Privacy Policy

Introduction

Beams Foster Care and Family Services Ltd are committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

Everyone has rights with regard to the way in which their personal information is handled. During the course of our activities, we will collect, store and process personal information about our carers, children in placement, local authorities, suppliers and other third parties, and we recognise that the correct and lawful treatment of this data will maintain confidence in the organisation and will provide for successful business and service operations.

This policy sets out the basis on which any personal information we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal information and how we will treat it.

For the purpose of UK data protection laws, the data controller is Beams Foster Care and Family Services Ltd of Beck View, The Common, Shotesham All Saints, Norwich NR15 1YD, the office address being 2a Shrublands Cottages, Magdalen Way, Gorleston, NR31 7BP.

Our Data Protection Officer is Beryl Sims who can be contacted by writing to the address above or by emailing beryl.sims@beamsfcfs.c.uk

Data protection principles

When processing your information, we must comply with the six enforceable principles of good practice. These provide that your personal information must be:

processed lawfully, fairly and in a transparent manner,
processed for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes,
adequate, relevant and limited to what is necessary,
accurate and kept up-to-date,
kept for no longer than is necessary, and
processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security.

The information you give to us

We may collect, use, store and transfer different kinds of personal information about you, including:

Identity Data, such as your name, title, marital status, date of birth, gender, a copy of your passport and driving licence,
Lifestyle Data, such as your current living arrangements, number of dependents, details of languages spoken, employment details, significant relationships, and details of any previous fostering arrangements
Contact Data, such as your address, email address and telephone number,
Financial Data, such as bank account and payment card details, national insurance number, confirmation of personal insurance and details of any benefits you may be in receipt of,
Special Category Data, including your race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religious or philosophical beliefs and details about your health,
Criminal Records Data and Disclosure and Barring Service Data including details of any spent convictions, cautions or warnings,
Medical Data, including a medical assessment report and details of any social care support you may be receiving,
Transaction Data, including details about payments to and from you,
Technical Data, including IP addresses, your log-in data, browser type and version, time-zone setting and location, browser plug-in types and versions, operating system and platform and other technology on the devices you use to access our website,
Usage Data, including information about how you use our website, products and services, and
Marketing Data, such as your preferences in receiving marketing from us and our third parties, and your communication preferences.
Referral Data, placement information shared at the matching stage from local authorities relating to children or young persons.
Care Data, covering the key care documents and information relating to children and young persons including care plan, placement plan, delegated authority agreement, risk assessments, personal education plan, pathway plan and other related reports.
Education Data, such as children or young’s school/other educational information and grades relating to their school performance.

‘Special category’ data

During the course of dealing with you, we may collect information about you relating to your racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation, details of any criminal convictions and details about your health (such information is known as ‘special category’ data).

This is most likely to occur, for example, if you make an application to become a foster carer with us or become a registered foster carer with us.

How we collect your personal information

We may obtain personal information by directly interacting with you, such as when you:

complete an application form to become a foster carer,
request further information about becoming a foster carer,
attend one of our fostering information or training events,
participate in our assessment process to become a foster carer;
subscribe to our services or publications, or otherwise requesting marketing material to be sent to you, or
correspond with us by phone, email, letters or otherwise.

We may collect personal information about you from third parties or publicly-available sources, such as:

local authorities and other foster care agencies,
Form F assessors and panel members responsible for evaluating your application,
Your GP or medical practice,
Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS),
your employer or other referees,
analytics providers (such as Google),
advertising networks,
search information providers
providers of technical, payment and delivery services,
Companies House, LinkedIn and the electoral register.

How we use your personal information

We will only use your personal information when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal information in the following circumstances:

you have given us consent,
we need to perform a contract/agreement we are about to enter into, or have entered into, with you,
where it is necessary for our or a third party’s legitimate interests and your interests and rights do not override those interests, or
where we need to comply with a legal or regulatory obligation.

We will only use ‘special category’ information:

provided we have your explicit consent to use it,
where we believe that we need to use that data to protect your vital interests where you are not able to provide us with your explicit consent,
where it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest,
where you have previously made that data public knowledge, or
if we need to use that data to establish, exercise or defence legal claims.

Purposes for which we will use your personal information

We may use your personal information for a number of different purposes. For each purpose, we are required to confirm the ‘legal basis’ that allows us to use your information, as follows:

Purposes for which we will use the information you give to us	Legal basis
To maintain records of: (i) all children placed with foster carers; (ii) all persons who apply to become foster carers; (iii) all approved foster carers; (iv) all employees; (v) all accidents occurring to children while placed with foster parents;	It will be necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject under The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 legislation. Where this involves special category data, it will be necessary for the provision of social care or treatment, or the management of health or social care systems and services.
To process your application to become a foster carer	It will be necessary to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract. Where this involves special category data, it will be necessary for the provision of social care or treatment, or the management of health or social care systems and services.
To carry out criminal records and background checks and obtain references from your employer or other personal referees to assess your suitability as a foster carer.	It will be necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject under Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 legislation. It will be necessary for the performance of the contract between you and us. Where this involves special category data, it will be necessary for the provision of social care or treatment, or the management of health or social care systems and services.
To register you as an approved foster carer and keep an ongoing case record.	It will be necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject under The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 legislation. It will be necessary for the performance of the contract between you and us Where this involves special category data, it will be necessary for the provision of social care or treatment, or the management of health or social care systems and services.
To assess your suitability to accept the placement of a child into your care	It will be necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject under Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 legislation. It will be necessary for the performance of the contract between you and us. Where this involves special category data, it will be necessary for the provision of social care or treatment, or the management of health or social care systems and services.
To provide details of the placement to the relevant authority	It will be necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject under Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 legislation. Where this involves special category data, it will be necessary for the provision of social care or treatment, or the management of health or social care systems and services.

We will only use your personal information for the purpose(s) for which we collected it, unless we reasonably consider that we need to use it for another reason and that reason is compatible with the original purpose. If we need to use your personal information for an unrelated purpose, we will notify you and we will explain the legal basis which allows us to do so.

Please note that we may process your personal information without your knowledge or consent, in compliance with the above rules, where this is required or permitted by law.

What if you cannot or will not provide us with your personal information

It is a contractual requirement for you to provide us with certain information. If you are applying to become a foster carer, this will include your name, address, email address, telephone number, details of any criminal convictions, date of birth, employment details and bank account information. If you do not provide us with that information, we will be unable to accept and process your application. For a placement to made with a Local Authority, we shall require relevant information on the child or young person, if this is not complete, we may not be able to make a relevant match. Further information will be required if a placement proceeds to support the child or young person’s care effectively.

Disclosure of your information

We may share your personal information with the parties set out below:

HM Revenue & Customs, the Information Commissioner’s Office, regulators and other authorities who require reporting of processing activities in certain circumstances,
The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS),
other foster care agencies, social workers, police, Ofsted and local authorities where necessary,
Form F assessors and panel members,
training providers or external events organisers,
social media outlets, including Facebook and Twitter,
our property landlords, or their agents, for our serviced or leased offices,

Where we store your personal information

We will take all steps reasonably necessary to ensure that your data is treated securely, including taking the following safeguards:

Building entry controls. We require staff to use security fobs to access our premises at selected locations.
Secure lockable desks and cupboards. Desks and cupboards are kept locked when not in use if they hold confidential information of any kind.
Methods of disposal. Paper documents are disposed of by shredding in a manner that ensures confidentiality.
Firewalls and encryption. We apply industry-standard firewall protection and encryption technology.
We ensure our employees are trained in the importance of data security.
Cyber Essentials. Maintenance of cyber essentials accreditation.

Unfortunately, the transmission of information via the internet is not completely secure. Although we will do our best to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee the security of your data transmitted to our website; any transmission is at your own risk. Once we have received your information, we will use strict procedures and security features to try to prevent unauthorised access.

How long we will store your personal information

The length of time that we will store your data will depend on the ‘legal basis’ for why we are using that data, as follows:

Legal basis	Length of time
Case files and other records in relation to foster carers	10 years from the date on which their approval is terminated
Records in relation to any child or young person in Beams Foster and Family Services care	15 years from the date of the last entry
Case records for every fostering applicant who is not approved, or who withdraws their application	3 years from the date or refusal or withdrawal
A record of all accidents occurring to children whilst placed with foster carers	15 years from the date of the last entry
Files relating to cases where Beams Foster Care and Family Services was a party to legal proceedings or otherwise involved in proceedings brought by the local authority under s.31 of the Children Act 1989.	15 years from the date of closure
Files relating to cases which are of national interest, either because they are subject of a public inquiry or because they give rise to major public concern	Relevant time to support the relevant inquiry or concern
For all other data:
Where we use/store your data because it is necessary for the performance of the contract between you and us	We will use/store your data for as long as it is necessary for the performance of the contract between you and us
Where we use/store your data because it is necessary for us to comply with a legal obligation to which we are subject	We will use/store your data for as long as it is necessary for us to comply with our legal obligations
Where we use/store your data because it is necessary for our legitimate business interests	We will use/store your data until you ask us to stop. However, if we can demonstrate the reason why we are using/storing your data overrides your interests, rights and freedoms, then we will continue to use and store your data for as long as it is necessary for the performance of the contract between you and us (or, if earlier, we no longer have a legitimate interest in using/storing your data)
Where we use/store your data because you have given us your specific, informed and unambiguous consent	We will use/store your data until you ask us to stop

To determine the appropriate retention period for personal information, we consider the amount, nature and sensitive of the personal information, the potential risk of harm from unauthorised use or disclosure of your personal information, the purposes for which we process your personal information and whether we can achieve those purposes through other means, and the applicable legal requirements.

Your rights

You have various legal rights in relation to the information you give us, or which we collect about you, as follows:

You have a right to access the information we hold about you free-of-charge, together with various information about why and how we are using your information, to whom we may have disclosed that information, from where we originally obtained the information and for how long we will use your information.
You have the right to ask us to rectify any information we hold about you that is inaccurate or incomplete.
You have the right to ask us to erase the information we hold about you (the ‘right to be forgotten’). Please note that this right can only be exercised in certain circumstances and, if you ask us to erase your information and we are unable to do so, we will explain why not.
You have the right to ask us to stop using your information where: (i) the information we hold about you is inaccurate; (ii) we are unlawfully using your information; (iii) we no longer need to use the information; or (iv) we do not have a legitimate reason to use the information. Please note that we may continue to store your information, or use your information for the purpose of legal proceedings or for protecting the rights of any other person.
You have the right to ask us to transmit the information we hold about you to another person or company in a structured, commonly-used and machine-readable format. Please note that this right can only be exercised in certain circumstances and, if you ask us to transmit your information and we are unable to do so, we will explain why not.
Where we use/store your information because it is necessary for our legitimate business interests, you have the right to object to us using/storing your information. We will stop using/storing your information unless we can demonstrate why we believe we have a legitimate business interest which overrides your interests, rights and freedoms.
Where we use/store your data because you have given us your specific, informed and unambiguous consent, you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.
You have the right to object to us using/storing your information for direct marketing purposes.

If you wish to exercise any of your legal rights, please contact our Data Protection Officer by writing to the address at the top of this policy, or by emailing us at beryl.sims@beamsfcfs.co.uk

You also have the right, at any time, to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office if you believe we are not complying with the laws and regulations relating to the use/storage of the information you give us, or that we collect about you.

Automated decision-making

We do not use automated decision-making processes.

Third party links

Our website may include links to third-party websites, plug-ins and applications. Clicking on those links or enabling those connections may allow third parties to collect or share data about you. We do not control these third-party websites and are not responsible for their privacy statements. When you leave our website, we encourage you to read the privacy notice of every website you visit.

Changes to our policy

Any changes we make to our policy in the future will be posted on our website and, where appropriate, notified to you by email or via social media. Please check our website frequently to see any updates or changes to our policy.

Contact

Questions, comments and requests regarding this policy are welcomed and should be addressed to our Data Protection Officer by writing to the address at the top of this policy, or by emailing us at info@beamsfcfs.co.uk

Cookies Used on our Website

What are Cookies?

Cookies are small amounts of information which some websites store on your computer to make it easier for you to log on to and use them during future visits. In reality, a cookie is a small text file which is stored by the user’s browser and contains data, not code, so it can’t contain a virus or spyware. This doesn’t mean that all cookies are harmless in intent, but they can only ever store information.

Cookies on this Website

We may send you the following cookies:

Cookies	Duration	Purpose
1P_JAR	Session	Google map Service – Linked to Geolocation
APISID/ HSID/NID/ SAPISID/SID/SIDCC/SSID/ OGP/OGPC	10 years after last visit	Set by Google, to track behaviour of Google Map users
CONSENT	10 years	Consent to cookies being on the page
_ga	2 years	Used to distinguish users

Any information collected using the cookies above is used to improve our site, make it easier to use and, ultimately, assist the user in completing their goal on the site.

How we use your information

Beams Foster Care uses ‘analytical’ cookies on this site to allow us to monitor website traffic and analyse how visitors use it via Google Analytics. This service tracks information about how visitors interact with the site, including the number of visitors to our website, where visitors have come to the website from and the pages they visit. We use this information to help us improve our website.

Such information will not identify you personally it is statistical data about our visitors and their use of our website. This statistical data is completely anonymous and does not identify any personal details whatsoever.

All computers have the ability to decline cookies. You can configure your web browser to refuse cookies, or to be informed if a cookie is set. You can find out how to do this by clicking “help” on your browser menu.

By using our website, you agree that we can place these types of cookies on your device.

If you wish to find out more about cookies visit www.allaboutcookies.org