Personal information charter

This privacy notice sets out how the Government Economic and Social Research (GESR) Team, for the purposes of Recruitment Campaigns to the Government Economic Service (GES) will use your personal data, and your rights under Articles 13 and, or 14 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The Government Economic and Social Research (GESR) Team is part of HM Treasury, which makes HM Treasury the data controller for personal data processed by the GESR Team.

1. Data Subjects

The personal data being processed relates to applicants who apply for a Government Economic Service (GES) recruitment campaign.

2. Personal Data

This will include the following personal data relating to the data subjects:

  • Personal data you provide to us in your application form including name, title, address, telephone number, and personal email address, employment history, qualifications.
  • Your date of birth
  • Personal data you provide during interview – proof of ID (e.g. passport, driving licence, utility bill as proof of address).
  • Recruitment information (including copies of right to work documentation, references and other information included in the application form or email as part of the application process).

  • Evidence of your right to work in the UK/immigration status.

  • Physical or mental health condition, illness, impairment or disability information
  • Reasonable adjustment requirements
  • diversity and inclusion information, including
    • gender, sexual orientation and ethnicity
    • type of school attended
    • university/universities attended
    • type of degree/degrees
    • receipt of free school meals
    • level of parent education and type of work
    • socio-economic background

3. Purpose

The personal data is processed for the purposes of:

  • Managing recruitment to fill vacancies within the Government Economic Service (GES). This will enable GESR to process relevant functions relating to your recruitment.

  • to monitor the effectiveness of recruitment processes - this could include statistical analysis of system usage, or research into the experience of applicants and other system users

  • to monitor application, appointment and progression levels by diversity characteristics
  • to support the processing and actioning of enquiries and/or service requests
  • to assess how the service(s) impacts different demographics of individuals and to improve our service delivery
  • to determine what support an individual may require

The legal basis for processing your personal data is:

  • Contractual - It is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party or in order to take steps at the request of the data subject prior to entering into a contract of a recruitment campaign.

  • Public task: processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller. The GESR Team facilitates recruitment of high-quality candidates to roles across government departments, agencies and other public bodies.

5. Recipients

Your personal data will be shared by us with:

Account data:

  • our technical suppliers and their approved staff
  • our technical supplier’s hosting provider
  • profiles may be shared with departments who have vacancies available for priority movers

Once you have made an application, your information may be shared with:

  • the video interviewing platform, if you have been invited to complete a virtual interview
  • approved staff managing vacancies (including recruiters and interview panel members)
  • Government Recruitment Service (GRS - managing recruitment on behalf of some recruiting departments)
  • the recruiting departments or profession
  • our technical supplier and their hosting provider
  • Peregrine - to undertake recruitment on behalf of GRS during periods of high demand
  • Government Resources Insight Database (GRID)
  • Customer relationship management system
  • Email survey tools
  • Civil Service Commission, Advisory Committee on Business Appointments, Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments - to ensure that recruitment processes are correctly followed
  • The GOV.UK Notify service for sending email and text messages
  • the integration platform provider for the Civil Service

If you meet the required standard but the recruiting department is unable to offer you the job, you may be given the option of being added to a reserve list. Reserve lists may be shared with other Civil Service departments and professions who are recruiting for similar roles.

If you undergo pre-employment checks prior to appointment, your data may be shared with:

  • Government Recruitment Service
  • Customer relationship management system
  • Peregrine and Verifile - to undertake recruitment on behalf of GRS during periods of high demand
  • our digital identity checks supplier and their supply chain - for identity verification
  • Disclosure and Barring Service
  • CJSM, the secure mail platform of DBS
  • AccessNI criminal record checks
  • Disclosure Scotland criminal record checks
  • occupational health providers
  • APS Group Translation Services
  • Civil Service Pensions
  • the recruiting department
  • the recruiting department’s shared service provider (if a third party supplier is used)
  • the UK Security Vetting team, as well as the Security Cluster department for the relevant employer (which will be either HMRC, DWP, Home Office, MoD, or the FCO)

If you request support with your application or for a technical issue:

  • approved staff from GESR
  • approved staff from our technical suppliers
  • customer relationship management system
  • project management tools
  • technical suppliers of online tests

If you participate in user research interviews, these are recorded to allow later transcription and analysis. Recordings may be viewed later by relevant GESR staff who are unable to attend the session at the original time.

As your personal data will be stored on our IT infrastructure it will also be shared with our data processors who provide email and document management and storage services to us.

6. Retention

For successful candidates your personal data will be kept for 5 years after the completion of recruitment process. For unsuccessful candidates, your personal data will be kept for 12 months after completion of the recruitment process. For each organisation listed above, GESR as the controller will only disclose the personal data necessary to deliver that service.

7. Special category data

We will also collect, store and use the following ‘special categories’ of more sensitive personal information:

  • Information about your race or ethnicity,
  • Sex/Gender,
  • Sexual orientation
  • Health data

The legal basis for processing your sensitive personal data and special category data is:

  • it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest for the exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown, or a government department; the exercise of a function conferred on a person by an enactment. The GESR Team facilitates recruitment of high-quality candidates to roles across government departments, agencies and other public bodies.
  • it is necessary for the purposes of performing or exercising our obligations or rights as the controller, or your obligations or rights as the data subject, under employment law, social security law or the law relating to social protection. External recruitment is required to follow the Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles. Personal data is processed to ensure that these requirements are met. We are required under the Equality Act 2010 to make appropriate reasonable adjustments for candidates with a disability.
  • processing is of a specific category of personal data and it is necessary for the purposes of identifying or keeping under review the existence or absence of equality of opportunity or treatment between groups of people with a view to enabling such equality to be promoted or maintained. Diversity and inclusion data is used anonymously: ethnicity and sexual orientation.
  • it is necessary for statistical purposes, and it is in the public interest. Analysis of applications and recruitment outcomes (including online tests), impact on protected groups, timescales for recruitment, and other research may be carried out.

9. Data Protection rights

Data protection rights relevant to this processing activity include:

  • the right to request information about how your personal data are processed, and to request a copy of that personal data.
  • the right to request that any inaccuracies in your personal data are rectified without delay.
  • the right to request that your personal data are erased if there is no longer a justification for them to be processed. (Request to delete individual responses will be considered on a case-by-case basis)
  • the right, in certain circumstances (for example, where accuracy is contested) to request that the processing of your personal data is restricted.
  • the right to object to the processing of your personal data where it is processed for direct marketing purposes.

A full list of your data protection rights appear on the ICO website at https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/uk-gdpr-guidance-and-resources/individual-rights/individual-rights/

10. Contact us

For any enquiries about how we process personal data, please contact us at: gesr.enquiries@hmtreasury.gov.uk 

11. Making a data subject access request (DSAR)

To request access to your personal data, please email: dsar@hmtreasury.gov.uk

12. Complaints

If you are concerned that your personal data has been misused or mishandled, please email Treasury’s Data Protection Officer in the first instance at Privacy@hmtreasury.gov.uk.

If you remain unsatisfied about our use of your personal data, you have the right to raise a concern with the Information Commissioner’s Office at: casework@ico.org.uk

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