Educational and social care predictors of offending trajectories: An administrative data linkage study
Privacy Notice
Chief Investigator:
Dr Hannah Dickson, King’s College London
Collaborators:
Dr Nigel Blackwood, King’s College London
Dr Roxanna Short, King’s College London
George Vamakas, King’s College London
Note that collaborators will not have direct access to the raw study data.
Funding:
Administrative Data Research UK (ADR UK) via Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)
Who are we?
The study is being led by Dr Hannah Dickson at King’s College London. This research study is being conducted within the King’s College London governance framework which ensures that our work is carried out to high scientific and ethical standards.
ADR UK is the sponsor for this study and is based in the UK. We will be using information from the National Pupil Database and Police National Computer to undertake this study. The data owners and data controllers are the Department for Education (DfE) and the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). Dr Hannah Dickson from King’s College London has made an application to the DfE to use the National pupil database. The DfE will share DfE Data Extracts with Dr Hannah Dickson from King’s College London who will process the DfE Data Extract for its permitted use only as an independent controller. All data will be accessed via the ONS Secure Research Service (SRS) Secure Room at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London.
If you need to contact us about this privacy notice, please write to Dr Hannah Dickson (hannah.dickson@kcl.ac.uk).
Why are we processing your personal information?
We are processing your personal information as part of a research study which aims to:
- Identify patterns of violent and non-violent offending.
- Investigate the associations between education and social care factors and patterns of violent and non-violent offending.
- Create widely accessible metadata based on data extracts
What is the source of the personal data?
We will be using data from the National Pupil Database (data owner: Department for Education) which has been linked to the Police National Computer (data owner: Ministry of Justice). The Department for Education collects personal data from educational settings and local authorities via various statutory data collections. These data are not publicly available but can be accessed with permissions from both data owners. The research team are not able to facilitate access to the data. For more information about the Department of Education’s NPD data sharing process, please visit: https://www.gov.uk/data-protection-how-we-collect-and-share-research-data.
What categories of personal data are being collected?
This analysis will focus on pupils in birth cohorts 1985 to 1999. We will request data on pupil characteristics (including birth month and year, gender, ethnicity, free school meal eligibility, looked after child status, special educational needs status and school absences), school outcomes (including school performance, exclusions), and offending information (including offence date and type).
How do we keep your information safe and secure?
All data will be accessed electronically via an AOC compliant certified ONS SRS Secure Room at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London. Data are not permitted to leave this setting. The secure room is a locked office that is only accessible with ID and key, and the ONS SRS is only accessible to ONS Accredited Researchers with an SRS login and password. The data files used for analysis will be de-identified, meaning identifiable information will be removed (e.g., name, address, email, phone number). Dr Hannah Dickson is the ONS Accredited Researcher who will be accessing the data for this project.
Outputs will contain only anonymous, aggregated data. To ensure that no sensitive or personally identifiable data are released, we will follow guidance set out in the ONS Safe Research Training on maintaining data confidentiality and apply Statistical Disclosure Control, by:
- Complying with the ‘Five Safes Framework’
- Looking at data to identify disclosure risk
- Options for avoiding cell counts <10 (cell suppression; detail reduction; rounding; redesign output, etc.)
- Complying with SRS procedures for output, pre-publication and publication clearance
What is our ‘legal basis for processing’?
Data protection legislation allows us to use personal information in this way because it is required for our public purpose as a teaching and research institution. 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 controller (GDPR Article 6(1)(e)). The condition for processing special categories of data is that it is necessary for archiving, scientific, historical research or statistical purposes (GDPR Article 9(2)(j)).
Crime is a global problem with poor health and social outcomes for victims and perpetrators. Examining associations between education and social care factors and later offending patterns can help inform early identification and crime prevention strategies for children. We believe this project is in the public interest because it will contribute to evidence-based policy making that will benefit a large number of people in the UK and demonstrate the potential of administrative data.
How long do we keep your information for?
Dr Hannah Dickson will retain access to the data for 18 months (01/01/2022 – 31/06/2023) via the ONS SRS. The research team are not responsible for data storage and archiving in the SRS - this responsibility lies with the ONS.
Do we share your information with other organisations?
The research team will not share your information with any external organisations. The research team are not responsible for data sharing with other organisations - this responsibility lies with the ONS.
What are your rights and who can you contact if you have a concern?
King’s College London will not be directly storing these data - this responsibility lies with the ONS. The research team will only access the data electronically via an AOC compliant certified ONS SRS Secure Room at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London.
For any data that the university does hold about you, you can find out more about how the university deals with your personal information, including your rights and who to contact if you have a concern, via the university’s core privacy notice at https://www.kcl.ac.uk/terms/privacy.aspx.
If you wish to raise a complaint on how we have handled your personal data, you can contact our Data Protection Officer who will investigate the matter. If you are not satisfied with our response or believe we are processing your personal data in a way that is not lawful you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Our Data Protection Officer is Mr Albert Chan and you can contact them at Information Compliance team, King's College London, Waterloo Campus Room 5.20, James Clerk Maxwell Building, 57 Waterloo Road, London, SE1 8WA; or email: info-compliance@kcl.ac.uk.
General enquiries
For general enquiries relating to the study, or to find out more about how we use your information, please contact Dr Hannah Dickson hannah.dickson@kcl.ac.uk).
Our privacy notices are regularly reviewed and updated.
Last reviewed: 22/11/2021
Last updated: 22/11/2021
Updated by: Hannah Dickson