Introduction
This site puts small files (known as 'cookies') onto your computer to collect information about how you browse the site
Cookies are used to:
- measure how you use the website so it can be updated and improved based on your needs
- remember some of the notifications you've seen so that we don't show them to you again
- enable functionality of some parts, e.g. remember items in shopping baskets, search criteria etc.
Cookies on this site aren't used to identify you personally.
Find out more about cookies and how to manage them, visit All About Cookies.
How cookies are used on this site
General
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| cookiesDirective | Saves a message to let us know that you've seen our cookie message | 1 year |
| hideMessage | Hides the site message - until a site message gets amended or reset | 6 months |
| mode | Sets colour scheme mode - No longer used | 3 months |
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| ASP.NET_SessionId | Used to maintain session information for the Microsoft .NET framework | when you close your browser |
| clientvars | Used to maintain session information for the platforms other than Microsoft .NET framework | when you close your browser |
| googtrans | Session information used by Google translate to remember translation settings | when you close your browser |
| FXbyfkiiSadifkbk, ZSldabRlfHkfPcJj, iCMR3nd3rF0nt51z3, SESSION_LANGUAGE | Other general session cookies set in various other sections of the site | when you close your browser |
Measuring website usage (Analytics)
We use Google Analytics and SiteImprove software to collect information about how you use our websites. We do this to help make sure the site is meeting the needs of its users and to help us make improvements, for example improving site search.
These store information about:
- the pages you visit on this site
- how long you spend on each page
- how you got to the site
- what you click on while you're visiting the site
We don't collect or store your personal information (for example your name or address) so this information can't be used to identify who you are.
You can opt out of Google Analytics cookies.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | This helps us count how many people visit, by tracking if you've visited before | 2 years |
| _gid | This helps us count how many people visit, by tracking if you've visited before | 24 hours |
| _gat | Used to manage the rate at which page view requests are made | 10 minutes |
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| _utma | Like _ga, this lets us know if you've visited before, so we can count how many of our visitors are new to the site or to a certain page | 2 years |
| _utmb | This works with _utmc to calculate the average length of time you spend on the site | 30 minutes |
| _utmc | This works with _utmb to calculate when you close your browser | when you close your browser |
| _utmz | This tells us how you reached us (for example from another website or a search engine) | 6 months |
| NID | Contains a unique ID Google uses to remember your preferences and other information, such as your preferred language (e.g. English), how many search results you wish to have shown per page (e.g. 10 or 20), and whether or not you wish to have Google's SafeSearch filter turned on | 6 months |
Online forms
We use a variety of online forms which use session cookies in order to function properly.
| Name | Purpose | Expires |
|---|---|---|
| PHPSESSID | Session cookie for use with our electronic eform system | When you close your browser |
| SESSIONCHECK | Session cookies for use with our electronic eform system | 6 hours |
| APP_LANG | Language cookie for use with our electronic eform system | 1 day |
| AWSELB | Load balancing cookie for use with our electronic eform system | When you close your browser |
interesting fact
39.9% of working age residents have NVQ4+ qualifications which is higher than the North West at 34.5% (ONS Annual Population Survey 2017).