Data Sharing Agreement with the Jersey Christmas Appeal.

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A decision made (31/10/2008) regarding: Data Sharing Agreement with the Jersey Christmas Appeal.

Decision Reference: MD-S-2008-0074
Decision Summary Title :	Data Sharing Agreement with the Jersey Christmas Appeal		Date of Decision Summary:	27 October 2008
Decision Summary Author:	Janice Waddell Compliance and Governance Director		Decision Summary: Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Type of Report: Oral or Written?	Written		Person Giving Oral Report:	n/a
Written Report Title :	Data Sharing Agreement		Date of Written Report:	27 October 2008
Written Report Author:	Janice Waddell Compliance and Governance Director		Written Report : Public or Exempt? (State clauses from Code of Practice booklet)	Public
Subject: Signing of a Data Sharing Agreement with the Administrators of the Jersey Christmas Appeal
Decision(s): The Minister agreed to sign the data sharing agreement with the Administrators of the Jersey Christmas Appeal.
Reason(s) for Decision: The Agreement allows the Department to share information with the Administrators of the Jersey Christmas Appeal, where the Administrators have obtained the consent of the individual concerned, to enable the Administrators to confirm certain financial information in consideration of the award of hampers and vouchers through the Appeal.
Resource Implications: There are no resource implications.
Action required: The Chair of the Jersey Christmas Appeal to also sign the agreement
Signature:		Position: Minister
Date Signed:		Date of Decision (If different from Date Signed):

Data Sharing Agreement with the Jersey Christmas Appeal.

Report on Data Sharing with the Lion’s Club on behalf of the Jersey Christmas Appeal

Background

The Jersey Christmas Appeal is sponsored by the Rotary, Round Table, Lions, Rotary Club de la Manche, Jersey Evening Post, Channel 103 and Soroptimists. The Appeal Fund provides the money for Food Hampers, Food Vouchers and Fuel Vouchers and Toys. These are distributed to the Island's elderly, poor and needy for the Christmas holiday period. Funds are also available for necessities should a particularly severe spell of weather occur.

An application for assistance may be made and each application is supported by a sponsor: the Social Security Department will not act as a sponsor for any individuals. The Charities involved wish to be assured that they are targeting additional assistance to those families in Jersey who are less well off and have limited ability to assist themselves.

To ensure that the Charities achieve their aim it has been agreed that the Social Security Department will help to confirm the financial status of certain families through the Income Support scheme. The Department has provided the Charities with some statistical information regarding the make-up of families and advised that those families whose income is primarily Income Support are unlikely to be able to take additional steps (for example through work) to improve their situation in the short term.

The Charities have obtained permission to verify details from certain individuals directly and has amended their application form to include consent ongoing.

The data sharing agreement sets out what information will be shared, how it is shared and used. It also ensures the security of the data transferred.

Not all applications under the Jersey Christmas Appeal will require verification, as many will be verified directly through the application sponsor.

There are no resource implications for the Department.