1. Who we are
The Human Resources section, which is part of Finance and Human Resources Services at West Lancashire Borough Council, takes your privacy very seriously and will keep data secure at all times
As part of the recruitment and selection process, West Lancashire Borough Council collects and processes personal data relating to job applicants.
We are committed to being transparent about how we collect and use that data and to meeting our data protection obligations.
2. Your data - What information do we collect?
2.1 Initial application
We collect a range of information about you. This includes:
- your name, address and contact details, including email address and telephone number; (your application is anonymised and therefore, these details are not available to the selection panel during the decision making stages);
- details of your qualifications, skills, training, experience, professional memberships and employment history;
- information about your current level of remuneration,
- whether or not you have a disability for which we need to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process;
- whether or not you have a criminal record, have been the subject of a child protection investigation,
- whether you have a current disciplinary warnings or are the subject of a current investigation;
- information about your entitlement to work in the UK,
- if you are related to anyone associated the Council,
- your comments relating to your suitability for the role and your personal interests.
We collect this information by asking you to complete and submit an application form online. Information which is mandatory for you to provide is marked with an *. If you choose not to provide this information, you will not be able to submit the application form or be considered for the role.
Further personal data will be collected through a panel interview and other forms of assessment as appropriate to the role.
2.2 Equal Opportunities data
We also collect special category data for equal opportunities monitoring when you apply for a job i.e. date of birth, marital status, gender, ethnic background, nationality, sexual orientation, disabilities and religion or beliefs.
This data is collected solely for compliance with the Public Sector Equality Duty to monitor and report on equal opportunities data with the aim of ensuring no sections of the community are disadvantaged.
You are able to complete this section of the application by choosing the option of 'prefer not to say'.
All your selections are collected in an anonymised format. They are held within the system, separately from your application form and are never supplied to the selection panel.
The only exception to this is for the purpose of operating the interview guarantee scheme, the selection panel will be made aware of those who have declared they consider themselves to have a disability.
2.3 Successful candidates
If you are offered the post, before we confirm the appointment we will ask you to bring your passport or other identity documents providing proof of your entitlement to work in the UK, your full birth certificate, photo identification, a utility or council tax bill and any professional qualification certificates. We will take a copy of these documents to keep on your application record.
We also ask you to provide the contact details of a minimum two referees to cover the previous three years, whom we will contact after interview to obtain references for you. Please ensure you have obtained their consent to give their details to us. You will also be required to account for any gaps in employment during this time and provide evidence when requested.
If you are required to drive as part of your job role, you will be asked to provide your driving licence. If you will drive your own vehicle, you will be required to provide current MOT and Insurance details in order to claim expenses. If you will be driving a Council owned vehicle you will also be required to divulge to your manager penalty points incurred on your licence.
Where appropriate to the post we will share / seek information from third parties, this includes a DBS registered body who conduct criminal records checks via the Disclosure & Barring Service (“DBS”) on our behalf; also our Occupational Health Provider for pre-employment screening which informs about your fitness to undertake the role and whether any appropriate adjustments are required, should you have a disability.
Application data may be stored in a range of different places, including on our online jobs portal, in HR management systems and on other IT systems (including email).
3. The purpose of processing this personal data
Processing data from job applicants allows us to manage the recruitment process, assess and confirm a candidate's suitability for employment and decide to whom to offer a job. We also need to process data in the form of pre-employment checks prior to entering into an employment contract with you and then, to commence the contract, to set up your pay, for example.
For some cases, we need to process data to ensure that we are complying with our legal obligations. For example, it is mandatory to check a successful applicant's eligibility to work in the UK before employment starts and for roles requiring access to government ICT networks, Baseline Personnel Security checks (BPSS) are required. This includes a basic DBS check.
We will collect information about whether or not applicants are disabled so that we can make reasonable adjustments for candidates who have a disability. We process such information to carry out our legal obligations and exercise specific rights in relation to employment.
We will seek information about the eligibility of potential fleet drivers relating to penalty points incurred on their driving licence. We do this to ensure we can meet our obligations to our Insurance Providers.
4. Third Parties - who has access to your personal data?
Your information will be shared internally for the purposes of the recruitment exercise including the HR team and with the selection panel (except equal opportunities data).
Our online recruitment system is hosted by a third party 'Stonefish' who are required to adhere to appropriate confidentiality arrangements.
We do not share your data with other third parties, unless your application for employment is successful and we make you an offer of employment. We will then share your data with certain third parties in order to comply with our legal obligations, such as obtaining a basic DBS check or providing driving details to our Insurer.
You will also be asked to complete a confidential medical questionnaire, by the Council's Occupational Health provider for assessment. Information about a disability or medical condition will only be reported to us in general terms of the candidate's ability to perform the job. This will allow any health and safety risk to be assessed and reasonable adjustment considered.
We will only share the information necessary to undertake the service required.
5. Retention - For how long does the Council keep data?
If your application is unsuccessful, your personal data will be kept for 12 months to us to provide feedback should it be required, but also to enable us to respond to, and defend legal claims in line within time limitations.
You will also be able to access your application form(s) for review or to use as templates for future applications.
At 12 months from completion of the recruitment/selection process, whilst remaining within the system for reporting purposes only, your data will be automatically anonymised and be irretrievable.
If your application for employment is successful, personal data gathered during the recruitment process will be transferred to your electronic HR file. For more information about how we use your data as an employee, please see our 'Privacy Notice for Employees'.
6.Transfer of Data
We will not transfer your personal data to a country outside of the EU.
7. What if you do not want to provide personal data?
You are under no obligation to provide personal data to West Lancashire Borough Council during the recruitment process. However, if you choose not to, we will be unable to process your application and you will not be included in the selection process.
8. Automated decision making
We do not engage in automated decision making.
9. How to Contact Us
If you have any questions about our practices or this policy, please get in touch with our Human Resources Section on 01695 583337, recruitment@westlancs.gov.uk. The Council's Corporate Privacy Notice is also available on our website.