Who is collecting and using your personal data?

Devon County Council will act as a ‘data controller’ for any personal data that you provide to us. We will ensure that the data you give us is processed in line with our organisation’s data protection policies and in line with your rights under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR).

If you would like to find out more about Devon County Council’s data protection policies please contact our Data Protection Officer.

Why are we collecting your personal data?

We are collecting personal data about your child as part of the National Childhood Measurement Programme (NCMP). This involves all local authorities in England collecting the height and weight measurements of reception and year 6 children in their area, every year.

This is something local authorities have a legal obligation to do so that we can help improve public health. Therefore, we do not rely on your consent to process this data.

Who will we share your personal data with?

We will share personal data with the NHS, Public Health Nursing Teams (including school nursing and health visitor teams) and health intelligence who provide services to help the council manage our public health service. Your child’s personal data will not be accessed by any other agency without a lawful basis allowing them access.

What information do we collect?

We collect:

your child’s data
name
sex
date of birth
ethnicity code
home postcode
home address
home phone number

Your child’s height, weight, date of measurement, sex and date of birth are used to calculate your child’s weight category (also known as body mass index, or BMI).

Why we need your contact details

We also ask your child’s school to provide us with your contact phone number because we may:

contact you by email or phone to discuss your child’s wellbeing
offer you further support following your child’s height and weight measurement

How the data is used

All the data collected is also used for research and planning to improve health, care and services.

Your child’s name, date of birth and NHS Number are used by NHS England and the Department of Health and Social Care to link your child’s measurements in reception and year 6.

Other data sets held by NHS England and Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) may also be linked to allow information from health and education records to be added, where lawful to do so.

Both NHS England and the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) will use the information from the NCMP to better understand numbers and trends in child weight and BMI. No information will ever be published by NHS England or OHID that identifies your child.

NHS England uses the data to produce National Child Measurement Programme statistics reports showing trends at national and local level.

De-personalised information from the NCMP may also be shared by NHS England with other organisations, such as universities. This is to help improve health, care and services through research and planning. This information cannot be used to identify your child. NHS England only ever shares information for research through formal assurance and approvals processes, seeking advice from experts as necessary.

How long will we hold your personal data?

We will retain your personal data for only as long as is necessary, and in line with our organisation’s record retention schedules.

Exercising your rights

Under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPR you have the right:

of access to your own personal data
to request rectification or deletion of your personal data
to object to the processing of your personal data
to request a copy of the information you provide us in machine readable format
to withdraw your consent to any processing that is solely reliant upon your consent

Should you wish to exercise any of your rights, you should contact the Data Protection Officer.

Your right to complain

In the event that you wish to complain about the way that your personal data has been handled by Devon County Council, you should write to the Data Protection Officer and clearly outline your case. Your complaint will then be investigated in accordance with the Council’s customer feedback procedure.

If you remain dissatisfied with the way your personal data has been handled, you may refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office whose contact details are below:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Email: casework@ico.org.uk