Westminster Employment Service privacy notice

Purpose for processing your information

The Westminster Employment Service (WES) is a council service and our purpose is to support the City for All Opportunity agenda by providing an employment service for Westminster residents including those who may face barriers to finding and staying in work. The team also works with local employers to support local recruitment and address skills shortages. 
The Westminster Employment Service (WES) provides an employment coaching service. All of our Employment Coaches operate in integrated teams working closely with other Council services and partners to enable you to get the right support based on your needs.

To enable us to provide these services for individual residents we need to collect personal data:

• to help WES help you meet your responsibilities by encouraging you to attend appointments/meetings, and advising you about the conditions for services made available to you
• to help WES support you by discussing your needs, and to identify any further help that could be offered
• WES may share this information with other agencies where required to identify the most appropriate action/support for you
• the information shared with the Westminster Employment Service may also be used for research that will help us to evaluate the success of the service

We collect the following information

The information that is collected includes the following

• name
• National Insurance Number
• date of birth
• address
• allowances and benefits
• employment status
• housing status
• earnings
• debts
• arrears
• childcare and caring responsibilities

How we collect your information

WES collects information directly from you in a number of ways, for example, through our registration form, by letter, email, face-to-face, telephone, online forms, surveys. WES also collects information through referrals from other services.

Who the information is shared with:

• education, training and volunteering organisations – to enable you to gain skills and confidence for work
• employers and employment brokerage services – to apply for opportunities
• health services – if you have a health need
• childcare services – if you need childcare to go to work
• charities that can provide additional support – for example around clothing for work, volunteering, mental health, etc
• benefits advice – if you need advice on money or entitlement
• housing prevention and solutions services – if you need housing support
• DWP / Universal Credit – if you need help with your benefits or need in work financial support
• Housing Benefit and Council Tax – if you have an issue with your housing benefit or Council Tax
• social services/ Early Help – if you or your family require support from this service
• third parties and other council services for, training, employment, education and well-being related purposes, including the Supporting Families programme
• any other services that we identify would be beneficial

We will only share information with these organisations where it is appropriate and legal to do so. We may also share information, for example, if there is a risk of serious harm or threat to life, for the prevention and detection of fraud or crime, assessment of any tax or duty or if we are required to do so by any court or law.

All information will be used in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018.

How long do we keep your information?

Your information will be kept after WES has stopped working with you, and then deleted after 5 years. If you have a social worker, we will keep them informed of your progress, and please note that social services records are held for longer (25 years). Care Leaver records held by Social Services will not be deleted.

Information is retained for the purpose of assessing and providing you with appropriate employment services. WES and Westminster City Council may also use this information for service planning, monitoring and research purposes.

Your information is stored on an electronic system called Aptem. Westminster City Council owns the data, Aptem is provided by MWS Technology Ltd, 315 Highgate Studios 53-79 Highgate Road London NW5 1TL.

Your rights and access to your information

You have the right to request a copy of the information that we hold about you.

The Data Protection Act 2018 also gives you additional rights that refer to how the council holds and uses your information.

Consequently, under certain circumstances, by law you have the right to:

• withdraw consent and the right to object and restrict further processing of your data; however, this may affect service delivery to you
• request to have your data deleted where there is no compelling reason for its continued processing and provided that there are no legitimate grounds for retaining it
• request your data to be rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete
• have your data transferred or copied should you move to another authority
• not be subject to automated decision-making including profiling

Read more about how the council complies with the new Data Protection Act 2018

If you have any concerns

Please contact us if you would like to know more about the information we hold about you and how we use it. Westminster City Council’s overriding Fair Processing Notice can be found at the fair processing notice page and you can contact the council’s Data Protection Officer at [email protected].

If you want to see information stored about you, you will need to submit a ‘Subject Access Request’. Please email [email protected] for further details.

You have a right to complain to us if you think we have not complied with our obligation for handling your personal information; please see the make a complaint page.

If you are not satisfied with the Council’s response you have a right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). You can report a concern by visiting the ICO website.

Changes in your circumstances

You must notify us immediately if there are any changes in your circumstances and personal details so we can maintain an accurate and up to date record of your information