Privacy Notice

Who we are and what we do.

Local Community Fostering is a collaboration of four councils who are working together to manage initial enquiries and applications from people interested in becoming foster carers.  Local Community Fostering is led by London Borough Waltham Forest on behalf of:

• London borough of Havering
• London borough of Redbridge
• London borough of Tower Hamlets
• London borough of Waltham Forest

All Partners are registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as a ‘Data Controller’.  This privacy notice applies to you (‘the service user’) and each Council. All Councils take the privacy of your information very seriously.

For the purposes of data protection, the partner local authorities are joint data controllers with respect to personal data processed by Local Community Fostering.

Why we need your information.

To process your enquiry and application to initially assess whether or not you are suitable to become a foster carer.

What type of personal information we collect and how we collect it.

The following information is required as part of the screening process for all fostering applicants:

• Date of Birth
• Telephone
• Email
• Address
• National identity
• Brief pen portrait of the applicant and their interest in fostering
• Whether the applicant is currently an approved foster carer with an Independent Fostering Agency or another local authority
• What type of foster care the applicant might be interested in providing
• Whether there are there any friends / family / other visitors who frequently come to the household and their relationship to the applicant.
• An overview of the configuration of the home / household and the sleeping arrangements of the family.
• Names and dates of birth of all adults and children resident in the household
• Whether the applicant, or anyone else in their household, has applied to be a foster carer before OR if they have a fostering application currently in process elsewhere
• Whether the applicant, or anyone else in their household, has previously been deregistered as a foster carer
• Whether social or other support services been involved with anyone within the household. (For example, mental health services)
• Whether social or other support services been involved with anyone within the family, regardless of whether they live within the household currently.
• Whether the applicant, or anyone else in their household, has ever been disqualified from working with children or vulnerable adults or subject to any other sanctions imposed by a regulatory body
• Whether the applicant, or anyone else in their household, has ever been convicted by the courts or cautioned, reprimanded or given a final warning by the police for an offence against children or other people
• Whether the applicant, or anyone else in their household, smokes or vapes
• If the applicant is religious and whether they are prepared to support children from other religions
• Whether the applicant has any current or planned building work on the property
• Whether the applicant has a partner who lives outside the applicant’s household and whether the partner stays at the applicant’s property
• Whether the applicant has any significant ongoing health concerns
• Whether there are there any pets in the household
• Whether the applicant, or anyone else who is considering fostering with them, is currently on a student visa
• Whether the applicant, or anyone else in their household, has current involvement with a debt management agency or a current county court judgement
• Whether the applicant, or anyone else in their household, has previously been declared bankrupt or has significant debt (excluding any mortgage)
• Whether the applicant is a British citizen. If not, what type of visa the applicant currently holds
• Whether the applicant currently works. If yes, details on their occupation, hours worked and level of flexibility to care for children
• Whether the applicant has a preference to foster for a specific local authority within the cluster
• Whether English is written and spoken at home by all applicants
• Which local authority the applicant pays council tax to
• Which local authority the applicant believes their community, friends and family are mostly based in

The following information will be requested but you do not have to provide it.  It is requested because it helps Local Community Fostering understand whether it is accessible to all communities and helps inform marketing plans.

• Ethnic origin
• Religion
• Gender
• Gender identity
• First language
• Second language
• Sexual orientation
• Disability
• Marital status
• How you heard about us
• Whether you have done any research about fostering already
• Whether you know anyone who fosters
• Whether there are any specific things you want to know more about

The data will be collected through an on-line enquiry form and from enquiries received over the phone.  Once your information has been transferred to a local authority, regular updates about stages of your fostering journey will be shared between the local authority and Local Community Fostering.

What is our lawful basis to obtain and use your personal information?

We are collecting and processing your information under the legal basis of ‘public task’. This allows us to use your information to:

• make initial decisions about whether you could be suitable to become a foster carer for a child
• to transfer securely your application to another council within the collaboration for the assessment stage of the process

Specifically, the lawful basis for Local Community Fostering to process your data is:

• Article 6 (1)(e) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.
• Article 9 (g) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) – processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, on the basis of Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject.

Local authorities rely on statutory provisions which confer implied and express data processing powers across a broad range of legislation when supporting children in need. Specific laws in relation to local authority fostering recruitment include:

• Care Planning, Placement and Case Review and Fostering Services (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2013
• The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011 (as amended)
• Fostering services: national minimum standards (2011)
• The Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 4; Children Act 1989: fostering services
• Assessment and approval of foster carers: Amendments to the Children Act 1989 Guidance and Regulations Volume 4: Fostering Services (July 2013)

What your personal information is used for

The information you provide does not enable any ‘automated’ decision making.  Information you provide will be used for the following purposes:

• To respond to your enquiry to the Local Community Fostering service and commence your application to foster.
• To support applicants’ journeys from enquiry to formal fostering application,
• To pass formal fostering applications to the appropriate partner local authority for completion, and
• If you opt-in to provide communications such as advice, guidance and newsletters about the service, you can opt-out of receiving these communications at any time by contacting us.
• To support in the independent evaluation of the Local Community Fostering service your anonymised data will be shared with the Department for Education and an independent evaluator. We use your data to contact you to invite you to participate in research that is relevant to you. You are under no obligation to participate in any research we invite you to. We will not contact you about research using your data if you tell us not to. In these circumstances, your data will always be anonymised and you will not be identifiable from the information shared.

Do I have to provide this information and what will happen if I don’t?

If you are interested in becoming a foster carer and wish to apply we need collect this information to begin the application process. If you do not provide information needed in the initial processing stage you will not be able to continue to the assessment stage of the foster carer application process.

API integration between the website enquiry form and Local Community Fostering record system

To streamline the process of managing fostering enquiries, an API connects the enquiry form on the Local Community Fostering website directly to the Local Community Fostering record system, which is licensed to LB Waltham Forest. This integration ensures a seamless and efficient flow of information, reducing manual processing and improving response times for fostering enquiries.

• How It Works: When a prospective foster carer submits an enquiry via the online form, the API securely transmits the data directly to the record system. This automated process ensures that all enquiries are logged promptly and accurately.
• Data Security: The API has been designed with robust security measures to protect personal information during transmission. All data is encrypted and processed in compliance with GDPR and other relevant privacy regulations.

Care Friends LTD

‘Care Friends’ is a mobile app that uses a points-based referral system to encourage foster carers to share promotional materials across their network.  The aim is to encourage existing foster carers to proactively promote fostering across their networks as ‘word of mouth’ referrals have a very high ‘enquiry to approval’ conversion rate.

If you respond to content shared by a user of the Care Friends App by submitting your personal details and making an expression of interest in fostering, you are deemed to accept the terms and conditions set out here: Candidate terms and privacy notice – Care Friends.  Once your details have been submitted, in addition to the processing described within the Candidate terms and privacy notice – Care Friends, Local Community Fostering will manually transfer your details to the Local Community Fostering record system in order to progress your enquiry and all elements of this Privacy Notice apply. If you do not agree to these terms, you must not submit your details.

SMS communication policy

We may collect and use your phone number to send SMS communications, including updates, promotions or important notifications about fostering. By providing your phone number, you consent to receiving SMS messages for these purposes.

• We only collect your phone number when you voluntarily provide it through our opt-in process. This information is used exclusively to deliver the services or updates you request about fostering for a local council.
• We may share your phone number with trusted third-party SMS service providers to facilitate message delivery. These providers are contractually obligated to maintain the confidentiality and security of your information.

Will your personal information be shared?

Your information may be shared with any of the fostering services in the Council’s named above, where required. It could also be shared with Council safeguarding teams, if any safeguarding concerns are identified as part of the enquiry and application stage.

We will not pass your information to other organisations without a legitimate lawful reason to do so.  For example, we will provide access to our records compiled under regulation 30 or 31 in relation to a foster parent:

• to another fostering service provider within 15 working days of a request under regulation 26(1A)(e), or
• to an adoption agency within 15 working days of a request under regulation 30F(4) of the Adoption Agencies Regulations 2005.

Your application will be processed by the local authority you have applied to through Local Community Fostering and the relevant agency will process all subsequent information provided by you and received from others in respect of your application. Information collected after your initial enquiry will not be routinely shared between the other local authorities.

How we keep your information secure

The information you provide is held safely and securely and in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018.

Information provided to the Local Community Fostering hub is held on a secure database which is ISO27001 certified and can only be accessed by trained authorised members of staff through secure password controls.

Information transferred between the Local Community Fostering hub, the appropriate local authority Fostering Service will be through secure, encrypted channels.  Each of the partner local authorities has a range of procedures, policies and systems to ensure that access to your records are controlled safely and securely.

Anonymised data (that cannot identify you) maybe shared with third parties (i.e. Department for Education) for the purpose of monitoring and evaluating the service and its accessibility.

How long we will keep your personal information

Information will be retained by Local Community Fostering for a minimum of three years and in accordance with the following:

• Case records for those who go on to be approved foster carers (including relatives, friends or connected persons granted temporary approval under regulation 24 of the Care Planning, Placement and Case Review (England) Regulations 2010), and any information relating to them contained in the register of foster carers: at least 10 years from the date on which their approval is terminated (The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011, s. 32)
• Case records for people who are not approved as a foster parent, or who withdraws their application prior to approval: at least 3 years from the refusal or withdrawal (The Fostering Services (England) Regulations 2011, s. 32)..

Information passed to the local authorities, the Department for Education and its independent evaluator will be held in accordance with their retention and destruction schedules.

Is personal information processed outside of the UK?

All hub information and backup information is held in the UK. We do not process your data outside of the UK.   

Your information rights

Your Information Rights are set out in the law. Subject to some legal exceptions, you have the right to:

• request a copy of the personal information held about you
• challenge and request correction of inaccurate information;
• ask us to erase your personal data;
• place a restriction on our processing of your data, and;
• object to processing of your data;

You can also learn more about your rights via the Information Commissioner’s Office website.

Complaints and contact details

As the lead partner for Local Community Fostering, London Borough of Waltham Forest is the primary point of contact for data subject rights.  If you have questions regarding this service or our privacy practices, you can contact us by emailing data.protectionofficer@walthamforest.gov.uk, or writing to us at:

Data Protection Officer
Waltham Forest Town Hall
Forest Road
Walthamstow E17 4JF

If we’re unable to resolve your complaint to your satisfaction, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO)