Where do we get your data from and who will we share it with?

Obtaining your data

We collect personal information at various points throughout your relationship with Gloucestershire County Council, from the moment you express an interest in working with us, during your employment, and after your employment ends. Information is gathered directly from you, for example through application forms, correspondence, interviews, and ongoing employment processes.

In addition to information you provide, we may obtain personal data from a range of other sources, including:

• Previous employers and referees (for references and employment history)
• Background check providers and the Disclosure and Barring Service
• Educational institutions and training providers
• Professional and regulatory bodies
• Publicly available sources (such as professional networking sites or public registers)
• Government departments and agencies (for example, the Department for Work and Pensions)
• Occupational health and medical professionals
• Insurance and legal advisory services
• Third-party suppliers supporting our IT, payroll, benefits, and Human Resources systems
• District councils acting on our behalf for election administration (for example, candidate contact details).
• Public sources published by councillors (for example, party affiliation, public registers/biographies).

We may also receive information from other local authorities, partner organisations, or service providers where this is necessary for employment, statutory, or contractual purposes. Personal data may be collected and updated throughout your engagement with the council to ensure our records remain accurate and to comply with our legal and organisational obligations.

Sharing your data

The council shares your data with third parties in order to obtain pre-employment references from other employers, obtain employment background checks from third party providers and obtain necessary criminal records checks from the Disclosure and Barring Service. The council may also share your data with third parties, such as when transferring a service area to another employer. In those circumstances the data will be subject to confidentiality arrangements.

The council also shares your data with third parties that process data on its behalf, in connection with payroll, the provision of benefits and the provision of occupational health services. The council shares data with professional and regulatory bodies, for example, the Care Quality Commission if required to maintain professional standards and status.

The council are also mandated to share employee data with the Department of Work and Pensions for individuals that are in receipt of the Access to Work scheme.

Your personal data may also be shared with regulatory and statutory bodies who assess council performance and financial spend, as well as where required by law, such as to prevent and detect crime or fraudulent activity. These may also include insurance and legal advisory services (both internal and external). For elected members, contact numbers may be shared internally with the Communications Team for official council communications.

Where necessary to support organisational change, service transformation, or the reconfiguration of public services, the council may process and share employee personal data with other local authorities, public bodies, or organisations supporting those activities. Any such sharing will take place under appropriate legal agreements and safeguards to protect individuals’ rights under UK GDPR.

Gloucestershire County Council uses third party suppliers to provide Information Technology and Communications solutions, support and hosting services. These organisations may process your personal data only where it is necessary as part of the service they provide. These organisations are contractually obliged to handle and protect your data in line with data protection legislation and council policies.

Environmental commitments reporting (such as to Governmental bodies) is typically aggregated and anonymised, and will not contain personal data.

Statutory publication of election results (including unelected candidates) by Democratic Services is undertaken separately from Human Resources employee data processing.