Childcare Offer for Wales: parents and guardians privacy notice

In November 2022, the Welsh Government Childcare Offer for Wales digital service went live. The digital service is made up of a digital platform and helpline and replaced the various local authority systems previously in place to manage the Childcare Offer for Wales. The digital platform is a secure, cloud-based case management platform. The Welsh Government is the Data Controller for the information held within the digital service.

Our privacy notice sets out:

• the personal information we collect about you when you apply for, and receive, funded childcare under the Childcare Offer for Wales
• what we do with it
• who we may need to share it with
• how long we will hold it for, and
• what your rights are in relation to it.
   

Personal data is defined under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) as ‘any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified by reference to an identifier.’

Outlined below is the personal information we collect about you, your household partner (if you have one) and your child(ren).

Stage 1 - Creating an account so you can access the digital platform

You will be required to provide the following information. This is required to help recover the account, should the situation arise.

• name, date of birth, email address and contact number
• memorable word

Stage 2 - Application to receive Childcare Offer for Wales funding

When you apply for Childcare Offer for Wales funding, you must complete an application form, which asks you to provide the following personal information:

Information about you and your household partner

• personal details: name, address, email address, contact telephone number(s), date of birth
• national insurance number
• income
• employer’s name and address, email address, contact number
• ethnicity (optional)
• sex (optional)

Additional Support Grant

If you select the Additional Support Grant tick box, you are agreeing to Welsh Government sharing the following personal information with the local authority you live in:

• name
• contact telephone number

Your local authority requires your name and contact number, as they will need to contact you to obtain further information on the additional support you require and permission to share that information with your childcare provider.

Your qualifying child(ren)

• full legal
• name date of birth
• whether the child is a multiple birth (eg twin etc)

The evidence we ask you to upload about you and your household partner and child(ren) in support of your application for the Childcare Offer for Wales

We can identify personal information about you and your household partner from the documents and supporting evidence we ask you to upload in support of your application. The personal information which will be shared with us in any of the following uploaded documents is outlined below:

Personal information we collect from the evidence you provide about you/your partner

• proof of address: name, address
• proof of income and employment: name, address, salary, unique tax reference (if self-employed)
• proof of enrolment in training and education (if applicable): name, address
• latest benefit statement, letter from employer (if applicable): name address, proof of eligible benefits and statutory paid leave
• proof of income - latest tax return (if applicable): name, address, Unique Taxpayer Reference, expenses relating to the self-employment
• proof of income - copy of latest accounts or letter from accountant (if applicable): name, address, Unique Taxpayer Reference, expenses relating to the self-employment, proof of additional income
• proof of eligible benefits, statutory leave or unpaid parental leave (if applicable): name, address, national insurance number, confirmation of qualifying status

Personal information about your child, which may also include some personal information about you/your partner

• proof of parental responsibility - long birth certificate for each qualifying child you have applied for: child’s full name, sex, date of birth, place of birth, names and occupation of mother and father and address of the person registering the birth
• proof of parental responsibility - short birth certificate for each qualifying child you have applied for: child’s full name, sex, date of birth, place of birth (as the names and address and occupation of the parents are not included on the short birth certificate, this information is obtained from the addition information we ask you to provide
• proof of care plan (if applicable): name, date of birth

Stage 3 - Confirmation of eligibility to continue receiving funded childcare under the Childcare Offer for Wales

At the start of each term, you will be asked to confirm your continued eligibility to receive funded childcare via the Childcare Offer for Wales. 

This will involve either:

• confirming the personal information you have provided about you and your household partner is correct and hasn’t changed

or

•  amending the existing information, if it has changed

If your personal information has changed, you will be required to upload appropriate evidence as at the Application stage (Stage 2), except for your child’s birth certificate.

If you do not respond to the request to confirm your continuing eligibility within the set timeframe, you will be required to upload evidence of your continuing eligibility, whether your personal information has changed or not.

Stage 4 – Sample re-check of continued eligibility

The Childcare Offer for Wales policy requires at least 20% of responding parents to provide evidence of continued eligibility (random selection). If you are asked for proof of your continued eligibility, you must upload updated evidence to your Childcare Offer for Wales online account. The evidence you will be asked to upload is the same as the Application stage (Stage 2) apart from the requirement to upload the child’s birth certificate.

Gov.Notify

Gov.notify is used by the Welsh Government to send emails, text messages and letters to you. We collect the following information: 

• your name
• your email address
• your mobile phone number
• the IP address you use to access GOV.UK Notify

Manual Payments and Reclaimed Payments - Childcare Providers

There are instances where a separate process is followed to enable missed payments to be made or funding to be reclaimed from childcare providers. Local authorities seek approval from the Welsh Government for adjustments to be made via a process which is outside of the Childcare Offer digital platform. 

There may be occasions where personal information such as the parent/guardian’s name is shared with the Welsh Government as part of this process.

The information is stored on a secure Welsh Government server outside of the Childcare Offer digital platform.

Reclaimed Payments - Parents

If a local authority identifies a parent/guardian has received funded childcare when they were ineligible, the Welsh Government will be informed, and steps will be taken by the Welsh Government to recover the funding. The parent/guardian’s name and email address will be shared with the Welsh Government as part of the recovery process. If the parent/guardian is approved to make repayments in instalments, the Welsh Government finance team and debt team will require your bank details. 

The information is stored on a secure Welsh Government server outside of the Childcare Offer digital platform.

Evaluation of the Childcare Offer for Wales

The Childcare Offer for Wales programme is periodically evaluated to assess the performance of the programme and help Welsh Ministers make decisions relating to the development of the policy. If you are invited to take part in research activities related to the Childcare Offer for Wales you will be issued a separate privacy notice outlining how information generated by the research will be collected, held and used. Taking part in research is voluntary and you will not be identified in any reports.

Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL)

Your data is linked anonymously to other data sources as part of the Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) databank for non‑commercial research purposes only, unless you ask for this linkage to not take place. 

The SAIL Databank is a databank of anonymised data about the population of Wales, which is internationally recognised for the robust, secure storage and use of anonymised person-based data for research to improve health, well-being and services. Respondents can opt out of having their answers linked. Further information can be found in the Linking and matching data: privacy notice. 

Digital Health and Care Wales (DHCW) also have access to a part of your personal data for a period of three months, until the data linking with Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) is complete.

The lawful basis for processing information in this data collection exercise is our public task; that is, exercising our official authority to undertake the core role and functions of the Welsh Government. Some of the data we are collecting are called ‘special category data’ (in this case ethnicity) and the lawful basis for processing this information is that it is for statistical or research purposes.

This enables the operation of the Childcare Offer for Wales programme and provides information which will help Welsh Ministers make decisions relating to the development of the policy, 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[1].

The data will be used by the Welsh Government and local authorities:

• to assess eligibility for the Childcare Offer for Wales and approve or decline your application
• to measure how well the Welsh Government and local authorities are delivering their services to you, your child(ren) and others
• to support improvements to these services
• to make payments to childcare providers for the Childcare Offer for Wales hours
• to allocate funding to local authorities and others
• to support wider research into the provision of services to you and your child(ren), or others; and
• to evaluate the impact of the Childcare Offer for Wales. This includes linking data from your application to other data sources
• to communicate important messages to you relating to your ongoing eligibility and receipt of funded childcare

The data will not be used:

• to identify you or your child in any reports.

We may also share some of the data you provide with local authorities and any contractor or supplier providing digital support services on behalf of the Welsh Government for the purpose of verifying your identity and resolving I.T. issues in relation to accessing the Childcare Offer for Wales digital service.

[1] The Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32). 

Special category data such as ethnic group or health condition has additional protection under data protection law.

Under UK GDPR, we have a legal duty to protect any personal information we collect from you. We use leading technologies and encryption software to safeguard your data and keep strict security standards to prevent any unauthorised access to it.

Only you and authorised persons working in local authorities, your chosen childcare provider(s) and Welsh Government officials (or our suppliers and appointed contractors) will have access to your data.

All data gathered will be reported in an anonymised format when used in statistical or research reports. No reports will contain your contact details or any information that could be used to identify individuals. Aggregate data will also be placed on the Statistics and Research website. 

When the Welsh Government commissions an evaluation of the Childcare Offer for Wales, this work may be conducted by an accredited third party (e.g. a research organisation or a consultancy company). Any such work will only be undertaken under contract. Welsh Government’s standard terms and conditions for such contracts set out strict requirements for the processing and safekeeping of personal data.

The personal data we collect on you, your household partner and child(ren) will be kept in accordance with part 17 of the Welsh Government’s retention and disposal schedule. The maximum amount of time we will keep your personal data on the digital platform is 7 years and 3 months after the end of eligibility.

The personal data we hold about you, your household partner and child(ren) can be accessed by:

• you
• local authorities responsible for approving Childcare Offer for Wales applications
• limited designated Welsh Government staff
• supplier/contractor staff specifically appointed to provide digital support on behalf of the Welsh Government

Ethnicity and sex information can only be accessed by:

• you, limited designated Welsh Government staff, supplier/contractor staff

Your chosen childcare provider(s) will be able to access:

• your name and your child’s name

If you select the Additional Support Grant tick box, the Childcare Offer for Wales staff in the local authority you live in will be able to access:

• your name and contact telephone number

Staff responsible for managing Gov.notify can access:

• your name, address and email address, mobile phone number for a period of 7 days

Fraud investigation

The information you provide, or we collect from publicly available sources, may be shared with fraud prevention agencies if we suspect or detect fraud. The Privacy notice for Welsh Government grants provides further information.

Childcare Offer for Wales National Helpline

Our national helpline tel: 03000 628 628 stores the telephone number of anyone who contacts the helpline and retain the number for one year.  It also stores the name of the person who dealt the query.

Under UK GDPR, you have the following rights in relation to the personal information you provide as part of the Childcare Offer for Wales:

• to access a copy of your own data
• to ask us to rectify inaccuracies in that data
• to object to or restrict processing (in certain circumstances)
• for your data to be ‘erased’ (in certain circumstances); and
• to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) who is our independent regulator for data protection.

If you have any further questions about how your data will be used by the Welsh Government or wish to exercise your rights using the General Data Protection Regulation, please contact:

Childcare Offer Team
Welsh Government

Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ
Email: Childcareoffer@gov.wales 

The Welsh Government’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted at:

Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ

Email: DataProtectionOfficer@gov.wales. 

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Website