Introduction

We respect your privacy and recognise how important it is that your personal information remains secure when you are using our recruitment system (staffordandcannockjobs.engageats.co.uk).

This notice sets out the basis on which any personal data we collect from you, or that you provide to us, will be processed by us. Please read the following carefully to understand our views and practices regarding your personal data and how we will treat it.

This notice explains how and why we process your personal data when you apply for roles with us. By continuing your application, you acknowledge that you have read and understood this notice.

This notice should be read alongside the Engage Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) Privacy Policy (staffordandcannockjobs.engageats.co.uk), which explains how personal data is processed by Havas People Ltd, who operate Engage ATS as a data processor on behalf of the Councils, when you use the recruitment system (for example account access, usage logs and CV storage). Once your application is submitted, Stafford Borough Council or Cannock Chase District Council become the data controller for your recruitment data.

The data controller will be the organisation to which you make your application. This will be either:

• Cannock Chase District Council, Civic Centre, Beecroft Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 1BG
• Stafford Borough Council, Civic Centre, Riverside, Stafford, ST16 3AQ

Where we have referred to the Council throughout this notice, it will be the Council where you have made an application, this can be either or both Cannock Chase District or Stafford Borough Councils.

Use of the recruitment system is also subject to Engage ATS’s Terms and Conditions, which apply to all users registering for and accessing the platform.

Legal Basis

The Council processes your personal data under Article 6(1)(e) UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), where processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority. Where special category data is processed, this is done in accordance with Article 9(2)(b) and Schedule 1, Part 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018.

Information we may collect about you

We may collect and process the following data about you - information you give us; information we collect about you and information we receive from other sources:

• you may give us information about you by filling in forms on our site or by corresponding with us by phone, e-mail or otherwise

This includes information you provide when you make an enquiry regarding a job vacancy, make an application for employment, liaise with us regarding any application or offer of employment, when you register to use our site, participate in negotiations regarding an offer of employment or any other recruitment activity.

The information you give us may include your name, address, e-mail address and phone number, contact preferences, date of birth, qualifications, educational and employment background, financial information, and personal description, as well as details of the job(s) for which you wish to apply.

• where an application is progressed further, we will undertake pre-employment checks in order to verify or obtain extra information, which may include background and security checks such as:
  • credit reference
  • NI checks
  • right to work in the UK
  • criminal record checks
  • academic qualification checks
  • employer references as relevant to the post

Criminal record information is processed only where legally permitted and relevant to the role applied for, and in accordance with Article 10 UK GDPR and applicable safeguarding and employment legislation.

• the completion of a medical questionnaire is our other employment check

This is regarded as sensitive or ‘special category’ information within data protection legislation and can only be accessed by our Occupational Health supplier.

After reviewing your form or discussing the content with you, Occupational Health provides the Council with guidance on whether you are medically fit to undertake the duties of the post you applied for.

• Cannock Chase District and Stafford Borough Councils operate a shared service arrangement for some of their functions

In these cases, personal data may be passed on to authorised employees of either Council for the purposes of carrying out those functions only. It will not be used for any other purpose except as authorised by law.

• as we often work with partner organisations to deliver some of our services, on occasions an appropriate member of the partner organisation may also form part of the interview panel

To undertake these duties, they will have access to a copy of your application form.

After completion of the recruitment process, all applications including those accessible in these circumstances will be destroyed for unsuccessful candidates in a secure manner.

• from time to time, we also work closely with third parties (including, for example, recruitment agencies, head-hunters, search information providers, and organisations specialising in psychometric testing)

To progress your application, we may need to share your information with them or receive information about you from them.

Where this applies, we will let you know.

• occasionally, partner organisations also advertise vacancies on our recruitment system

No information is collected by the Council in this instance; it is used purely as a signposting tool to the partner organisation.

If you are directed to another website, we are not responsible for third party websites, and you are advised to review their privacy policy.

• the Council may also collect equality and diversity monitoring information (such as ethnicity, disability or sexual orientation)

This information is not used in the recruitment decision making process and is not accessible to those involved in shortlisting or interview decisions.

• your personal data is stored and processed within the United Kingdom and/or the European Economic Area

Staff employed by Havas people have restricted access to the system for support and maintenance purposes, and personal data is not routinely accessed or processed outside the UK/EEA.

Use made of the information

We use information held about you in the following ways:

• to communicate with you
• to manage our recruitment and hiring process
• to determine your initial and ongoing suitability for employment
• to invite you to participate in voluntary surveys so we can assess and improve the candidate experience
• to determine terms of employment or engagement
• to ensure compliance with corporate governance, legal and regulatory requirements
• to carry out our obligations arising from any contracts entered into between you and us
• to notify you about any changes to our service

The information may also be included in management data used to monitor recruitment initiatives, or management data responses to Freedom of Information requests. This information will always be anonymised.

Security of your data

The Council has contracted Engage ATS (Havas People) to provide and manage this applicant tracking system for us.

Engage ATS use industry wide standard security measures including secure servers, firewalls, and SSL encryption to safeguard personal information and ensure that it is collected and stored securely against unauthorised access in accordance with data protection legislation.

Recruitment data is hosted within the UK and/or European Economic Area using Engage ATS, which is hosted on Microsoft Azure and accredited to ISO27001.

The recruitment system also maintains certain system activity and audit logs, including login times, account actions and application activity, to protect the security of the platform and investigate potential misuse.

It is important that when you register an account you:

• keep your password confidential and agree not to disclose your password to anyone else
• if concerned that your account could have been compromised, for example, someone has discovered your password, it is important that you change your password and contact us straight away

Disclosure of your information

We may share your information with selected third parties including:

• business partners, suppliers, and contractor organisations supplying services which require the use of your data for the purposes described in this privacy statement or for the performance of any contract we enter into with them or you, for example occupational health
• organisations specialising in the assessment of candidates, including psychometric, verbal, and numerical reasoning testing
• to confirm factual information provided by you or to conduct necessary pre-employment checks, including contacting the referees you have supplied
• the Council is under a duty to protect the public funds it administers, and to this end may use the information you have provided in your application for the prevention and detection of fraud
  • the Council may also share this information with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds for the same reason, or parts of the Council or other relevant organisations for purposes which may include enforcement
• if we are under a duty to disclose or share your personal data in order to comply with any legal obligation, or in order to enforce or apply other agreements; or to protect the rights, property, or safety of Cannock Chase District or Stafford Borough Councils, our customers, or others

Retention

We will retain your data during the recruitment and selection process.

We will retain your data after the recruitment process only where there is a legal obligation or a clearly defined legitimate business need, such as responding to employment tribunal claims.

For unsuccessful candidates, application data will be retained for up to 12 months from the date of application in order to manage potential employment disputes, respond to legal claims, and support fair and consistent recruitment practices.

Separately, Engage ATS retains certain system level information, such as login activity, application actions and audit logs, for platform security, misuse prevention and audit purposes, in line with its own Privacy Policy (staffordandcannockjobs.engageats.co.uk). These retention and anonymisation schedules operate independently of the Councils’ recruitment retention periods.

Before we delete your account, we will alert you by email first so that you can take steps to retrieve your information and choose whether or not to resume using our site.

Should you wish to request a change to this normal practice, or for the information to be retained for longer than the 12-month period, please contact a member of the HR Services team.

Alternatively, you can delete your account at any time through your user ID and password.

Please be aware that when an account is deleted any saved applications or any copies of communications regarding your application will be erased.

For Cannock applications please contact: recruitment@cannockchasedc.gov.uk

For Stafford applications, please contact: recruitment@staffordbc.gov.uk

Your rights 

In addition to asking for your data to be deleted, Data Protection legislation gives you the right to access information held about you (a subject access request) and to have any inaccuracies in your data corrected.

Either request should be made to Human Resource Services through the addresses listed above.

You also have the right, in certain circumstances, to request restriction of processing, to object to processing carried out under Article 6(1)(e), and to request erasure of your personal data where we no longer have a lawful basis to retain it.

Please note that these rights are not absolute and may be limited where we have a legal obligation or compelling public interest to continue processing.

Further contact information

If you wish to contact us in relation to any of your information rights or to complain about how your personal information has been handled by the Council, please contact the Information Manager in the first instance:

For Cannock Chase Council, please contact the Information Manager at infomanager@cannockchasedc.gov.uk or Information Manager, Civic Centre, Cannock Chase Council, Beecroft Road, Cannock, WS11 1BG.

For Stafford Borough Council please contact the Information Manager at dpo@staffordbc.gov.uk Civic Centre, Riverside, Stafford, ST16 3AQ, and

If you are then not satisfied you can submit a formal complaint to the Council via:

Cannock - Customer Feedback - Help us to get it right (cannockchasedc.gov.uk)

Stafford - Online Feedback Form

Finally, you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at:

The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, Tel: 0303 123 1113 or you can visit their website (ico.org.uk).

You can also find details of how we handle your personal information by visiting:  

Cannock - Data Protection (cannockchasedc.gov.uk)

Stafford - Data Protection - Privacy Notices

For any general enquiries you can contact the council by phone on:

Cannock - 01543 462621, via email customerservices@cannockchasedc.gov.uk or by writing to us at Civic Centre, Cannock Chase Council, Beecroft Road, Cannock, WS11 1BG.

Stafford - 01785 619000, via email info@staffordbc.gov.uk or by writing to us at Civic Centre, Riverside, Stafford, ST16 3AQ.