Working with families and troubled families privacy notice

Data collection for the evaluation of the Troubled Families Programme

We are taking part in the government's Troubled Families Programme 2015-2020. The information being used for the research includes the personal data held by Local Authorities in order to provide services to families (this includes names, dates of birth, postcodes). It also includes the information that is routinely collected by Government Departments, such as school attendance and attainment information, details of criminal offences, and welfare benefits date and employment status information.

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

We are working with other partner organisations to identify families that have multiple and complex needs, including:

• The Metropolitan Police Service
• The National Probation Trust
• Community rehabilitation companies
• Registered housing providers
• The Department for Work and Pensions
• Public Health England
• children’s centres and schools
• private and voluntary sector partners

As part of the Early 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.

Read more information on the national programme by visiting the GOV.UK website.

You can contact the Information Officer

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.

Before sharing information for government evaluation and research a data agreement will be in place between us and the government 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

It won’t affect any individuals or families personally. The combined data on progress cannot be shared with government services or used to make decisions about the treatment or benefits individuals or families currently receive. It will not directly affect any benefits, services or treatment received by anyone included in the research.

The idea is to share relevant personal information so we can work together in a joined-up way to help families. This information will be used in line with data protection and other relevant legislation.

Information will be held securely and will only be used and shared on a strictly need-to-know basis with authorised partners in the borough for the purpose of identifying, supporting and evaluating the work with families with the most need.

We'll delete all personal information gathered by 2022 when the programme is over and the evaluation has been complete.

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)