Guidance

Civil Service Senior Talent and Resourcing Privacy Notice

Updated 15 February 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cshr-senior-talent-and-resourcing-privacy-notice/civil-service-senior-talent-and-resourcing-privacy-notice

Civil Service Senior Talent and Resourcing aims to develop a strong and diverse pipeline of inspiring, confident and empowering leaders to help shape the future of the Civil Service. Our role is to attract, develop and retain talented people from inside and outside of the Civil Service, so that they can deliver the work of government. We do this by improving talent capability across departments and functions, running excellent recruitment campaigns, delivering development programmes and championing activities to make the Civil Service a more diverse and inclusive employer.

This notice sets out how we will use your personal data, and your rights. It is made under Articles 13 and/or 14 of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

Your data

Purpose - Recruitment

In relation to recruitment only, we are processing your personal data:

  • to conduct recruitment campaigns
  • to include ‘near miss’ candidates who may be contacted for similar roles
  • to identify candidates for search competitions
  • to maintain a candidate pool of those who have expressed an interest in working for the Civil Service
  • to prepare employment contracts
  • to inform the Cabinet Secretary in briefings on current and previous Permanent Secretaries and current and previous Permanent Secretary competition applicants
  • to update recruiting departments on candidate applications
  • to update the Senior Leadership Committee and Cabinet Secretary on Director General competitions

Purpose - SCS talent capability monitoring & succession planning

The purpose(s) for which we are processing your personal data:

  • DG and Director biographies are collected annually.

These biographies are submitted annually and may be shared with the Senior Leadership Committee (for DGs), the People Board (for Directors), the wider Permanent Secretary community and relevant HR colleagues for the purposes of:

  • to identify individuals with particular skills and experience to aid in workforce planning and facilitate in the targeting of talent management or other development initiatives, including recruitment
  • to assist with succession planning for DG and Permanent Secretary roles
  • to provide background information in preparation of honours citations for the Cabinet Secretary
  • to develop and manage the talent of Civil Servants across departments and functions
  • to support talent moderation conversations

Data

In relation to recruitment, Civil Service development programmes and talent capability monitoring, we will process the following personal data:

  • contact details, including address, phone numbers and email addresses
  • current employer and job title and previous employers/job titles
  • full name
  • function/profession
  • location
  • photographs

In relation to recruitment only, we will process the following personal data:

  • competency examples
  • criminal record history
  • CV
  • educational history
  • employment history
  • flexible working arrangements
  • immigration status
  • languages
  • marital status/civil partnership
  • media assessments results and reports
  • National Insurance number
  • Northern Ireland community background (for Northern Ireland based jobs only)
  • pension history
  • previous employers and job titles
  • professional and personal referee details
  • security clearance
  • support statements
  • URL to LinkedIn profile
  • written correspondence in relation to application
  • current salary
  • Interview notes
  • Staff engagement feedback
  • Whether you qualify for the veterans scheme, the Disability Confident Scheme, or the redeployment Scheme
  • Reasonable adjustments required

In relation to specialist roles with professional functions, we will process the following personal data:

  • membership (or otherwise) of professional bodies.

In relation to high sensitivity roles, we will process the following personal data:

  • membership (or otherwise) of a trade union
  • political opinion

In relation to diversity monitoring across all of the groups affected by the above, we will process the following data:

  • disability
  • ethnicity
  • gender
  • age
  • working pattern
  • religious and philosophical beliefs, or other beliefs of a similar nature
  • nationality
  • caring responsibilities
  • socio economic background
  • sexual orientation

In relation to SCS talent capability monitoring we will process the following personal data:

  • photographs;
  • working pattern;
  • your profession/career anchor and the profession of your current role;
  • the date you started your current role and when you were promoted to your current grade;
  • qualifications;
  • self declared skills and development needs;
  • career history and future intentions;
  • learning and development information, including but not limited to coaching, mentoring, and development scheme participation;
  • details on your mentor / coach;
  • previous and current talent markings.

In relation to diversity monitoring we are processing your personal data to monitor recruitment and talent programmes diversity levels and ensure that there are no adverse effects on any particular groups.

The legal basis for processing your personal data in relation to serving Civil Servants or job applicants is because it is necessary:

  • for the performance of a contract to which you are a party (for example an employment contract)
  • in order to take steps at your request prior to entering into a contract (for example an application for employment or pre-employment checks)
  • because 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 (Article 6(1)(e) UK GDPR).

The legal basis for processing your personal data in relation to serving Civil Servants or job applicants is because it is also necessary to comply with a legal obligation placed on us as the data controller. This includes compliance with the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010, and the Equality Act 2010, to demonstrate fair, open and on merit recruitment. The system also needs to process and take a record of applicant progress and performance through recruitment stages.

The legal basis for processing your personal data in relation to identifying potential talent, serving Civil Servants or job applicants is because it 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. In this case, that is to build a robust and diverse pipeline to the most senior and critical roles in the Civil Service. It is also to effectively deliver our public services and the Government’s agenda.

Sensitive personal data is personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, or trade union membership, and the processing of genetic data, biometric data for the purpose of uniquely identifying a natural person, data concerning health or data concerning a natural person’s sex life or sexual orientation.

The legal basis for processing your personal data in relation to serving Civil Servants or job applicants is because it is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims, or in relation to a court acting in its judicial capacity (for example, in relation to employment tribunal claims).

It is also 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, and we have an appropriate policy document in place. It is necessary for protection under the Equality act 2010 to prevent discrimination in employment.

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. Diversity data is collected to review equality of opportunities for those applying for roles in the Civil Service.

It is also necessary for statistical purposes, and it is in the public interest. Monitoring of diversity recruitment statistics are required to ensure there are no adverse effects on any particular groups. It is also to fully evaluate the Civil Service Talent Schemes and the return on investment to Government Departments and therefore taxpayers.

The legal basis for processing your sensitive personal data in relation to identifying potential talent, is because 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). In this case, that is to build a robust and diverse pipeline to the most senior and critical roles in the Civil Service and effectively deliver our public services and the Government’s agenda.

The legal basis for processing your sensitive personal data in relation to identifying potential talent, is because it also relates to personal data, which is manifestly made public by you, such as data posted on public websites or job sites.

The legal basis for processing by us of personal data relating to criminal convictions is because 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). That is to ensure that public sector employees will meet the required standards of propriety and conduct.

Recipients

Your personal data may be shared by us with:

  • external executive search firms and their service providers (where we commission them to identify talent on our behalf)
  • recruitment competition panels (where you have applied for a job)
  • senior speakers at events (for example, where biographies of attendees are shared with SCS hosting small breakfast sessions for alumni)
  • Talent Governance Boards (for high potential serving Civil Servants)
  • Civil Service Commission (for oversight of whether competitions are open and on merit)
  • 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
  • your department, function and/or profession

Retention

Your personal data will be kept by us for;

  • a maximum of two years (Recruitment Data)
  • a maximum of five years, reviewed every year (Schemes and Talent Markings)

Where personal data have not been obtained from you

Your personal data were obtained by us from an executive search company. Executive search companies act as data controllers in their own right, and you should consult their Privacy Notice to understand how they process your personal data.

Your rights

You have the right to request:

  • information about how your personal data is processed, and to request a copy of that personal data
  • that any inaccuracies in your personal data is rectified without delay
  • that any incomplete personal data is completed, including by means of a supplementary statement
  • that your personal data is erased if there is no longer a justification for them to be processed
  • in certain circumstances (for example, where accuracy is contested) to request that the processing of your personal data is restricted
  • a copy of any personal data you have provided, and for this to be provided in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format

In relation to photographs, you have the right to withdraw consent to the processing of your personal data at any time.

You have the right to object to:

  • the processing of your personal data where it is processed for direct marketing purposes
  • the processing of your personal data

International transfers

As your personal data is stored on our IT infrastructure, and shared with our data processors who provide email, and document management and storage service to us, it may be transferred and stored securely outside the UK. Where that is the case it will be subject to equivalent legal protection through an adequacy decision, the use of Standard Contractual Clauses, or a UK International Data Transfer Agreement.

Complaints

If you consider that your personal data has been misused or mishandled, you may make a complaint to the Information Commissioner, who is an independent regulator. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Email: icocasework@ico.org.uk

Any complaint to the Information Commissioner is without prejudice to your right to seek redress through the courts.

Contact details

The data controller for your personal data is the Cabinet Office. The contact details for the data controller are:

Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2AS

Email: cshr.dgworkforce@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

The contact details for the data controller’s Data Protection Officer are:

Email: dpo@cabinetoffice.gov.uk

The Data Protection Officer provides independent advice and monitoring of Cabinet Office’s use of personal information.

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