The services process personal information in order to manage and administer the Adult and Community Learning service either directly or jointly with partners and commissioned private and third sector providers. 

This includes:

• to deliver Libraries and Learning courses across Worcestershire
• to create and maintain a Unique Learner Number (ULN) and an Individual Learning Record (ILR) for learners
• statutory requirements for example reporting to Government on courses
• service improvement and planning
• prevention and detection of crime
• financial transactions
• research including consultations
• equality Monitoring

The service processes personal information which is relevant to individual cases which may include, but is not limited to, the following personal data:

• course details of the course or courses you have signed up to
• your personal details including name, address, date of birth, home and mobile phone numbers, emergency contact name and number
• personal reference numbers for example unique learner number, national insurance and case management system references
• your education history including current qualifications
• your employment status details
• relevant financial information

We may also process some special category (sensitive) information, which is relevant to individual cases and may include some of the following but is not limited to:

• health or learning difficulty or physical disability
• ethnicity

The legal bases for processing this personal information are:

• contract for the supply of services
• compliance with a legal obligation
• tasks carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority
• consent for research questionnaires

We may need to share the personal information you have given to us or we’ve collected about you with partner organisations where relevant to the individual and/or their use of the learning provision. These include but are not limited to:

• other Worcestershire County Council services as appropriate including Legal Services
• voluntary agency partners
• government departments
• national regulators and agencies
• other local authorities
• third party contractors
• funding bodies
• West Midlands Strategic Partnership
• Worcestershire District and City Councils
• Department of Education (DfE), including LRS and the Education and Skills Funding Agency
• the English European Social Fund (ESF) Managing Authority or its agents
• Prospects – commissioned partner for the National Career Service

Information will only ever be shared when it is strictly necessary to help us provide effective services and you may have the right to refuse.  We will not pass it onto any other parties unless required to do so by law or in all reasonable circumstances the disclosure is fair and warranted for the purposes of processing or subject to a data protection exemption.

We have specific data sharing agreements in place with local agencies and sometimes the law requires that we may have to pass your details on to a third party, for example, to prevent crime.

The standard record retention periods are as follows:

• for courses funded solely by the ESFA we keep data for 6 years after the academic year in which your enrolment occurs
• for most courses (those that the ESFA uses match-funding against the European Social Fund), we keep data for three years after the European Commission has made its final payment
• for the 2014 to 2020 ESF Programme this is expected to be until at least 31 December 2030

More information about our retention periods can be found in our Disposal Schedule (Excel spreadsheet).

Please note stated retention periods may be subject to any legal holds imposed under the Inquiries Act 2005 that may concern the information and override standard retention periods.

You are entitled to a copy, or a description, of the personal data we hold that relates to you, subject to lawful restrictions. See more information on how to Make a Data Protection Request.

You may be entitled to rectification, restriction, objection, and erasure of your personal information depending on the service and legal basis. Please in the first instance contact Valda Simms by email vsimms@worcestwershire.gov.uk to exercise these Information Rights or call 01905 843521.

Please see our overarching Privacy Notice for further contact details and if you have a complaint about your information rights