Early Help
Privacy Notice

Early Help – how we use your data

Together for Children’s Early Help Service, working on behalf of Sunderland City Council, works with families across Sunderland to offer early help and support.

Families using our service benefit from targeted support at the earliest point of identified need.

In order to ensure the best support for families, we need to share information within Together for Children and with our partners – this means sharing personal records that relate to families and their support needs.

How we use your information

We use and share information held about you in the following ways:

  • To provide and operate our Early Help Service including our Team Around the Family programme
  • To government departments, other publicly funded organisations, and appropriate voluntary sector organisations where this will enable the organisations concerned to provide services or information to you in accordance with the aims and objectives of the national ‘Troubled Families’ initiative.
  • Your information may be shared with other relevant agencies to enable you to receive appropriate services that support and help your family. These services may include: police, children’s centres, nurseries and schools, health services, housing associations, other voluntary organisations, probation, registered social landlords, youth offending teams, and the Department for Work and Pensions.
  • To provide you and your family with information, products or services that support and help your family.

Your personal information will be handled securely and shared strictly on a need to know basis only by those specifically authorised to do so and will not be kept longer than is necessary.You have the right to ask to seepersonal information held about you.

Your nursery, school, college, Health Visitor, Early Help Worker or other professional will have asked for your consent to start an Early Help Assessment. You have given consent for the assessment and for us to share your information as above if you have signed the Registration and Consent form.

You can choose how much information you allow us to share and who with. If you do not want to give your consent for us to share your informationwith any agency, you must not sign the Registration and Consent form.

For more information contact the Early Help Advice and Allocations Team on 0191 561 4084, or by emailing us at

Working on behalf of Sunderland City Council.