Applying for a job or to be a volunteer

Our Privacy Policy

This page only applies to people who apply to work for Citizens Advice County Durham. If you apply to work or volunteer at National Citizens Advice or any other Local Citizens Advice they’ll have their own policy about how they collect, use and store your information.

When you apply, we collect your personal information through your application form, interview or references so we can process your application.

If you’re offered a role, where applicable, we may ask you to to fill out a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) form as part of mandatory background checks. A DBS form does ask for some personal information as part of the background check process. These forms are stored and processed securely and confidentially by Citizens Advice and DBS. You can read more about DBS checks and processes n the GOV.UK website.

Other than the DBS, we don’t share your information with external organisations – it’s only shared internally so that we can review your application.

What information we ask for

We only ask for information which is relevant to the role you’re applying for.

We’ll collect personal details such as name, address, telephone number and email address, previous job history and experience, qualifications, and any support needs you may have.

We’ll also ask for diversity information like your gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation. You don’t have to tell us this – if you do, it’s always anonymised.

We might collect other information depending on whether you’ve applied for a staff or volunteer role.

You’ve applied for a staff role

If we offer you a position, we’ll ask for:

  • references for your previous and current work
  • proof of your right to work in the UK, like a valid UK passport or visa
  • your national insurance number and P45 or new HMRC new starter form
  • your bank details, so we can pay you

On rare occasions, where it’s needed for the role, we might contact the DBS for a criminal record check. Once the DBS check is completed and you’ve received your certificate, we’d expect you to share this information with us as part of the the background check process.

This information would include your name, date of birth, place of birth, gender, position applied for and anything else disclosed on your DBS check.

How we use your information

We’ll use the information you give us to decide whether or not you’ve got the right skills for the role.

We’ll use the demographic information to make sure we’re employing a diverse workforce and volunteer community, this is not considered alongside your application, it is removed and anonymised in a central database.

Staff who access your information have had information protection training to make sure your information is handled sensitively and securely.

Storing your information

We keep your information securely on our internal systems.

Contact us about your data

You can contact us at any time and ask us:

  • what information we’ve stored about you
  • to change or update your details
  • to delete your details from our records

Send us a message at enquires@citizensadvicecd.org.uk

Or call us on 0300 323 1000 (press option 1), we may not be able to answer your call but you can leave a voicemail.

For staff roles at Citizens Advice, send us a message at Recruitment@citizensadvicecd.org.uk

For volunteer roles, contact us at volunteer@citizensadvicecd.org.uk

If you want to make a complaint

If you’re not happy with how we’ve handled your data, you can make a complaint.