Troubled families programme privacy notice

The London Borough of Waltham Forest is taking part in the government's Troubled Families Programme 2015-2020.           

This is a cross-agency programme led by Children's Services to identify and help families with multiple and complex needs.

The scheme requires us to share the personal information on individuals and families who have been assessed as meeting the criteria for the programme and those who have participated in the additional services with the government’s nominated evaluation partner, the Office for National Statistics.

Families identified to receive additional support as part of the programme will be contacted and individuals will be asked to consent to their information being shared.

Names, dates of birth, postcode, school attendance and attainment information, details of criminal offences, and welfare benefits data and employment status information.

We need your information in order to identify and support families experiencing multiple complex needs. The council and partner organisations will share relevant personal information with each other. This allows us to work together in a joined-up way to help each family.

In accordance with the data protection act 2018, we need a "lawful basis" for collecting and using information about you. There are a variety of different lawful bases for processing personal data which are set out in the data protection act.

The lawful basis on which we rely in order to use the information which we collect about you for the purposes set out in this notice will be consent.

As part of the Early Help Service, you will be asked for your consent to share your information for the purpose of receiving a service, you will also be asked for your consent to your information being held and used for the purpose of the Troubled Families Programme. You have the right at any point to withdraw that consent.

We will share information with the following partner organisations to allow us to identify families that have multiple and complex needs;

• Metropolitan Police Service
• National Probation Trust
• Community Rehabilitation Companies
• Registered Housing Providers
• Department for Work and Pensions
• Public Health England
• Children’s centres and schools
• Private and voluntary sector partners

We will also share information with the Office of National Statistic:

The government wants to know if the Troubled Families Programme has actually helped families turn their lives around, whether it is a good use of public money and whether improvements in the service develop over time.

We are required as part of the scheme to share the personal information on individuals and families (such as names and dates of birth) who have been assessed as meeting criteria for the programme and those who have participated in the additional services with the government’s nominated evaluation partner, the Office for National Statistics.

They will link this with information routinely collected by government departments to develop a wider picture of the needs and progress families have made. The results will be shared with the government and local authorities but in a depersonalised form to protect families’ privacy.

A data-sharing agreement was put in place between us and the government before sharing information for government evaluation and research data, to ensure that:

• the data can only be used for carrying out research
• the linked information is anonymised to reduce the risk of individuals being identified
• it will be impossible for any person or family to be identified from any published reports
• the linked personal information will not be shared with or made available to the local authority or any other public agency
• all information is transferred, handled and stored in accordance with the Data Protection Act
• appropriate measures are in place to prevent the unauthorised use of information
• the information is securely destroyed after being used

We will securely delete all personal information gathered by 2022 when the programme is over and the evaluation has been completed.

• Troubled Families National Programme

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)