Childcare Directory privacy notice

We are the Early Years, Childcare and Business Development Service.

The Local Authority (LA) have a statutory duty to ensure that parents/carers and prospective parents/carers can access online, or are provided with, comprehensive and up to date information about childcare, including school-aged childcare, and early education, including free places in the Borough. Information collected from active Ofsted registered childcare providers and DfE registered schools is published on the LA’s Childcare Directory, a website that parents/carers, professionals and other interested parties can use to find childcare services in order for the LA to meet this duty.

If you have questions regarding this service or our privacy practices, you can contact us by e-mail or in writing at the address below:

Contact us by email at childcare@walthamforest.gov.uk or contact us by post by writing to:

Waltham Forest Council
Early Years, Childcare and Business Development Service 
Higham Hill JSC
313 Billet Road
Walthamstow, E17 5PX

Please note that face-to-face meetings are by appointment only and can be arranged with the service.

Ofsted registered Childcare providers and DfE registered school nurseries

We receive weekly updates from Ofsted in relation to childcare providers registered with them i.e. day nurseries, pre-schools and childminders. The information received from Ofsted provides us with the individual or registered organisation’s contact details, organisation details and Ofsted inspection judgement associated with their Ofsted registered childcare business. (in some instances, an Ofsted registered childcare provider’s business contact details may be the same as their personal contact should they choose to do this, this is particularly true of Childminders) 

We also obtain information for Department of Education (DfE) registered school’s from the DfE’s online Edubase system.

Information related to the Ofsted childcare provider or school nursery’s business/service obtained from Ofsted or the DfE, information that the provider has a statutory duty to make available (e.g. fees and charges in line with DfE’s requirements, unless the LA has granted an exemption),  as well as additional information they have chosen/consented to share in relation to their business is then used by the Council on the commissioned service to populate the childcare directory which can be found on the Waltham Forest Childcare Directory website.

The Directory enables families to make informed choices about childcare.

The data we collect

Childcare provider data obtained from Ofsted, such as:

• organisation details: provider name, setting type, Ofsted registration/URN, address,
• business contact details: name, telephone, email,
• compliance/quality indicators: Ofsted Inspection judgement (also publicly available)

Childcare provider data obtained from DfE Edubase (GIAS) for School based nurseries, including:

• school details: School name, Ofsted URN, DfE URN, address,
• contact details: School email 

Childcare provider data obtained from childcare provider which is not available in the public domain in Ofsted or DfE information, but childcare providers can choose to publish should they wish/consent too:

• Organisation details: service description/offer, ages offered, opening hours, ages served, organisation/setting name (for childminders only), Free Early Education Entitlement (FEEE) provision offer, wraparound offer
• Business contact details (that are in addition to those published by Ofsted/DfE): e-mail addresses, website, social media
• Availability information: current and upcoming places, session times, term dates/closures (if supplied by provider)
• Media and content: logos, childcare provision descriptions if supplied by the provider

Providers are responsible for:

• Ensuring service description/information submitted is accurate, up to date and appropriate for publication
• Obtaining any necessary permissions (e.g., for logos) and avoiding sensitive personal data in public descriptions
• Keeping login credentials secure and notifying us of suspected compromise

We will publish information about childcare providers such as day nurseries, pre-schools and school nurseries as we have a statutory duty under section 12 of the Childcare Act 2006 to maintain a service that provides information for parents/carers and prospective parents/carers on the provision of childcare in their area as listed in Schedule 1 to the Childcare Act 2006 (Provision of Information to Parents) (England) Regulations 2007) and publish this information electronically on the local authority website and update it. 

Therefore, the purpose of the information collected is to meet the statutory duty. 

We will only publish information available/searchable in the public domain via Ofsted or the DfE in relation to Ofsted registered childcare or school provision as well as information that they have a statutory duty to make public (e.g. fees and charges information).  Providers can choose/consent to publish additional contact details and organisation details such as postcode, preferred name (first and last name or first name or a business name), contact number and email address should they want to.

For childminders we will seek consent to publish information that is not available/searchable via Ofsted and non-statutory information by email communication. We rely on your consent to publish your details on the childcare directory, and you may withdraw that consent at any time; however, if you do so, you will need to demonstrate that the information required to meet statutory publication obligations is available elsewhere so that those obligations continue to be met, e.g. the costs of chargeable extras should be published on provider websites or, where they do not have any website, on local authority Family Information Services.

The expectation is that the contact details (number and email address) consented to share by Ofsted registered childminders are for their childcare business.

The lawful basis for publishing is based on the following:

• (a) Consent: Ofsted registered childcare providers and schools have  given clear consent to process and publish data and information that is not available/searchable via Ofsted and non-statutory information related to their childcare business for a specific purpose i.e. publication on the childcare directory.  (by entering information onto the Childcare Directory themselves or by providing written consent to the LA to do this on their behalf). Providers can remove their consent at any time.
• (b) Contract: the processing is necessary for the delivery of the FEEE Terms and Conditions Agreement/Contract we have with Ofsted registered childcare providers and DfE registered schools to provide free early education entitlement (FEEE) childcare places
• (c) Legal obligation: the processing is necessary for Ofsted registered childcare providers and schools and the LA to comply with the law i.e. the Early Education and Childcare statutory guidance and Childcare act 2006 and 2016
• (e) Public task: the processing is necessary for us to perform a task in the public interest 

Your information will be shared with:

• your childcare provision data is shared with parents/carers for childcare information
• your childcare provision data is in shared with the public on the childcare directory

Your childcare provision data can be shared with other childcare providers that want to signpost parents/carers to other childcare providers.

We keep data for as long as the childcare provider’s Ofsted registration or DfE registration is active and information about their service is available/searchable via publicly available Ofsted or DfE information

Ofsted registered childcare providers and DfE registered schools can withdraw consent to publish data and information that is not available/searchable via Ofsted and non-statutory information related to their childcare business by emailing childcare@walthamforest.gov.uk to notify us of withdrawal of consent. 

Our Data Protection Officer

Our Data Protection Officer is Mark Hynes. You can contact him by email at data.protectionofficer@walthamforest.gov.uk

Protecting your information

Please see the relevant section of the Corporate Privacy Notice.

Your information choice and rights

Please see the relevant section of the Corporate Privacy Notice.

Complaints and contact details

These are included in the relevant section of the Corporate Privacy Notice.

Information Commissioner’s Office

If we’re unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO)