Privacy Policy and Cookie Notice
Introduction
The Assembly Commission takes your privacy seriously. This Privacy notice explains our data protection policy and describes how we will use any personal data you provide to us, or that we collect from you.
For the purposes of the Data Protection Act and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) the data controller is:
NI Assembly Commission
Parliament Buildings
Belfast
BT4 3XX
If you have any queries about the process or how we handle your information, please contact us at HRCore@niassembly.gov.uk
Section One – Job applicants
Why are you processing my personal information?
We process your personal information to decide whether you are suitable for appointment to a role which you have applied for with the Assembly Commission and to keep in touch with you during this process.
What is the lawful basis for processing my personal information?
Your information is processed under Article 6 (2) (b) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) because by applying for a role, you have asked for something to be done so you can enter into a contract.
What will we do with the information you provide to us?
All of the information you provide during the process will only be used for the purpose of progressing your application, and to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements if necessary.
We will not share any of the information you provide during the recruitment process with any third parties for marketing purposes or store any of your information outside of the European Economic Area. The information you provide will be held securely by us and/or our data processors whether the information is in electronic or physical format.
We will use the contact details you provide to us to contact you to progress your application. We will use the other information you provide to assess your suitability for the role you have applied for.
At the end of the process, we may use your details to ask for feedback on your experience of the recruitment process.
What categories of personal data are you processing?
We process both personal data and special category personal data as supplied by you as the data subject.
Personal data means any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified.
Special category personal data is personal data which the GDPR says is more sensitive, and so needs more protection. This includes (among others) information about your health, religion, race or ethnic origin.
What information do you ask for, and why?
We do not collect more information than we need to fulfil our stated purposes and will not retain it for longer than is necessary.
The information we ask for is used to assess your suitability for appointment. You don’t have to provide what we ask for but it might affect your application if you don’t.
Application stage
If you use our online application system, this will be collected by a data processor on our behalf (please see below).
We ask you for your personal details including name, contact details and National Insurance number. We will also ask you about your previous experience, education, referees and for answers to questions relevant to the role you have applied for. Our recruitment team will have access to all of this information.
You will also be asked to provide equal opportunities information. During the application stage, this information will not be made available to any staff outside of our recruitment team, including recruitment panel, in a way which can identify you. Any information you do provide, will be used only to produce and monitor equal opportunities statistics and complete monitoring returns to the Equality Commission.
In the event that your application for employment is successful, the equal opportunities information you have provided on the monitoring form at the application stage will be transferred to your employee record (please see Section 2 – Jobholders and Leavers).
Shortlisting
Our recruitment panel shortlist applications for interview. They will not be provided with your name or contact details or with your equal opportunities information.
Assessments
We might ask you to participate in assessment days; complete tests or occupational personality profile questionnaires; and/or to attend an interview – or a combination of these. Information will be generated by you and by us. For example, you might complete a written test or we might take interview notes.
Conditional offer
If we make a conditional offer of employment, we will ask you for information so that we can carry out pre-employment checks. You must successfully complete pre-employment checks to progress to a final offer. We are required to confirm the identity of our staff, their right to work in the United Kingdom and seek assurance as to their trustworthiness, integrity and reliability.
You will therefore be required to provide:
- Proof of your identity – you will be asked to attend our office with original documents, we will take copies.
- Proof of your qualifications – you will be asked to attend our office with original documents, we will take copies.
- You will be asked to complete a criminal records declaration to declare any unspent convictions.
- You will be asked to complete Basic Access NI or Enhanced Access NI depending on the post applied for, which will verify your declaration of unspent convictions.
- We will contact your referees, using the details you provide in your application, directly to obtain references.
- You will be asked to provide documentation to confirm your Right to Work in the UK.
- We will also ask you to complete a questionnaire about your health. This is to establish your fitness to work. This is done through a data processor (please see below).
If we make a final offer, we will also ask you for the following:
- Bank details – to process salary payments
- Emergency contact details – so we know who to contact in case you have an emergency at work
- Your membership history of any public service pension scheme –to determine which pension scheme you are eligible to join.
Use of data processors
Data processors are third parties who provide elements of our recruitment service for us. We have contracts in place with our data processors. This means that they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will not share your personal information with any organisation apart from us. They will hold it securely and retain it for the period we instruct.
Midland HR
If you accept a final offer from us, some of your personnel records will be held on i-Trent which is an internally used HR records system, provided by Midland HR.
Here is a link to their Privacy Notice.
Occupational Health and Welfare Support Services
Our current occupational health advisors are Occupation Health Services (OHS) and Blackwell Associates Limited. If we make you a conditional offer, we will ask that you complete a health declaration which will help to determine if you are fit to undertake the work that you have been offered, or advise us if any adjustments are needed to the work environment or systems so that you may work effectively.
The information you provide will be held by our occupational health advisors who will provide us with a medical report regarding your fitness or any adjustments required. You are able to request to see the report before it is sent to us. If you decline for us to see it, then this could affect your job offer. If an occupational health assessment is required, this may be carried out by either of our occupational health advisors.
How long do you keep my personal data?
If you are not appointed following the recruitment competition, the information you have provided until that point will be retained for 1 year from the closure of the merit list.
Information generated throughout the assessment process, for example interview notes, is retained by us for 1 year following the closure of the merit list.
Equal opportunities information is retained for 4 years following the closure of the merit list whether you are successful or not.
How do you make decisions about recruitment?
Final recruitment decisions are made by the recruitment panel. All of the information gathered during the application process is taken into account.
You are able to ask about decisions made about your application by speaking to your contact within our recruitment team or by emailing recruitment@niassembly.org.uk.
Interchange Opportunities
We also offer opportunities for people to come and work with us on a secondment basis through Interchange. We accept applications from individuals who think they could benefit from working with us.
Applications are sent to the HR Office via Interchange.
Once we have considered your application, if we are interested in speaking to you further, we’ll contact you using the details you provided.
We might ask you to provide more information about your skills and experience or invite you to an interview.
If you are seconded to the Commission, we will ask that you complete a secondment agreement.
We might also ask you to complete our pre-employment checks or to obtain security clearance via the Access NI – both of which are described in this Notice above. Whether you need to do this will depend on the type of work you will be doing for us.
We ask for this information so that we fulfil our obligations to avoid conflicts of interest and to protect the information we hold. It will be retained for the duration of your secondment.
Section Two – Jobholders and leavers
Why are you processing my personal information?
We need to process personal data to enter into an employment contract with you and to meet our obligations under your contract. For example, we need to process your data to provide you with a contract and to administer your pension and entitlements.
What is the lawful basis for processing my personal information?
Your information is processed under Article 6 (1) (b) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) because the processing is necessary in relation to the contract you have entered into when accepting employment with the Assembly Commission. In very limited circumstances, we may seek explicit consent to use special categories of personal data.
We will also process your personal information to fulfil our legal obligations under any present or future legislation or regulation, such as, in relation to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and National Fraud Initiative (NFI).
We also use the GOV.UK Notify Service as a communication platform. The GOV.UK Notify Service can utilise either staff members’ personal email or mobile phone details to share important information in real time in the event of a serious incident. The lawful basis we rely on for processing this information is your consent.
What will we do with the information you provide to us?
All of the information you provide during the process will only be used to fulfil legal or regulatory requirements if necessary.
We may use your personal information to establish and defend our legal rights, and to prevent and detect crimes such as fraud. We may need to share your personal information with other people for this reason, such as courts and law enforcement agencies (for further information, please see paragraph ‘Who has access to your data?’ below).
We will not share any of the information you provide with any third parties for marketing purposes or store any of your information outside of the European Economic Area. The information you provide will be held securely by us and/or our data processors whether the information is in electronic or physical format.
Who has access to your data?
Your information may be shared internally with staff involved in managing your employment with the Assembly Commission, including with members of the HR Office and the Finance Office and managers in the business area in which you work.
We may share or disclose your personal information to any of the following trusted recipients (but not limited to) in order to fulfil our contractual and legal obligations and to deliver our services:
Midland HR
Some of your personnel records will be held on i-Trent which is an internally used HR records and payment system, provided by Midland HR.
Here is a link to their Privacy Notice.
Civil Service Pensions
Your details will be provided to Civil Service Pensions who are the administrators of the Northern Ireland Civil Service pension schemes, of which the Assembly Commission is a participating employer. You will be auto-enrolled into a pension scheme and details provided to Civil Service Pensions will be your name, date of birth, National Insurance number, payroll number, address, marital status, hours of work and salary. Your bank details will not be passed to Civil Service Pensions.
Here is a link to their Privacy Notice.
Occupational Health and Welfare Support Services
Our current occupational health advisors are Occupation Health Services (OHS) and Blackwell Associates Limited. Welfare support to our staff is provided by Welfare Support Services.
During your employment, you may be referred to OHS, Blackwell Associates Limited or Welfare Support Services if it is felt that medical and/or welfare advice is required to manage your employment.
Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
Your details will be provided to HMRC in order for us to comply with statutory obligations. The personal information disclosed will be limited to only that necessary for compliance.
Here is a link to HMRC website for further information.
National Fraud Initiative
We have a duty to protect public money so we may use the information we hold to prevent and detect fraud.
The National Fraud Initiative (NFI) is an exercise that takes place every two years by the Cabinet Office and matches electronic data within and between public sector bodies to prevent and detect fraud. It does not require the consent of the individuals concerned under the Data Protection legislation and we have a legal obligation under Audit and Accountability (NI) Order 2003, articles 4A to 4H, to take part in the exercise.
Further information about the National Fraud Initiative can be found on GOV.UK.
We will disclose your personal information to the police and other law enforcement agencies when they ask for it during the investigation of a crime, as permitted by the Data Protection legislation.
GOV.UK Notify Service
To allow the Assembly Commission to contact you in the case of a serious incident in Parliament Buildings out of regular business hours, you are requested to provide your mobile phone number on your i-Trent self-service account. We will share your number with the GOV.UK Notify service to allow the Assembly Commission contact you.
Please note that only a list of mobile phone numbers will be uploaded to the GOV.UK Notify Service and numbers will not be linked to your name or any other personal identifier including your email address.
You will be asked for your consent to use your information for this purpose and can remove your consent at any time.
Here is a link to GOV.UK Notify’s privacy notice.
Interchange Opportunities
Any organisation in relation to staff who apply for an outward secondment opportunity.
Other Organisations
Insurance Broking and Risk Management Services, currently provided by Gallaghers.
Purchase to Pay System, currently provided by Elcom Systems Ltd and Accurate.
Accounting System Maintenance and Support, currently provided by Core Financial Systems Ltd.
Financial Institutions, to process payments on your behalf in the course of business.
Suppliers, for the provision of relevant services, for example in support of Continuing Professional Development or business travel.
Any third party where you have given your consent such as voluntary deduction service providers (including but not limited to Trade Union Membership, Employer for Childcare, Give As You Earn, Cycle Scheme).
Our auditors, internally – EY, and externally – the Northern Ireland Audit Office.
Other Government Departments and agencies.
Police and other law enforcement agencies when they ask for it during the investigation of a crime, and emergency responders
Courts, tribunals and parties to litigation.
What categories of personal data are you processing?
We process personal data and special category personal data.
Personal data means any information relating to an identifiable person who can be directly or indirectly identified.
Special category personal data is personal data which the GDPR says is more sensitive, and so needs more protection. This includes (among others) information about your health, religion, race or ethnic origin.
What information do we ask for, and why?
We do not collect more information than we need to fulfil our stated purposes and will not retain it for longer than is necessary. Please refer to Section One – Job Applicants for details of information gathered during recruitment.
The information we ask for is used to manage the employment relationship. Sometimes we may obtain information from other sources: for example, parties who provide information in fulfillment of a legal obligation, such as government department like HMRC or National Fraud Initiative, or representatives you have authorised to act on your behalf, such as voluntary deductions like Employers for Childcare.
The HR Office will arrange training events and health and wellbeing events and may, from time to time, take photographs of participants. You will be asked for written consent before your photograph is taken and the photograph will only be used to internally promote of the event by publishing on AssISt (the Assembly Commission’s staff intranet) and will be deleted once this has been completed.
How long do you keep my personal data?
We will only retain your data for as long as necessary to process and in line with our Retention and Disposal Schedule.
How do we protect your data?
We take the security of your data seriously. We have in place internal policies and controls to ensure that your data is not lost, accidently destroyed, misused or disclosed and is not accessed except by our employees in the performance of their duties.
Where we engage third parties to process personal data on our behalf, they do so on the basis of written agreement, are under a duty of confidentiality and are obliged to implement appropriate technical and organisational measures to ensure the security of data and to comply with general principles in relation to data protection.
Cookies, social media and subscriptions
Information collected via the email newsletter
Users can sign up to receive an email newsletter containing upcoming information and alerts in relation to recruitment in the Northern Ireland Assembly. This is done using the email automation platform, Mailchimp via the subscription form at the bottom of the homepage of the website:
During the process of signing up, users must indicate their consent via a confirmation email which is sent to them. Their email address is then held within the MailChimp system only for the purposes of an email being sent to provide subscribers with the information they have requested; email addresses will not be used for any other purpose. A list of email addresses (and names if you provided them on sign-up) is accessible to a small number of staff working for the Northern Ireland Assembly via a password login.
Users are provided with the opportunity to change their preferences or unsubscribe to email updates within a message at the footer of every email they receive. For more information please read the MailChimp privacy policy and the MailChimp cookie statement.
Social Media (Facebook and Twitter)
Our website also provides the opportunity to follow us on Facebook and Twitter. For more information on how these websites collect and process your data, please read their respective privacy policies:
Facebook – www.facebook.com/about/privacy
Twitter – http://twitter.com/privacy
WordPress
The niarecruitment.org website is built using the WordPress content management system. Automattic, the parent company responsible for WordPress, has created a page setting out how it intends to meet the requirements of GDPR, including how it handles data on behalf of others.
For more information on how WordPress stores and processes your personal data, you should refer to the WordPress privacy policy – https://automattic.com/privacy/.
Cookies
Cookies are small pieces of data, stored in text files, that are stored on your device when websites are visited in a browser. They are most commonly used to ‘remember’ you and your site preferences. For example, they can be used to allow the user to remain ‘logged in’ and not have to repeatedly log in at the beginning of every new session.
First time users of niarecruitment.org are presented with a cookie splash screen that provides information on the site’s use of cookies and asks for consent to use analytics cookies (which is revoked by default). Your cookie preferences will be remembered on your next visit but you can change your preferences at any time by clicking on the cookie information button in the bottom corner of the website:
We would like to collect information via analytics cookies so that we can find out things such as the number of visitors to the various parts of the site. We collect this information in a way which does not identify anyone. We do not make any attempt to find out the identities of any of our users. We will not associate any data gathered from this site with any personally identifying information from any source. If we do want to collect personally identifiable information through our website, we will be up front about this. We will make it clear when we collect personal information and we will explain what we intend to do with it.
The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission is committed to safeguarding your personal information. Whenever you provide such information, we are legally obliged to use your information in line with all laws concerning the protection of personal information, including the Data Protection Act 1998 and the General Data Protection Regulation.
Necessary cookies
Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions.
| Cookie | Name | Purpose |
| Cookie preference | CookieControl | This cookie is used to remember a user’s choice about cookies on niarecruitment.org. Where users have previously indicated a preference, that user’s preference will be stored in this cookie. |
Google Analytics
The Northern Ireland Assembly Commission uses Google Analytics, a web analytics service provided by Google. Google Analytics sets cookies on the niarecruitment.org website on its behalf in order to compile reports for us on user activity.
Google may transfer this information to third parties where required to do so by law, or where such third parties process the information on Google’s behalf. Google will not associate your IP address with any other data held by Google. By consenting to the collection of cookie data (via the cookie consent banner), you consent to the processing of data about you by Google in the manner and for the purposes set out above.
The google analytics cookies are:
| Cookie name | Default expiration time | Description |
| _ga | 2 years | Used to distinguish users. |
| _ga_<container-id> | 2 years | Used to persist session state. |
These cookies are used to collect information about how visitors use our website. We use the information to compile reports and to help us improve the website. The cookies collect information in a way that does not directly identify anyone, including the number of visitors to the website, where visitors have come to the website from and the pages they visited.
Read Google’s overview of privacy and safeguarding data
How to reject Google Analytics cookies
You can reject analytics cookies at any time by clicking on the ‘C’ icon in the corner of the website. You can then adjust the analytics slider to ‘On’ or ‘Off’, then click ‘Save and close’. You may need to refresh your page for your settings to take effect.
If you would like more information about the cookies used by Google Analytics, as well as information on how to opt-out, please see their individual privacy policy.
To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites you can download the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
Third party cookies
Cookies are also used by third party websites that serve up content on the site to make it more engaging. These include WordPress (the content management system used to build the website), Genially (a service that allows users to create interactive diagrams that can be embedded on websites), Vimeo (for displaying video content) and our social media channels. These services may set third party cookies which we can not control. You can block all third party cookies through your browser settings but please be aware that this may affect the functionality of these services.
WordPress
NIArecruitment.org is built using the WordPress content management system. WordPress uses cookies to verify who you are. There are cookies for logged in users (i.e. people who have registered an account with the WordPress site in question) and for commenters on a post. As we do not offer this functionality on our site, and you do not need to log in to view or interact with any content, these cookies are not used. However, if you would like more information on how WordPress uses cookies please read the information on their website.
Cookies set by Genially
Genially is a service for creating interactive and engaging media. When a Genailly design is embedded on the website, cookies will be set by Genially. For more information on Genially’s use of cookies, please visit their website.
Cookies set by Vimeo
There is one video on the website which is embedded from our Vimeo channel. It is embedded with the Do Not Track (DNT) parameter which should prevent third-party analytics or advertising cookies being set on the video. Vimeo may set other cookies that are required for functionality. For more information on Vimeo’s use of cookies, please visit their website.
Cookies set by social media channels
NIArecruitment.org provides links to our facebook and twitter social media channels. These websites set their own cookies and the Northern Ireland Assembly Commission does not control the dissemination of these cookies. You should check the relevant third party website for more information about these. We would urge you to review these as they will govern the use of information you submit or which is collected by cookies whilst visiting these websites.
How to manage cookies
Most web browsers allow some control of most cookies through the browser settings. To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org. The Help function within your browser should also offer advice.
Find out how to manage cookies on popular browsers:
To find information relating to other browsers, visit the browser developer’s website.
To opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites, download the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
Please be aware that restricting cookies may impact on the functionality of the website.
Links to other websites
We regularly link to other websites. Please refer to the cookie / privacy policy of these sites for further information
Further information on cookies
To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit www.allaboutcookies.org. You will find details on how to delete cookies from your computer as well as more general information about cookies. For information on how to do this on the browser of your mobile phone you will need to refer to your handset manual.
Your rights and further information
How do I complain if I am not happy?
If you are unhappy with how any aspect of this privacy notice, or how your personal information is being processed, please contact the NI Assembly Information Standards Officer at:
Email: dpo@niassembly.gov.uk
Tel: (028) 90521147
If you are still not happy, you have the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113
Email: casework@ico.org.uk
Further details on the Information Commissioner’s website.
What rights do I have?
Under the Data Protection legislation, you have rights as an individual which you can exercise in relation to the information we hold about you.
You can read more about these rights on the Information Commissioner’s Office website.
- You have the right to obtain confirmation that your data is being processed, and access to your personal data;
- You are entitled to have personal data rectified if it is inaccurate or incomplete;
- You have a right to have personal data erased and to prevent processing, in specific circumstances;
- You have the right to ‘block’ or suppress processing of personal data, in specific circumstances;
- You have the right to data portability, in specific circumstances;
- You have the right to object to processing, in specific circumstances;
- You have rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling.
- When we have asked for your consent to use information, you can withdraw your consent at any time by contacting us. If you do so, it may restrict what we can do for you, unless we have another lawful reason for using your information.
Disclosure of personal information
In many circumstances we will not disclose personal data without consent. However, when we investigate a complaint, for example, we will need to share personal information with the organisation concerned and with other relevant bodies. You can also get further information on:
- agreements we have with other organisations for sharing information;
- circumstances where we can pass on personal data without consent for example, to prevent and detect crime and to produce anonymised statistics;
- our instructions to staff on how to collect, use and delete personal data; and
- how we check that the information we hold is accurate and up to date.
Links to other websites
This privacy notice does not cover the links within this site linking to other websites. We encourage you to read the privacy statements on the other websites you visit.
Changes to this privacy notice
We keep our privacy notice under regular review. This privacy notice was last updated on 11 April 2024.
How to contact us
If you want to request information about our privacy policy you can email us or write to: HR Office, Parliament Buildings, Stormont Estate, Belfast, BT4 3XX.
