Children's Services (Youth Justice Service) privacy notice

This privacy notice provides information on how Norfolk County Council's Youth Justice Service (YJS) uses your personal information. By 'use' we mean the various ways it may be processed, including storing and sharing the information.

Further details

We also provide further details regarding:

• Who we are
• How long we use your information for
• Your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (the GDPR) and
• How to exercise them

You can see this information in the Norfolk County Council's general privacy notice on our web site or you can ask us for a copy of this information.

What we use your information for

We use personal information about young people who have committed criminal offences to assist us in working with these young people to reduce re-offending and anti-social behaviour.

This includes:

• Early help services to prevent young people committing crime and anti-social behaviour including assessments of young people to determine whether assistance is required
• The provision of assistance to young people determining whether youth cautions / youth conditional cautions should be given
• The provision of assistance to young people determining whether they are suitable for a Challenge4Change (C4C) outcome.
• The assessment of children and young persons, and the provision for them of rehabilitation programmes
• The provision of people to act as appropriate adults
• The provision of reports or other information required by courts in criminal proceedings against children and young persons
• The provision of mentors for young people and volunteers for Referral Order Panels
• Overseeing parenting orders
• The provision of support to parents to assist in the protection of children and young persons and reduce the risk of re-offending
• The provision of support to victims
• The provision of supervision as follows:
  • The supervision of young people on bail
  • The supervision and rehabilitation of young people to whom such cautions are given
  • The supervision of children and young persons sentenced to a youth rehabilitation order under that Part which includes a supervision requirement
  • The supervision of children and young persons sentenced to a detention and training order
  • Post-release supervision
  • The supervision of young people sentenced to detention
• For statistical purposes. For example, to inform decisions on how we work with young people and their families and to assess the performance of the YJS

We also use this information to assess the quality of our services to young people and to evaluate and improve our policies and procedures.

We may also use information in other ways compatible with the above.

The kind of information we collect and use about you

The information we collect and use may include:

• Name 
• Address 
• DoB 
• Contact details
• Police National Computer Number
• Court reference number
• Gender 
• Language 
• Education and training details
• Employment history and current employment
• Financial position
• Personal, relationships and social history
• Housing situation

We also collect information about the following which is classed as "special category data" under the GDPR.  

• Racial and ethnic origin
• Religious or philosophical beliefs
• Sexual orientation
• Health data including disabilities

We also collect information about criminal convictions and offences

The GDPR includes safeguards to protect the use of your special category data and criminal conviction data. Further details can be found on our website in the document named 'Special category data and criminal offences data policy' which sets out our procedures for compliance with the principles of the GDPR and the retention and erasure of this information.

Who provides this information

The information we hold includes information you have provided to us.

We also receive information from:

• Your family
• Children's Services
• Health bodies - including GPs and substance misuse teams
• Schools and colleges
• Police
• Probation
• Judicial agencies - courts and Crown Prosecution Service
• Appropriate Adult Service
• YJS volunteers
• Voluntary organisations and charities

How the law protects you and the legal basis for processing your information

We have legal grounds to process this information because it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest. 

The tasks we carry out in the public interest are under the:

• Children Act 1989
• Crime (Sentences) Act 1997
• Crime and Disorder Act 1998
• Criminal Justice Act 2003

We have legal grounds to process (including share) special category data and criminal convictions data where it is in the exercise of a statutory function and it is in the necessary for reasons in the substantial public interest. The statutory functions are as set out above.

Who we share your information with

We may also share your personal information with:

• Your family - in respect of support to families
• Children's Services
• Health bodies - including GPs and substance misuse teams
• Schools and colleges
• Police
• Probation
• Courts
• Crown Prosecution Service
• Appropriate Adult Service
• YJS volunteers
• Voluntary organisations and charities

As explained above, we share information without your specific consent as it is reasonable and necessary to do so to fulfil our public tasks or, in relation to special category data, is in the substantial public interest to do so. We also explained that the law imposes safeguards to protect your privacy in these circumstances. 

We will also share your information, subject to contractual and other legal safeguards, with organisations commissioned to provide services to you and others. Finally, we may also share your information across different departments of the Norfolk County Council where it is necessary for our public tasks or functions to do so.

How we keep your information

The information is stored electronically on the YJS's records management system known as Childview. Information is also securely stored in other mediums, including email accounts.

How long will we keep your personal information for

When the information is no longer needed for the above purposes, it will be reviewed in line with our retention schedule - and appropriate action will be taken.

If we need to use your information for research or reports, your information will be anonymised and any information taken from notes (handwritten or typed) during any consultation sessions will be securely destroyed. The information will continue to be used in a summarised and anonymised form in any research reports or papers that are published. The anonymised information in the papers may be of historic interest and may be held in public archives indefinitely.

If we transfer your personal information to other countries

We do not transfer your information outside of the European Economic Area. 

Automated decision making

We do not make automated decisions about you and your family.

Date of Notice

This notice was updated in October 2023.