Confidential Policy

General principles

Blackpool Community Theatre CIC recognises that colleagues (employees, volunteers and students) gain information about individuals and organisations during the course of their work or activities. In most cases such information will not be stated as confidential and colleagues must exercise common sense and discretion in identifying whether this information should be communicated to others. Information given in confidence must not be disclosed without consent unless there is a justifiable reason e.g. a requirement of law or there is an overriding public interest to do so.
Confidential information includes anything that contains the means to identify a person, e.g. name, address, post code, date of birth, National Insurance Number, passport and bank details. It includes information about sexual life, beliefs, commission or alleged commission of offences and other sensitive personal information as defined by the Data Protection Act. It also includes information about organisations such as confidential business plans, financial information, contracts, trade secrets and procurement information
Colleagues should seek advice from the Director about confidentiality and sharing information as necessary
Colleagues will avoid exchanging personal information or comments about individuals with whom they have a professional relationship.
Talking about the private life of a colleague is to be avoided at all times, unless the colleague in question has instigated the conversation.
Colleagues will avoid discussing confidential information about organisations or individuals in social settings.
Colleagues will not disclose to anyone, other than the Director, any information considered sensitive, personal, financial or private without the knowledge or consent of the individual, or an officer, in the case of an organisation.
Where there is a statutory duty on Blackpool Community Theatre CIC to disclose information, the person or people involved will usually be informed that disclosure has or will be made unless this would put at risk the safety of any individual or jeopardise a potential criminal investigation. Details about disclosure of information and who has been informed will always be kept on record and stored securely with restricted access. Confidential information will be stored securely. with restricted access.
Confidential information will be stored securely. It will not le left on desks but locked away. On computer it will be stored in password protected folders.
Confidential information will be stored securely. It will not le left on desks but locked away. On computer it will be stored in password protected folders

Why information is held

Most information held by Blackpool Community Theatre CIC relates to individuals, voluntary and community organisations, self-help groups, volunteers, students, employees, or services which support or fund them.
Information is kept to enable Blackpool Community Theatre CIC colleagues to understand the history and activities of individuals or organisations in order to deliver the most appropriate services.
Blackpool Community Theatre CIC has a role in putting people in touch with voluntary and community organisations and keeps contact details which are passed on to any enquirer, except where the group or organisation expressly requests that the details remain confidential.
Information about students is given to the training organisation and the college, but to no one else.
Information about protected equality characteristics of users is kept for the purposes of monitoring our equal opportunities policy and also for reporting back to funders.

Access to information

Information is confidential to Blackpool Community Theatre CIC as an organisation and may be passed to colleagues or Director on a a need to know basis to ensure the best quality service for users.
Where information is sensitive, i.e. it involves disputes or legal issues, it will be confidential to the employee dealing with the case and the Director. Such information should be clearly labelled ‘Confidential’ and should state the names of the colleagues entitled to access the information and the name of any individual or group who may request access to the information.
Colleagues will not withhold information from the Director unless it is purely personal.
Users may have sight of Blackpool Community Theatre CIC records held in their name or that of their organisation.
When photocopying or working on confidential documents, colleagues should ensure people passing do not see them. This also applies to information on computer screens.

Storing information

General non-confidential information about organisations is kept in computer f iles and is only accessible to the company Director or any other staff member approved by him.

Duty To Disclose Information

There is a legal duty to disclose some information including:

There is a legal duty to disclose some information including: Child and vulnerable adult abuse will be reported to the relevant statutory services Drug trafficking, money laundering or acts of terrorism will be disclosed to the police.
In addition colleagues believing an illegal act has taken place, or that a user is at risk of harming themselves or others, must report this to the Director who will report it to the appropriate authorities.
Users should be informed of this disclosure unless this would put at risk the safety of any individual or jeopardise a potential criminal investigation.
Details about disclosure of information and who has been informed will always be kept on record and stored securely with restricted access

Disclosures

Blackpool Community Theatre CIC complies fully with the DBS Code of practice (E File) regarding the correct handling, use, storage, retention and disposal of Disclosures and Disclosure information.
It is a criminal offence to pass this information to anyone who is not entitled to receive it.
Documents will be kept for a year and then destroyed by secure means. Photocopies will not be kept. However, Blackpool Community Theatre CIC will keep a record of the date of issue of a Disclosure, the name of the subject, the type of Disclosure requested, the position for which the Disclosure was requested, the unique reference number of the Disclosure and the details of the recruitment decision taken.

Breach of Confidentiality

Misuse of personal data and security incidents must be reported to company Director so that steps can be taken to rectify the problem and ensure that the same problem does not occur again. This includes unauthorised access to person-identifiable information where a member of staff, or third party, does not have a need to know. It also includes incidents of information lying around in a public area, theft and loss of information

Data Protection Act

Please see our privacy policy for details.

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