Introduction
We register with the Information Commissioner Office (ICO) and have a legal duty to protect data we hold about you. This means we will process the data we hold lawfully and securely. Our Data Protection Officer is responsible for how we do this. If you have any questions about this notice or our data protection policies, please contact us by either of the following.
Email: informationgovernance@sssc.uk.com
Post to: The Data Protection Officer, SSSC, Compass House, 11 Riverside Drive, Dundee, DD1 4NY.
We process personal data about different groups of people we come into contact with. This notice tells you what we collect, why and who we share it with.
Processing means what we do with the information and how we manage it. Almost anything you do with data counts as processing; including collecting, recording, storing, using, analysing, combining, disclosing or deleting it. We process certain information to help us carry out our responsibilities as the regulator for the social service workforce in Scotland. Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) this is called carrying out a public task. In some cases we hold it to carry out a statutory task, or fulfil a contract, such as, as an employer. Sometimes we only hold information with your consent – for example if you choose to sign up to our newsletter.
We will retain and may share or use any information we hold for any purpose we consider necessary to help us meet our statutory public protection function or other public protection purpose, or if we consider that to do so is compliant with data protection legislation, including legal, accounting or reporting requirements. At the end of this period we will delete or destroy the information in line with our Retention and Disposal Schedule.
Your rights
- You have the right to ask what information we process about you and receive a copy of it, subject to some exemptions. This is a Subject Access Request. You can find out more about Subject Access Requests here.
- You have the right to request that we correct your personal information. This allows you to have any inaccurate data that we hold about you rectified. We may need to verify the accuracy of the new data that you provide to us. There are some circumstances in which we will not be able to agree to your request – if, for example, we consider the data is accurate or if it is an opinion. We will tell you why we have refused your request.
- You can request that we stop or restrict our processing of your data. You can also ask to have your data deleted. We will not automatically stop or restrict the processing or delete the data as we may have a legal requirement to process it – if, for example, we hold your data to carry out our job as regulator.
- You may have the right to portability. In specific circumstances you have the right to receive a copy of your personal data in machine readable form to take to other organisations.
If you want to exercise any of these rights, please contact us using the details above.
For more information on your rights under GDPR see https://ico.org.uk/for-the-public/
We use automatic decision making as part of our registration process and we provide details below. The SSSC does not carry out any other automatic decision making or profiling.
Complaints or queries about how we process your personal information
If you have any complaints or queries about how we process your personal information, please contact us using the details above.
If you are dissatisfied with our response to a complaint or have any concerns about our handling of your personal data, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office by using the details below.
Post to: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Phone: 0303 123 1113
Online: https://ico.org.uk/concerns/handling
Links to non-SSSC websites
This notice does not cover other websites we link to. You should read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit.
Are you applying to register or are you on our Register?
The information we process is:
- personal details
- identification documents
- qualifications/continuous professional learning information (CPL)
- National Insurance number
- passwords (we cannot read these)
- bank details
- fee information
- health information
- conviction information
- disciplinary information
- criminal information
- Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) listing
- equality, diversity and inclusion information
- care information
- survey and consultation responses.
We process this information to:
- process applications and register workers
- assess and determine suitability for registration
- maintain our Register
- communicate with you including distribution of e newsletter, surveys, consultations and other items of interest
- compile statistics and reports
- record qualification information
- record training, learning and development
- provide information to the public (via our website) about qualifications and compensatory measures which have been assessed and accepted for registration
- investigate workers’ fitness to practise
- maintain our public Register on our website
- update your details
- provide the following information to the general public on request which will also be available on the public Register on our website:
- full name
- registration number and the part/s of the Register on which you are registered
- the postal town where you work
- the fact that you have been removed or suspended from the Register
- provide the outcome of your application and the reasons for our decision to your current social service employer
- provide the following information to your current social service employer and to any other social service employer considering your employment, once you are registered:
- your full work address (unless it is your home address, or the SSSC is satisfied disclosure may expose you to danger)
- your qualifications
- any conditions and warnings we impose on your registration
- decisions (and reasons for them) made in relation to your registration, for example, the outcome of hearings which may include suspension and removal from the Register
- enable equality, diversity and inclusion monitoring
- comply with the public sector equality duty by:
- considering how policies and decisions affect people who are protected under the Equality Act 2010
- advancing equality of opportunity between persons who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
- publishing equality outcomes and reporting on the progress of those outcomes
- communicate with you to invite you to participate in research initiatives and projects (and to distribute surveys, information sheets, consent forms and other research-related correspondence)
- help us improve, develop policy and procedures.
We may request information from third parties such as other regulators, Disclosure Scotland, Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal, the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service and any others who process information which may be relevant to carrying out our public task.
We might share your information with:
- universities, colleges, awarding bodies, bodies assessing qualifications etc to confirm your qualifications
- universities if you are a social work student to notify them if you are removed from the register or are about to be removed from the register due to a failure to renew your registration or pay your registration fee
- third parties who assess qualifications on our behalf
- third parties to support our own or others’ workforce planning activities
- other third parties who may carry out work on our behalf
- your employer to share the outcome of your application and any decisions made in relation to your registration
- your employer (or other third party) to share details of any fees you have paid to the SSSC, or any fees which are due to be paid to the SSSC
- various bodies in order to protect the public such as:
- your employer or any prospective employer and any other person when necessary to protect the public, such as Police Scotland, local authority adult and child protection services and Disclosure Scotland
- other regulatory bodies and similar organisations in the UK and in other countries
- SSSC Fitness to Practise Panels, agents acting for the SSSC and expert witnesses
- Scottish Ministers under the legislation about the protection of the children and vulnerable groups
- academic or other research institutions to support research
- NHS Education for Scotland, other bodies within the NHS and public sector partners to facilitate the provision of vaccination programmes
- Public Health Scotland to facilitate their public health monitoring work.
Automated decision making takes place when our electronic system uses information provided by an applicant, registrant and their employer to make a decision without any human intervention. We use automated decision making for parts of the registration process.
We use automated decision making for these processes:
- Approval of applications which meet predetermined criteria, we call these green channel applications
- Rejection of applications where information not provided
- Approval of renewal application which meet predetermined criteria, we call these green channel renewals
- Removals where conditions are not met
- Automatic removals.
If you want more information contact the Data Protection Officer.
If we find that your fitness to practise is impaired, we will publish this information in any way that we think is appropriate. We currently publish the information on our website. You can read our Fitness to Practise Public Information Policy that explains in more detail how we do this and when we might not publish information.
Have you previously been on our register?
The information we process is:
- personal details
- identification documents
- qualifications/continuous professional learning information (CPL)
- National Insurance number
- passwords (we cannot read these)
- bank details
- fee information
- health information
- conviction information
- disciplinary information
- criminal information
- Protection of Vulnerable Groups (PVG) listing
- equality, diversity and inclusion information
- survey and consultation responses.
We process this information to:
- maintain records which will be relevant if you apply in the future
- decide if you are fit to practise if you apply in the future
- enable equality, diversity and inclusion monitoring
- provide information to the public (via our website) about qualifications and compensatory measures which have been assessed and accepted for registration
- comply with the public sector equality duty by:
- considering how policies and decisions affect people who are protected under the Equality Act 2010
- advancing equality of opportunity between persons who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
- publishing equality outcomes and reporting on the progress of those outcomes
- communicate with you to invite you to participate in research initiatives and projects (and to distribute surveys, information sheets, consent forms and other research-related correspondence)
- help us improve, develop policy and procedures.
We might share your information with:
- various third parties to protect the public such as:
- your employer or any prospective employer and any other person when necessary to protect the public, such as Police Scotland, local authorities’ adult and child protection services and Disclosure Scotland
- other regulatory bodies and similar organisations in the UK and in other countries
- Scottish Ministers under the legislation about the protection of children and vulnerable groups
- your current social service employer and any other social service employer considering your employment or any other regulator considering your suitability for registration
- your employer (or other third party) to share details of any fees you have paid to the SSSC, or any fees which are due to be paid to the SSSC
- third parties who may carry out work on our behalf
- academic or other research institutions to support research.
Not applying or registered? Have we told you we hold information about you?
The information we process is:
- personal details
- disciplinary information
- criminal information
We process this information to:
- decide if you are fit to practise if you apply in the future.
We might share your information with:
- various third parties to protect the public such as:
- your employer or any prospective employer and any other person when necessary to protect the public, such as Police Scotland, local authorities’ adult and child protection services and Disclosure Scotland
- other regulatory bodies and similar organisations in the UK and in other countries
- Scottish Ministers under the legislation about the protection of children and vulnerable groups
- your current social service employer and any other social service employer considering your employment or any other regulator considering your suitability for registration
- third parties who may carry out work on our behalf.
Countersignatories/Portal contacts/employers of applicants and registrants/universities
The information we process is:
- personal details
- employment details
- passwords
- witness accounts/statements relating to a worker’s fitness to practise
- survey and consultation responses.
We process this information to:
- permit employers to fulfil the countersignatory/endorsement role required under the SSSC Registration Rules
- communicate with you including distribution of e newsletter, surveys, consultations and other items of interest
- progress applications
- enable verification of documents
- allow employers to have MySSSC employer access
- investigate workers’ fitness to practise
- communicate with you to invite you to participate in research initiatives and projects (and to distribute surveys, information sheets, consent forms and other research-related correspondence)
- help us improve, develop policy and procedures.
We might share your information with third parties who may carry out work on our behalf.
We might also share your information with various third parties to protect the public such as:
- your employer or any prospective employer and any other person when necessary to protect the public, such as Police Scotland, local authorities’ adult and child protection services and Disclosure Scotland
- other regulatory bodies and similar organisations in the UK and in other countries
- Scottish Ministers under the legislation about the protection of children and vulnerable groups
- academic or other research institutions to support research.
People who have complained about a person who may be a social service worker
The information we process is:
- personal details
- contact details
- survey and consultation responses.
We process this information to:
- seek further information
- allow a decision to be made on a worker’s initial or continued assessment of fitness to practise for registration
- communicate with you to invite you to participate in research initiatives and projects (and to distribute surveys, information sheets, consent forms and other research-related correspondence).
We might share your information with:
- SSSC Fitness to Practise Panels, agents acting for the SSSC and expert witnesses
- third parties who may carry out work on our behalf
- the general public via our website and publications
- academic or other research institutions to support research
- various third parties to protect the public such as:
- any person when necessary to protect the public, such as Police Scotland, local authorities’ adult and child protection services and Disclosure Scotland
- other regulatory bodies and similar organisations in the UK and in other countries
- Scottish Ministers under the legislation about the protection of children and vulnerable groups.
Witnesses for fitness to practise
The information we process is:
- personal details
- details of personal life including health information
- financial information
- witness accounts/statements/hearing transcripts relating to a worker’s fitness to practise
- survey and consultation responses.
We process this information to:
- allow a decision to be made on a worker’s initial or continued assessment of fitness to practise for registration
- enable payment of expenses
- communicate with you to invite you to participate in research initiatives and projects (and to distribute surveys, information sheets, consent forms and other research-related correspondence)
- help us to improve and develop our policies and procedures.
We might share your information with:
- SSSC Fitness to Practise Panels, agents acting for the SSSC and expert witnesses
- third parties who provide our information systems and process this information on our behalf
- other third parties who may carry out work on our behalf
- academic or other research institutions to support research
- various third parties to protect the public such as:
- your employer or any prospective employer and any other person when necessary to protect the public, such as Police Scotland, local authorities’ adult and child protection services and Disclosure Scotland
- other regulatory bodies and similar organisations in the UK and in other countries
- Scottish Ministers under the legislation about the protection of children and vulnerable groups.
People using services
The information we process is:
- personal details
- health information
- care arrangements
- criminal information
- personal stories
- photos, audio and video footage
- survey and consultation responses.
We process this information to:
- make decisions about a worker’s fitness to practise
- promote our work and services
- assist with the training and development needs of the workforce.
We might share your information with:
- SSSC Fitness to Practise Panels, agents acting for the SSSC and expert witnesses
- third parties who may carry out work on our behalf
- the general public via our website and publications
- various third parties to protect the public such as:
- any person when necessary to protect the public, such as Police Scotland, local authorities’ adult and child protection services and Disclosure Scotland
- other regulatory bodies and similar organisations in the UK and in other countries
- Scottish Ministers under the legislation about the protection of children and vulnerable groups.
Panel member applicants and current and former panel members
The information we process is:
- personal details
- emergency contact
- health information
- criminal information
- equality, diversity and inclusion information
- financial information
- information on time spent at work
- qualification information
- CCTV footage
- information about your entitlement to work in the UK
- photos, audio and video footage
- survey and consultation responses.
We process this information to:
- recruit panel members
- manage working relationships
- ensure that each panel is made up of a mix of sexes (insofar as is possible)
- communicate with you
- ensure security of staff and premises
- enable processing of payments
- comply with our legal obligations
- monitor that our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy is working
- enable equality, diversity and inclusion monitoring
- comply with the public sector equality duty by:
- considering how policies and decisions affect people who are protected under the Equality Act 2010
- advancing equality of opportunity between persons who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
- publishing equality outcomes and reporting on the progress of those outcomes
- respond to and defend legal claims
- carry out quality assurance procedures
- communicate with you to invite you to participate in research initiatives and projects (and to distribute surveys, information sheets, consent forms and other research-related correspondence)
- help us improve, develop training policy and procedures
- conduct workers’ fitness to practise hearings.
We might share this information with:
- HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
- third parties who provide our information systems and process this information on our behalf
- third parties who may carry out fraud investigations on our behalf under any arrangements made with them
- other third parties who may carry out work on our behalf
- academic or other research institutions to support research.
We share the names of current Legally Qualified Chairs on our website. We also share key payroll information and personal identifiers with Audit Scotland as required by the National Fraud Initiative (NFI). You can find out more about the NFI and information we have to provide in the privacy notice here.
Council Members
The information we process is:
- personal details
- financial information
- equality, diversity and inclusion information
- CCTV footage
- photo, audio and video footage
- survey and consultation responses.
We process this information to:
- communicate with you
- manage working relationships
- ensure security of staff and premises
- pay fees and expenses
- comply with our legal obligations
- monitor that our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy is working
- enable equality, diversity and inclusion monitoring
- comply with the public sector equality duty by:
- considering how policies and decisions affect people who are protected under the Equality Act 2010
- advancing equality of opportunity between persons who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
- publishing equality outcomes and reporting on the progress of those outcomes
- conduct formal meetings.
We also share key payroll information and personal identifiers with Audit Scotland as required by the National Fraud Initiative (NFI). You can find out more about the NFI and information we have to provide in the privacy notice here.
We might share this information with:
- third parties who may process this information on our behalf
- third parties who may carry out fraud investigations on our behalf under any arrangements made with them
- other third parties who may carry out work on our behalf.
We share names and biographies of Council Members on our website.
Job applicants, current and former employees
The information we process is:
- personal details
- emergency contact
- health information
- criminal information
- equality, diversity and inclusion information
- financial information
- swipe card information
- information on time spent at work
- supervision, training and personal development information
- disciplinary information
- qualification information
- CCTV footage
- details of trade union membership
- information about your entitlement to work in the UK
- photos, audio and video footage
- survey and consultation responses.
We process this information to:
- recruit and employ staff
- manage employment relationships
- communicate with you
- ensure security of staff and premises
- enable processing of pay and pensions
- comply with our legal obligations
- monitor that our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Policy is working
- enable equality, diversity and inclusion monitoring
- comply with the public sector equality duty by:
- considering how policies and decisions affect people who are protected under the Equality Act 2010
- advancing equality of opportunity between persons who share a protected characteristic and those who do not
- publishing equality outcomes and reporting on the progress of those outcomes
- carry out other legitimate functions such as:
- analyse and inform decision making about our policies and procedures, for example, sickness data, turnover data and performance data
- carry out and develop publicity and marketing materials and training materials
- respond to and defend legal claims
- communicate with you to invite you to participate in research initiatives and projects (and to distribute surveys, information sheets, consent forms and other research-related correspondence)
- help us improve, develop policy and procedures
- conduct workers’ fitness to practise virtual hearings
- conduct Council and committee virtual meetings.
We might share this information with:
- HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
- Local Government Pension Scheme
- the public who can access limited information on senior staff and their salary bands on our website
- third parties who provide our information systems and process this information on our behalf
- external legal advisors or other agents acting for the SSSC
- our recognised trade unions
- third parties who may carry out fraud investigations on our behalf under any arrangements made with them
- other third parties who may carry out work on our behalf
- academic or other research institutions to support research.
We also share key payroll information and personal identifiers with Audit Scotland as required by the National Fraud Initiative (NFI). You can find out more about the NFI and information we have to provide in the privacy notice here.
Workforce data
The information we process is:
- personal details
- information submitted by applicants
- employment information from the wider social service workforce.
We process this information to:
- carry out our statutory workforce intelligence function
- publish Official and National Statistics on the social service sector’s workforce
- communicate with you including distribution of e newsletter, surveys, consultations and other items of interest.
We may share this information with third parties who have a legitimate interest in obtaining it and other third parties who may carry out work on our behalf.
We share statistical information with the public on our website and our data website. The data are anonymised so that no individual is identifiable within our publications.
COVID-19 recruitment
Are you completing an Expression of Interest Form for the Health & Social Care COVID-19 Accelerated Recruitment portal website?
The information we process is:
- personal details
- identification documents
- qualifications/continuous professional learning (CPL) information
- National Insurance number
- passwords (we cannot read these)
- health information
- conviction information
- disciplinary information
- criminal information
- PVG listing
- equality, diversity and inclusion information
- employment history
- relevant skills and experience
- preferences for work location.
We process this information to:
- progress expression of interest forms
- carry out pre employment checks and match individuals with prospective employers or other third parties to fill vacant positions in the social care sector
- enable equality, diversity and inclusion monitoring.
We are processing this information on the basis of your consent which you may withdraw at any time.
We obtain some of this information submitted to the Health & Social Care COVID-19 Accelerated Recruitment portal. Further information on the processing including the privacy notice for the portal can be accessed from the above link to the portal.
We may request information from third parties such as other regulators, Disclosure Scotland, Police Scotland, the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal, the Scottish Courts and Tribunal Service, Educational institutions, former employers and any others who process information which may be relevant to carrying out the processing of expression of interest forms and pre employment checks.
We will check our existing records to see if we hold information on you and may refer to this information to process the expression of interest forms and carry out the pre employment checks.
We will share your information with:
- any prospective employer or other third party such as local authorities, Health & Social Care Partnerships, the Care Inspectorate and any other third party necessary to match individuals into vacant roles within the social care sector
- any prospective employer or any other person necessary to protect the public, such as Police Scotland, local authority adult and child protection services and Disclosure Scotland
- other regulatory bodies within the UK and other countries.
We might share your information with:
- third parties who provide our information systems and may process this information on our behalf
- third parties to carry out pre employment checks or any other processing on our behalf
- other third parties who may carry out work on our behalf.
We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
We may direct applicants to third parties to carry out checks for the purposes of recruitment.
Adult Care Recruitment Portal
We will be contacting previous registrants for the purposes of alerting them to the recruitment exercise to support recruitment and retention in adult social care.
If you express an interest, we will share your name and the information you provide with prospective employers within the adult care sector.
The information we process is:
- personal details
- contact information
- relevant skills, experience and qualifications
- preferences for work location, service type and availability
- if you have a full driving licence
- if you have access to a vehicle
- equality, diversity and inclusion information.
We obtain this information from you via your account on MySSSC, which you can find here.
We process this information to match individuals with prospective employers to fill vacant positions in the adult care sector. We will be processing and sharing this information on the basis of your consent, which you may withdraw at any time.
We will share your information with any relevant prospective employer or other third party necessary to match individuals into vacant roles within the adult care sector.
We may share your information with third parties who may carry out work on our behalf, including third parties who provide our information systems and may process this information on our behalf.
We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
Expansion of the Early Learning and Childcare sector
We will be contacting previous registrants for the purposes of alerting them to the recruitment exercise in relation to the expansion of the Early Learning and Childcare sector (“ELC Sector”).
If you express an interest, we will share the information provided by you with prospective employers within the ELC sector.
The information we process is:
- personal details
- contact information
- employment history
- relevant skills and experience
- details of qualifications held
- preferences for work location, service type and availability
- equality, diversity and inclusion information.
We obtain this information from you via your account on MySSSC, which you can find here.
We process this information to match individuals with prospective employers to fill vacant positions in the ELC Sector. We will be processing and sharing this information on the basis of your consent, which you may withdraw at any time.
We will share your information with any relevant prospective employer or other third party necessary to match individuals into vacant roles within the ELC Sector.
We may share your information with third parties who may carry out work on our behalf, including third parties who provide our information systems and may process this information on our behalf.
We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
Introduction to a Career in Social Care – Online Portal
College contacts
We will be inviting college contacts who have provided their details to the College Development Network to create a MySSSC account allowing access to the SSSC’s online portal.
The information we process is:
- name
- unique email address
- date of birth
- national insurance number
- equality, diversity and inclusion information.
We process this information to enable college contacts to create a MySSSC account allowing access to the SSSC’s online portal. The portal facilitates contact between colleges delivering the Introduction to a Career in Social Care course and potential employers to assist students completing the course to obtain employment or other opportunities in the social care sector.
The SSSC will carry out quality assurance and reporting in relation to the use of the portal. The SSSC may also ask college contacts if they wish their details to be retained beyond the end of the contact facilitation process for the purpose of making contact about any future similar opportunities.
We will be processing this information on the basis of your consent, which you may withdraw at any time.
We may share your information with third parties who may carry out work on our behalf, including third parties who provide our information systems and may process this information on our behalf.
We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
Employer countersignatories
We will be inviting employer countersignatories to express an interest in connecting with colleges delivering the Introduction to a Career in Social Care course.
The information we process will be the information already held in your existing countersignatory record.
We process this information to enable you to participate in the facilitation of contact between colleges delivering the Introduction to a Career in Social Care course and potential employers to assist students completing the course to obtain employment or other opportunities in the social care sector.
The SSSC will carry out quality assurance and reporting in relation to the use of the portal. The SSSC may also ask employer countersignatories if they wish their details to be retained beyond the end of the contact facilitation process for the purpose of making contact about any future similar opportunities.
We will share your name and unique email address with
- college contacts who are also participating in the contact facilitation process using the online portal. College contacts may share this information with colleagues to support the management of the course and with course participants who may wish to contact you as a representative of your employer
- the College Development Network to allow them to provide effective oversight, monitor employer participation and seek employer feedback on options for improvement.
We may share your information with third parties who may carry out work on our behalf, including third parties who provide our information systems and may process this information on our behalf.
We will be processing and sharing this information on the basis of your consent, which you may withdraw at any time.
We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
Returning Social Worker Scheme
We are contacting previous registrants and registered social workers who are not currently practising as social workers for the purpose of alerting them to a recruitment exercise for their re-employment as social workers.
If you express an interest we will share your name and the information you provide with prospective local authority employers.
The information we will process is:
- name
- telephone number
- location (town of residence)
- local authority areas you’re prepared to work in
- type(s) of social work you’re interested in
- preferred working pattern
- preferred number of working hours
- length of contract you’re interested in
- support required
- details of your last social work employment
- summary of your previous social work experience
- any other information you’d like to provide.
We will obtain this information from you via a Microsoft Forms survey.
We will process this information to match you with any relevant prospective employer or other third party necessary, to fill vacant positions in the social work sector. We will process and share this information on the basis of your consent, which you may withdraw at any time.
We may share your information with third parties who may carry out work on our behalf, including third parties who provide our information systems and may process this information on our behalf.
We will only retain your personal information for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
People applying for or receiving a postgraduate student bursary and their parents/spouse/civil partner/cohabitee
The information we process is:
- personal details
- certified passports or birth certificates
- National Insurance number
- if you are a non-UK EU/EEA resident or have restrictions to your UK residence, certified copies of passports, Home Office documents and biometric passes
- certified evidence of any unearned income that exceeds £1,000 received by applicant in the current financial year
- certified P60s of parents/spouse/civil partner
- certified marriage/divorce/separation certificates or evidence
- certified birth certificates of any child dependants
- if you have children and are cohabiting - certified P60s of cohabitee
- certified award letters for previous funding for students and also of any other students in the family
- certified qualifications and transcripts
- supplementary bursary form - an internal SSSC document which is a statement for eligibility assessment relating to residence of the student
- Child Maintenance Service (CMS)/Child Support Agency (CSA) letters to evidence involuntary maintenance for children
- bank statements for unearned income, voluntary maintenance payments for children, self-supporting claims
- letters from schools to verify children over 16 are still at school
- Education maintenance allowance (EMA) award letters for children over 16 at school or college
- bank details
- HMRC letters to show statement of earnings/tax paid
- survey and consultation responses.
We process this information to:
- progress bursary applications and payments
- carry out our statutory function to allocate public funds appropriately
- communicate with you including distribution of e newsletter, surveys, consultations and other items of interest.
Social work students
We may share information for the same purposes as above, if necessary, with your parents/spouse/civil partner/cohabitee, our auditors and other organisations who handle public funds, including:
- local education authorities in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales
- other awarding bodies in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
- universities, colleges and disabled students’ access centres including suppliers of equipment for Disabled Student’s Allowance (DSA)
- JobCentre Plus, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), Home Office departments, HMRC, any other branch of government
- Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS)
- software suppliers for our bursary assessment system
- SSSC Registration Department.
We may also share this information with third parties who may carry out work on our behalf.
Parent/spouse/civil partner/co-habitee
We may share information for the same purposes as above with our auditors and other organisations who handle public funds, including:
- local education authorities in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales other awarding bodies in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales
- universities, colleges and disabled students’ access centres including suppliers of equipment for DSA
- JobCentre Plus, DWP, Home Office departments, HM Revenue and Customs, any other branch of government
- Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS)
- software suppliers for our bursary assessment system.
We may also share this information with third parties who may carry out work on our behalf.
Employees of higher education institutions delivering approved courses
The information we process is:
- personal details
- contact details of approval panel members.
We process this information to:
- manage the approval of courses for delivery of social service training.
We do not share this information, other than with third parties who may carry out work on our behalf.
Modern apprentices
The information we process is:
- personal details
- employment information.
We process this information to:
- assist with the training and development needs of the workforce.
We might share this information with:
- third parties who process this information on our behalf
- other third parties who may carry out work on our behalf.
Our products, services and learning resources
The information we process is:
- personal details
- records of your learning
- photo, audio and video footage
- survey and consultation responses.
We process this information to:
- communicate with you
- to assist with the training and development needs of the workforce
- to understand what themes, if any, are emerging across the social service workforce.
We might share this information with:
- third parties who process this information on our behalf
- other third parties who may carry out work on our behalf.
Dementia Ambassadors and Dementia Champions
The information we process is:
- personal details
- job roles
- place of employment/employer
- survey and consultation responses
- SSSC/NES learning sessions attended.
We process this information to:
- invite you to events
- communicate with you on surveys, consultations, updates and other items of interest
- assist with training and development needs of the workforce.
We might share this information with:
- event organisers
- other third parties who may carry out work on our behalf.
Careers ambassadors
The information we process is:
- personal details
- job roles
- professional background/experience in social services
- place of employment/employer
- survey and consultation responses.
We process this information to:
- invite you to events
- communicate with you on surveys, consultations, updates and other items of interest
- assist with training and development needs of the workforce.
We might share this information with:
- event organisers
- other third parties who may carry out work on our behalf.
People who have applied for Open Badges
The information we process is:
- personal details
- evidence submitted to Open Badges
- personal details of assessors.
We process this information to:
- assess applications
- carry out research.
We might share this information with third parties who may carry out work on our behalf.
Further information on Open Badges processing can be found at https://www.badges.sssc.uk.com/home/cookies-privacy
Event and working group attendees
The information we process is:
- personal details
- personal details
- photos, audio and video footage
- survey and consultation responses.
We process this information to:
- manage our corporate events and working groups.
- assist with training and development needs of the workforce
- help us improve, and develop policy and procedures.
We might share this information with third parties who may carry out work on our behalf, and third parties who process the information on our behalf.
We might share this information with individuals who have expressed an interest in our work.
We also gather feedback from attendees at events which we use for internal evaluation to help us improve. We may use this feedback in event reports or to promote future events.
Contributing your stories and experiences
Are you sharing your story with us?
The information we process is:
- personal details
- photos, audio and video footage.
We process this information to:
- capture and celebrate your stories and share them to help other workers and the wider community understand and recognise the vital role social services play in our communities.
We might share some of this information with:
- the public, partner organisations and stakeholders when we publish your story on our website and our social media channels
- third parties who may carry out work on our behalf.
We will process this information on the basis of your consent which you may withdraw at any time.
Bulk mailing recipients
The information we process is:
- personal details
- survey and consultation responses.
We process this information to:
- send out publications
- communicate with you including distribution of e newsletter, surveys, consultations and other items of interest
- help us improve, develop policy and procedures.
We might share survey responses with third parties including those who may carry out work on our behalf, and those who process them on our behalf. We may also publish reports on surveys and consultations we run on our website.
We process this information on the basis of your consent which you may withdraw at any time.
Media, stakeholders and partners
The information we process is:
- personal details
- photos, audio and video footage
- survey and consultation responses.
We process this information to:
- send out publications
- communicate with you including distribution of e newsletter, surveys, consultations and other items of interest
- help us improve, develop policy and procedures.
We might share this information with third parties who may carry out work on our behalf.
People who make a complaint about the SSSC
The information we process is:
- personal details
- contact details
- the details of your complaint, including personal or sensitive information provided by you or on your behalf during the complaints process
- survey and consultation responses.
We process this information to:
- comply with our statutory duty to manage complaints.
We might share this information with:
- various third parties to protect the public such as:
- Police Scotland, local authorities’ adult and child protection services and Disclosure Scotland
- other regulatory bodies and similar organisations in the UK and in other countries
- Scottish Ministers under the legislation about the protection of children and vulnerable groups
- third parties who may carry out work on our behalf, including those who provide our information systems and process this information on our behalf
- the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman
- any other organisation whose service your complaint also relates to.
General enquiries
The information we process is:
- personal details
- content of your enquiry.
We process this information to:
- deal with an enquiry
- be open and transparent
- manage public interest in our work.
We might share this information with:
- third parties who may carry out work on our behalf, including those who provide our information systems and process this information on our behalf.
Information governance enquiries
The information we process is:
- personal details
- ID documentation.
We process this information to:
- comply with statutory requirements
- progress requests for information
- compile statistics.
We might share this information with:
- the public when we publish Freedom of Information requests and responses on our website however it is published anonymously
- the Information Commissioners Office or the Scottish Information Commissioners Office.
Visitors to our websites and use of cookies
The information we process is:
- personal details including IP address.
We process this information to:
- collect standard internet log information
- compile statistics.
We might share this information with:
- third parties who may carry out work on our behalf, including those who process this information on our behalf.
Further information
a) Website
The SSSC has one main website and a number of linked websites. When someone visits our websites we collect standard internet log information such as the page they asked for, internet protocol address, browser type, browser language, the date and time of the request. We do this to find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the website. We collect this information in a way that does not identify anyone. We do not attempt to find out the identities of those visiting our website. We will not associate any data gathered with any personally identifying information from any source. If we do want to collect personally identifiable information through our website, we will be up front about this. We will make it clear when we collect personal information and will explain what we intend to do with it.
b) Use of cookies by the SSSC
Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites you visit. They are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the website. A list of the cookies we currently use are at the end of this notice.
We use cookies to measure use of the website including number of visitors, how frequently pages are viewed, the city and country of origin of users. This helps to determine what is popular and can influence future content and development. For this purpose, the SSSC uses web analytics to measure and analyse usage of the website. The information collected by the SSSC will include IP address, pages visited, browser type and operating system. The data will not be used to identify any visitor personally.
We use Google Analytics to monitor traffic levels, search queries and visits to this website. Google Analytics stores an IP address anonymously on its servers in the US and neither the SSSC nor Google associate your IP address with any personally identifiable information. These cookies enable Google to determine whether you are a return visitor to the site and track the pages that you visit during your session.
To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites click here.
To find out more about cookies you can visit allaboutcookies.org
c) YouTube cookies
We embed videos from our official YouTube channel using YouTube's privacy-enhanced mode. This mode may set cookies on your computer once you click on the YouTube video player, but YouTube will not store personally-identifiable cookie information for playbacks of embedded videos using the privacy-enhanced mode.
d) Search
When searching our website, a record of your search term is logged and this information is used to help improve our website.
e) Processing
A number of data processors process personal data on our behalf, such as for payroll processing. We have measures in place to ensure they:
- only act under our instructions when they are processing your personal data
- use appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect your personal data
- delete or return data to us during the processing contract and when that contract ends
- get our permission before engaging sub-contractors to carry out any part of the service.
Review of this statement
We updated this on 06 February 2023.