Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) Privacy Notice

The personal information provided in the Education Maintenance Allowance Application Form (“Your Information”) will be processed by East Dunbartonshire Council 12 Strathkelvin Place, Kirkintilloch, G66 1TJ.

You can contact the Council on:
0300 123 4510
customerservices@eastdunbarton.gov.uk

Your Information will be used to assess and determine if you are eligible for an education maintenance allowance (“EMA”). If you are eligible, Your Information will be used to process and allocate payments of the EMA on behalf of the Scottish Government.

Your Information will therefore be shared with other departments within East Dunbartonshire Council and other organisations for this purpose and also to:

• Check the information we hold is accurate
• Prevent and/or detect crime
• Protect public funds.

Other organisations may include your school/college, bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds, other councils, public sector agencies, governmental departments, regulatory and law enforcement bodies, bodies carrying out data matching exercises and other private companies or entities (such as service providers/contractors to the Council and/or partner bodies.)

We will also generally comply with requests for specific information from other regulatory and law enforcement bodies where this is necessary and appropriate.

Set out below are some examples of who we share Your Information with and why:

Example 1:

Our accounts are required to be audited by the Accounts Commission. Your Information may be shared with the Accounts Commission or any auditors they appoint as part of the audit under the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

Example 2:

Audit Scotland may require us to take part in data matching exercises to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud and other crime under the terms of the Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000.

Data matching involves comparing sets of data held by one body, against other records held by another body. Your Information may therefore be used as part of a data matching exercise.

Example 3:

We use a computerised system called SEEMIS to hold and process educational data. Your Information will be uploaded and held on the SEEMIS system and the fact you have applied for an EMA will be recorded.

The use of Your Information is necessary:

• In the exercise of official authority vested in the Council by the Scottish Government under:-
  • theTEducation (Scotland) Act 1980
  • The Education Maintenance Allowances (Scotland) Regulations 2007; and
  • The grant documentation between the Scottish Government and the Council
• For the Council to comply with its legal obligations under the following legislation:-
  • The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 (to ensure proper administration of the Council’s financial affairs (including the detection and/or prevention of fraud) (and providing such information as necessary to the Accounts Commission)
  • The Public Finance and Accountability (Scotland) Act 2000 (disclosure of data to Audit Scotland for data matching).

You do not have to provide Your Information to us. Without the correct information about you however we may not be able to process your application and you may not receive the EMA you are entitled to.

East Dunbartonshire Council uses the Scottish Council on Archives Records Retention Schedules to manage the amount of time the Council keeps information.

If you are searching SCARRS the Reference which covers Your Information for EMA purposes is: 10.006.011.

We will hold Your Information from the end of the financial year in which the EMA application was made for a period of 6 years. Your information will be retained for the minimum period necessary. Your Information will then be destroyed after this period.