How Welsh Government uses your data

The Welsh Government has access to personal and special category data of parents, carers and children receiving services from local authorities. Additionally, the Welsh Government has access to personal and sensitive data of childcare providers delivering services funded by the Welsh Government under the childcare offer.

The collection and processing of this data is necessary to perform a public task (i.e. exercising our official authority to undertake the core role and functions of the Welsh Government). This enable the operation of, and to provide information which will help the Welsh Ministers to make decisions relating to the development of the policy in relation to, the childcare offer which is being delivered to improve economic and social well-being in Wales in accordance with section 60 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 .

What is personal and special category data?

Personal data is defined as information from which a living individual can be identified.

Special category data is defined as personal data consisting of detailed information relating to the data subject such as ethnic group, or health condition.

You, as either the parent or carer of such a child, or childcare provider delivering services to a child in receipt of the childcare offer have the right to be informed about what information Welsh Government have access to, its processing and uses of this data by Welsh Government. Which data does Welsh Government have access to?

Which data does Welsh Government have access to?

Parents of children taking up the childcare offer- Eligibility checking

Local authorities ask for details of you, as either the parent or carer of such child, or children and the children receiving services under the childcare offer to check your eligibility to receive the offer against eligibility criteria as set by the Welsh Government. This includes;

Your working hours and wage
This information is also passed to Welsh Government by the Local authority anonymously, which means this data will not include your name or that of your child.
The date of birth of the child you are applying to receive the childcare offer for
This is not passed to the Welsh Government.
Your address
This is not passed to the Welsh Government.
Information about benefits you are claiming that may entitle you to the childcare offer
This is not passed to the Welsh Government.

Parents / Carers of, and children taking up the childcare offer

Local authorities provide details of you, as either the parent or carer of such child, or children and the children receiving services under the childcare offer from them to Welsh Government, and this includes:

Data about your child and you as the parent(s)/carer(s);

Gender
Ethnicity
Whether your child has a special educational need (SEN)
Your salary information
Your average weekly hours worked
Whether you accessed any Flying Start services – no information on what services collected

Basic details of the services provided to you and your child prior to taking up the childcare offer;

Your rating of affordability of childcare prior to taking up the childcare offer
Your monthly average spend on childcare prior to taking up the childcare offer
The number of hours of paid childcare you used on average each week prior to taking up the offer
The number of hours of unpaid childcare you used on average each week prior to taking up the offer

Basic details of the services provided to you and your child in taking up the childcare offer;

The number of hours you have applied for the child under the childcare offer
The number of hours your child attends the hours booked under the childcare offer
The language provision of the childcare your child is accessing
Your preference of language provision for your child to access the offer
Your child’s attendance at Foundation Phase Nursery Provision
The Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) register number of the childcare provider(s) you are accessing the childcare offer at

The data outlined above is sent to Welsh Government and will not include your name or that of your child.The data outlined above is sent to Welsh Government and will not include your name or that of your child.

Childcare providers delivering services under the childcare offer

Your contact details including – telephone number, email address and postal address and Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW) registration number
The language provision of your setting as self-declared to the local authorities and to Care Inspectorate Wales (CIW)
The number of hours that each child receiving the childcare offer in your setting have booked with you and how many hours they have actually attended
Any additional costs which parents have incurred through taking up the offer at your setting including; food costs, travel costs, and any additional hours they take up at your setting on top of the childcare offer.

However, the data sent to Welsh Government will not include your name, unless your name is your business name, which is publically available.

How will the data be used by Welsh Government?

The data sent to Welsh Government will be used:

to measure how well Welsh Government and Local Authorities are delivering their services to you and your child;
to support improvements to these services;
to allocate money to Local Authorities and others; or
to support wider research into the provision of services to you and your child, or others;
to link data from this form to other data sources for the purpose of evaluating the impact of the project on the individuals who take part.

The data sent to Welsh Government will not be used by them:

to take any action in relation to you or your child, or your childcare setting; nor
to identify you or your child in any reports.

The data sent to Welsh Government will be held securely by it and it will only be shared with others under strict controls. It will never be shared in such a way that would allow you or your child to be identified unintentionally.

As part of its role as data controller for the data that is transferred to Welsh Government, Welsh Government may ask for your contact details and share these along with the data outlined in this notice, with non government agencies and researchers, but only for statistical or research purposes.

As soon as is possible, data items collected through research purposes which could identify individuals will be removed and any such disclosures will be approved and controlled by an appropriate WG data access agreement which will:

ensure secure transfer, storage and eventual destruction of the data;
limit the use to the specific requirement identified; and only allow the data to be stored for the duration of the research project

Results from analyses carried out using the data but using aggregated totals may be made available in statistical or research publications released via the WG website and also via data placed on the StatsWales data website

Your Rights

Individuals have certain rights in respect of the personal data held on them. Whilst not intending to be exhaustive, examples of these rights include:

the right to ask for and receive copies of the personal data the Welsh Government holds about you (you may have to pay a small fee for this), although some information can sometimes be legitimately withheld
the right, in some circumstances, to prevent the processing of personal data if doing so will cause damage or distress
the right to ask for wrong information to be put right
You also have the right to ask the Information Commissioner, who enforces and oversees the Data Protection Act (GDPR) 2018, to assess whether or not the processing of your personal data is likely to comply with the provisions of the Act.

Further Information

If you have any further questions about how data about you (or your child) will be used by Welsh Government, wish to withdraw consent to prevent the processing of your personal data, or if you have any concerns about the accuracy of personal data or wish to exercise any of your rights under the Data Protection Act (GDPR) 2018, please write to us using the details below.

Childcare Offer Team
CP2, Crown Buildings
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ
Email: Talkchildcare@gov.wales

The Welsh Government’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted at Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ. Email: DataProtectionOfficer@gov.wales

The Information Commissioners Office can be contacted on 01625 545297 or wales@ico.org.uk .

The Freedom of Information Act and Your Information

The Welsh Government is subject to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOI) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004 (EIR). This means that some information held on you is potentially disclosable if it is captured within the scope of an FOI request. Should any information you have supplied to us be caught by such a request Welsh Government would normally consult you and seek your views on what harm, if any, would arise from the release of the information into the public domain