely archived. Your course paperwork is held locally by your learning provider, who also keeps this secure.

 

How long we will keep your information

 The information that you supply to us will be kept on file until 31st December 2030 for the ESFA. Paperwork evidencing the delivery of the ESF project must be kept for six years after the final payments have been made to England from the Commission. The 2014 to 2020 final payments will be made in 2024 (spend can continue up to the end of 2023 and the final claim will be the following year) and so documentation will need to be kept for audit until 2030.

The ESF (European Social Fund) guidance on retention

 

What are your rights?

Hertfordshire County Council will be the Data Controller for this information.

You have the following rights in relation to this data:

• • You have the right to be informed about what information we hold about you and how we use it.
• • You have the right to request copies of any information the Council holds about you by making a subject access request.
• • If information we hold about you is factually inaccurate you have the right to have it corrected.
• • You have the right to object to the way we are using your data.
• • You have the right to request that your data is deleted. However we may be unable to delete your data if there is a need for us to keep it. In this case you will receive an explanation of why we need to keep the data.
• • You can also request that we stop using your data while we consider a request to have it corrected or deleted. There may be some circumstances in which we are unable to do this however we will provide an explanation if this is the case.
• • In certain circumstances you may also request data we hold about you in a format that allows it to be transferred to another organisation.
• • In the event that decisions are taken using automated processes you have the right to request that these decisions are reviewed by a member of staff and to challenge these decisions.

 If you would like to request copies of your data, request that your data is deleted or have any other queries in relation to data which the Council holds about you please contact the Data Protection Team.

Data Protection Team

Hertfordshire County Council
County Hall
Pegs Lane
Hertford
SG13 8DQ

01992 588099
data.protection@hertfordshire.co.uk

You can also contact our Data Protection Officer at dataprotection.officer@hertfordshire.gov.uk or in writing to the address above.

If you are unhappy with the way that Hertfordshire County Council has used your data or with the way we have responded to a request you also have the right to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office www.ico.org.uk.

Step2Skills have data protection guidance which is available on request.

What information we collect and why

Step2Skills takes your data privacy very seriously. If you enquire about learning opportunities with us, we will only hold your details with your consent and we will remove your details if you ask us to.

We will keep your information for 2 years so that we can contact you about learning opportunities, unless you tell us not to.  After 2 years, we will delete your personal details. If you wish to withdraw consent at any time you can do so by contacting us at Step2Skills@hertfordshire.gov.uk or phoning 01992 556194. We will not share your details outside of Step2Skills without your permission.

 

After signing up to a course

If you proceed to enrol on a course with us, we will explain how we use your data at the enrolment stage.

What are your rights?

What information we collect and why

We publish Step2Skills Share and use Update Me to send news about our offers to prospective learners.

 

How we collect the information

This is an opt-in service and people subscribe via our website.

 

What we will do with your information

We will not share this information with a third party or use it for any other purpose, other than to inform you about our service.

 

How we keep your data safe

Your data is only accessible by Step2Skills staff for the purpose of informing you about our service.

How long we will keep your information

Your details will be kept until you opt out or unsubscribe from the service.  You can opt out at any time, either via the link on our website, or by emailing Step2Skills@hertfordshire.gov.uk.

What are your rights?

Why we need your information

The data on the application form is being gathered for the purpose of administering and assessing your application to volunteer with Herts Adult and Family Learning Service. 

We require this information in order to fulfil our obligations under our contract with you. Failure to provide this information will mean that we are not able to offer you a contract to volunteer with us.

If your application is not successful then your information will not be retained.

The information you have provided to us will be used alongside additional information obtained from references and disclosure and barring service checks. 

 

What we will do with your information

The information you give us will be held by Step2Skills, part of Hertfordshire County Council and will only be used to administer your application.

We may also share information with third parties if we are legally obliged to do so, for example if it is necessary to safeguard or protect a child.

We may also share information with the police or other agencies if it is necessary for the following purposes:

1. the prevention or detection of crime
2. the apprehension or prosecution of offenders
3. the assessment or collection of any tax or duty or any imposition of a similar nature.

 

How long we will keep your information

The information that you supply to us will be kept on file for 7 years from the end of your contract with us.

We want to process as little personal information as possible when you use our website. That’s why we’ve chosen Fathom Analytics for our website analytics, which doesn’t use cookies and complies with the GDPR. Using this privacy-friendly website analytics software, your IP address is only briefly processed, and we (running this website) have no way of identifying you - your personal information is de-identified. You can read more about this on Fathom Analytics' website.

The purpose of us using this software is to understand our website traffic in the most privacy-friendly way possible so that we can continually improve our website and business. The lawful basis as per the GDPR is “Article 6(1)(f); where our legitimate interests are to improve our website and business continually.” As per the explanation, no personal data is stored over time.