Community safety team privacy notice

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Who we are and what we do

The Community Safety Team is based within the Early Help division at Waltham Forest Council.

We aim to raise awareness of community safety issues in Waltham Forest and provide information about services that are available to help combat these.

We work in the following areas:

Preventing gang violence
Preventing extremism and radicalisation
Preventing violence against women and girls
Providing information and support about Hate Crimes
Raising educational engagement via wider schools work
Utilise criminal analysis to identify the most effective interventions for individuals, groups and communities with a safe response

If you have any questions regarding our privacy practices you can contact us by email or in writing at the address below:

Community Safety

Rowan House
1 Cecil Road
Leytonstone
E11 3HF

Email: communitysafety@walthamforest.gov.uk

Information we hold about you Click to get info

Where relevant to do so and appropriate we may hold the following information about you:

Name and contact details
Date of birth
Racial and ethnic origin
Religious, faith or other beliefs of a similar nature
Gender
Sexuality
Social and lifestyle circumstances
Financial details
Housing needs
Family details
Physical or mental health details
NHS number
Personal appearance and behavioural details
Education details
Unique reference number or social care ID
Case file information
Offences (including alleged offences)
Social care support outcomes
Advocacy or outreach details

Why we need your information and how we use it Click to get info

The processing and use of your personal data is underpinned by our compliance with and legal obligations, primarily under the Children Act 1989 and Care Act 2014, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, and the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 in order to safeguard children, young people, adults and their families from possible harm in England.

We consider your privacy with great importance and will only use your personal information to:

inform you about our services
provide services you have requested from us
enable us to carry out specific functions for which we are responsible
derive statistics which inform decisions such as the funding of community safety projects
assess performance and to set targets for the Council and for service planning or improvement to develop service delivery

We may also use your personal data for the prevention or detection of fraud/crime or research.

If we use information for research purposes this will be anonymised data only and may assist us to improve our performance and delivery of services in the future.

We have a number Multi agency panel meetings that are currently in operation across our service including:

ASBRAC: Anti-Social Behaviour Risk Assessment Conference to provide support to individuals affected by anti-social behaviour
MARAC: Multi agency Risk Assessment Conference to provide support to individuals who are at high risk of domestic violence and abuse
CHANNEL PANEL: The Channel process is a multi-agency approach to identify and provide support to individuals who are at risk of being drawn into terrorism
BRONZE PANEL: multi agency panel to review referrals where interventions are required for those involved with, or at risk from, or victims of gang activity

As part of the support and services that we provide, a number of agencies will decide whether the threshold is met for support and best this can be provided and this may include sharing your information, reviewing actions already taken, and if necessary, making recommendations on how to reach the best outcome for you.

The Lawful basis for the processing Click to get info

We will only ask for personal information that is appropriate and proportionate to enable us to deliver our services effectively. This is in accordance with legal obligations under the Children Act 1989 and Care Act 2014, the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, and the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 to uphold the support, protection and fulfilment of our community safety functions.

In most cases we will obtain your personal data directly from you, either on registration forms or when we communicate with you. If the information about you is provided from another source then we will notify you of this within a reasonable period after obtaining the personal data.

We are obligated to dispose of your information in a safe and secure way to maintain and comply with GDPR regulations.

According to threshold guidelines for acute or complex needs, we may hold your information for up to 20 years or more dependent on the identified needs.

We will also advise you of our duty to disclose or if we envisage disclosing personal data to another party.

You reserve the right to refuse providing your details if you deem the request to be inappropriate. Please remember that if we cannot use your data this may impact on our ability to provide you with or make arrangements for services to assist your needs.

Who your information will be shared with Click to get info

It may be necessary for us to share personal data with both internal and external partners or agencies:

Social care (Adults/Children’s)
Health providers
NHS agencies (GPs, hospitals, ambulance, health visitor)
Education providers (welfare, schools, colleges and institution)
Residential/nursing care providers
Mental health services
Government agencies (department of health, department of work and pensions)
Central government
Local government
Police
Probation services
Youth offending service
Other local authorities
Substance misuse agencies
Fire and rescue services
Housing associations
Advocacy services

How long we will keep your information Click to get info

In line with our safeguarding guidance and thresholds, we will retain your information for a minimum of 7 years from the last contact date or the case closure date, whichever comes first if there have been identified emerging or multiple needs. If we identify acute or complex needs, we will retain your information for a maximum of 20 years or more from the last contact date or the case closure date, whichever comes first.

We are obligated to dispose of your information in a safe and secure way to maintain and comply with GDPR regulations.

When determining how long information should be held for, we consider particular criteria and this may depend on the circumstances that are presented to us (such as, the age at which a referral has been received, the nature of the information, how long an intervention or support may be in place for and if there are any other restrictions on retaining information due to crime or abuse).