Data Controller
Personal information will be processed by Scottish Borders Council, Newtown St Boswells,TD6 0SA.
You can contact Human Resources on 01835 825052 or hrteam@scotborders.gov.uk
Data Protection Officer
Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted by:
- phone: 0300 100 1800
- email: dataprotection@scotborders.gov.uk
How we will use your information
We will use your personal information to help assess your suitability for the job you have applied for.
We will also use your information, in an anonymised form, for equalities monitoring purposes to promote equality of opportunity and in satisfaction of our Public Sector Equality Duty.
We are committed to being transparent about how we collect and use that data and to meeting our data protection obligations.
What information we collect
We collect and processe a range of information about you.
This includes:
- your name, address and contact details, including email addresses and phone number, date of birth and gender
- details of your qualifications, skills, experience and employment history, including start and end dates, with previous employers
- information about your entitlement to work in the United Kingdom
- information about your criminal record
- information about whether or not you have a disability for which we need to make reasonable adjustments
- equal opportunities monitoring information, including information about your ethnic origin, nationality, sexual orientation, transgender, health, religion or belief and if you are a carer (only with your consent)
- if you are selected as the ‘preferred candidate’, we will collect references and ask you to complete a medical questionnaire to check your fitness for the job
How we collect this information
We collect this information in a variety of ways, for example from details submitted in your application for employment, obtained from documents submitted by you as proof of your right to work in the United Kingdom such as your passport and driving licence.
If you are selected as the preferred candidate we also obtain information from third parties, such as references provided by former employers and information from PVG or Disclosure Scotland checks where permitted by law.
Why we collect this information
We collect and use this information because it needs to process data to allow us to assess your suitability for the job and decide whether to enter into an employment contract with you.
We ask whether you have a disability to allow us to manage our commitment to guaranteed interviews for disabled candidates who meet the essential criteria for the post and to allow us to make reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, where required. In some cases we need to process data to ensure it is complying with its legal obligations. For example:
- we are required to check an employee’s entitlement to work in the United Kingdom
- for certain positions it is necessary to carry out PVG checks to ensure that individuals are permitted to carry out the role
- for certain other positions, where allowed by law, it is necessary to carry out a PVG or Disclosure check to ensure an individual is suitable for that role
In other cases, we have a legitimate interest in processing personal data before, during and after the end of the employment relationship. Processing employee data allows us to:
- run recruitment and promotion processes
- ensure effective general HR and business administration
- respond to and defend against legal claims
- maintain and promote equality in the workplace
Where we rely on legitimate interests as a reason for processing data, we have considered whether or not those interests are overridden by the rights and freedoms of employees or workers and concluded that they are not.
Some special categories of personal data are processed for the purposes of equal opportunities monitoring and to fulfil our legal duties to report on equalities. This information includes:
- ethnic origin
- nationality
- sexual orientation
- transgender
- health
- religion or belief
- if you are a carer
Data that we use for equalities purposes is collected with the express consent of applicants, which can be withdrawn at any time. Applicants are entirely free to decide whether or not to provide such data and there are no consequences of failing to do so.
Data about criminal convictions or offences is processed to ensure that individuals are permitted to carry out the role or, where allowed by law, it is necessary to ensure an individual is suitable for that role.
How long will we keep your data?
Data in respect of applications which do not lead to employment with us will be retained for a period of six months.
Data about criminal convictions or offences from Disclosure or PVG checks is retained for as long as is necessary to allow an informed decision to be made about an individual’s suitability for a role and destroyed immediately thereafter.
If your application is successful and you become an employee, the data will become part of your Personnel file. There is a separate privacy notice for employees.
Who we may share your information with
Your information will be accessed by our staff who need to use it in order to consider and make a decision regarding your application.
We will share with third parties the information necessary about preferred candidates which is necessary to carry out the pre-employment checks described above. We will also share your data with other third party obligations when legally obliged to do so.
We may share your data with our professional advisors to obtain advice and defend or pursue legal claims.
Your information may also be shared and analysed internally in order to provide management information, inform service reform and similar purposes to meet our duty to achieve best value and continuous service improvement.
In general we do not transfer personal data outside either the UK or the European Economic Area (EEA) and on the rare occasions when we do so we will inform you. We will only transfer data outside the UK and the EEA when we are satisfied that the party which will handle the data and the country it is processing it in will provide adequate safeguards for personal privacy.
Your rights
You have the right to request access to any personal data held about you by us. You can also request that we restrict the use of your information or even object to any further processing. You can do this by contacting the Data Protection Officer using the
contact details above. We will respond to your request within 30 calendar days. For more information on your rights please visit our website or if you would like a hard copy of this information, please contact us using details above.
How to raise a complaint
If you are unhappy with the way we have processed your personal data please contact ours Data Protection Officer. If after raising your concerns with the Data Protection Officer you remain dissatisfied you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office by:
- post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
- phone: 0303 123 1113
- website
Decision-Making
We do not use profiling or automated decision-making processes. Some processes are semi-automated but a human decision maker will always be involved before any decision is reached in relation to you.