What are cookies and why do we use them?

A cookie is a small text marker stored on your computer that enables us to track the use of our website. We use cookies to sign in and register with our website, to remember your accessibility settings and ensure the website is as user friendly as possible. Most big websites do this too.

If you delete or disable our cookies you may not be able to benefit from some of our online features.

How do I change my cookie settings?

You have the opportunity to set your computer to accept all cookies, to notify you when a cookie is issued, or not to receive cookies at any time. The way in which you do this depends upon the web browser which you use.

To find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set, visit www.aboutcookies.org or www.allaboutcookies.org.

Find out how to manage cookies on popular browsers:

Where does this website use cookies?

Our website uses cookies in several places - we've listed each of them below with more details about why we use them and how long they will last.

Registering or signing in

Server generated cookies

  • AWSELB - "Amazon Web Services Elastic Load Balancer" - Used to direct your request to the appropriate server. No personal information is contained or used.
  • Firmstep2server - Used to direct your request to the appropriate server. No personal information is stored.
  • Firmstep2session - A unique identifier given to you for the duration of your site visit. It is used to ensure that you and only you are shown information relevant to you. It contains no personally identifiable information, but is temporarily linked to your user account when you log in.
  • ASP.NET_SessionId - A unique identifier given to you for the duration of your site visit. It is used to ensure that you and only you are shown information relevant to you. It contains no personally identifiable information, but is temporarily linked to your user account if you log in.
  • PHPSESSID - Same as above but unique to Self sites

Cookies set by javascript

  • 0.js:
    • fs2logevents: Only set by explicit user action. Increases the level of internal debug information kept by the browser.
    • fs2debug: Only set by explicit user action. Causes the display of a button to allow the user to submit browser debug information for diagnostics.
    • fs2diag: Only set by explicit user action. Causes the display of a toolbar that can submit or display browser debug information.
    • NoAJAT: Used to disable AJAX. Only appears in redundant code. No longer actually set/used.
  • combined.js:
    • ui-tabs: Used by the client to maintain tabs state when the user moves between pages.

ReachDeck

These cookies are set for customers who use the ReachDeck service, to read aloud and translate content on our site. The cookies enable the service to function by storing the user’s selections and preferences as they move around the site, including their settings for the tool, any language selection they might have made, the position of the toolbar, and their acceptance of the disclaimers.

This website uses ReachDeck, an accessibility and reading support add-on that helps you to read the content. To learn more about ReachDeck, visit www.texthelp.com

ReachDeck stores some data in the Local Storage in your browser, to enable the add-on to work correctly and remember your preferences. Examples of preferences include colour choices, translation language choices, or screen mask configuration. Look at the ReachDeck user settings panel to see all the different types of information.

ReachDeck also stores the toolbar state. This ensures that when you enable an icon, it will remain enabled when you return to the website, or navigate to another page.

ReachDeck does not transmit any of this information to Texthelp servers.

ReachDeck also continues to use anonymised Google Analytics to collect general usage statistics to help us improve ReachDeck in future releases. This usage is considered to be a Tracking Cookie under EU Cookie Law, and it is important that users are able to opt out of this.

IP Anonymisation is used to ensure that both Google and Texthelp cannot identify individual users. ReachDeck does not log any personally identifiable information in these analytics.

Cookies set by ReachDeck
Name Type Expires Contains Purpose
TH_TOOLBAR_SETTINGS

Persistent

No expiration date. Cleared only through JavaScript, or clearing the Browser cache / Locally Stored Data

JSON object

Stores an object containing user specific settings for the ReachDeck toolbar such as dialog positions and button states. No personally identifiable data is stored.

API_SETTINGS

Persistent

No expiration date. Cleared only through JavaScript, or clearing the Browser cache / Locally Stored Data

JSON object

Stores an object containing user specific API settings for the ReachDeck toolbar such as voice and language selection, user preferences set in the toolbar settings panel and selected styles for word highlighting.

audioalert

Persistent

No expiration date. Cleared only through JavaScript, or clearing the Browser cache / Locally Stored Data

JSON object

Stores a value ‘audioalert = true’ after the first ReachDeck audio alert.

Cookies set by Google Analytics for ReachDeck
Name Type Expires Contains Purpose

__utma

Persistent

2 years from set/update

A series of unique ids following the pattern: [Domain Hash].[Random Unique ID].[Timestamp of first visit].[Timestamp of start of previous session].[Timestamp of start of current session].[Session counter]

Used to distinguish users and sessions. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and no existing __utma cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.

__utmt

Persistent

10 minutes

Number value 1

Used to throttle request rate.

__utmb

Persistent

30 mins from set/update

timestamp of when the user visited the website

Used to determine new sessions/visits. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and no existing __utmb cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.

__utmc

Session

End of browser session

timestamp of the exact moment in time when a visitor leaves a site

Not used in ga.js. Set for interoperability with urchin.js. Historically, this cookie operated in conjunction with the__utmbcookie to determine whether the user was in a new session/visit.

__utmz

Persistent

6 months from set/update

information on search engines and the entered search terms, or where the IP address of the visitor is located

Stores the traffic source or campaign that explains how the user reached your site. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.

_ga

Persistent

2 years

the unique ID for the browsing session

Used to distinguish users. The ID is used only to identify the session for the statistics and is completely anonymous.

_gat_UA-4669579-11

Persistent

1 minute

Number value 1

Used to throttle request rate. If Google Analytics is deployed via Google Tag Manager, this cookie will be named _dc_gtm_<property-id>.

_gid

Persistent

24 hours

a unique value for each page visited

Used to distinguish users.

Analytics

To improve our service we collect anonymous web statistics using programmes called Google Analytics and SiteImprove. They store several cookies on users' computers or mobile devices to tell us how many people have visited each web page, how they got there, and where they navigated to from there.

Cookies used by Google analytics
 Name Default expiration time Purpose
__utma 2 years from set/update Used to distinguish users and sessions. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and no existing __utma cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.
__utmt 10 minutes Used to throttle request rate.
__utmb 30 mins from set/update Used to determine new sessions/visits. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and no existing __utmb cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.
__utmc End of browser session Not used in ga.js. Set for interoperability with urchin.js. Historically, this cookie operated in conjunction with the __utmb cookie to determine whether the user was in a new session/visit.
__utmz 6 months from set/update Stores the traffic source or campaign that explains how the user reached your site. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.
__utmv 2 years from set/update Used to store visitor-level custom variable data. This cookie is created when a developer uses the _setCustomVar method with a visitor level custom variable. This cookie was also used for the deprecated _setVar method. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics.

You can opt out of being tracked by Google Analytics across all websites.

Cookies set by SiteImprove
Name Type Expires Contains Purpose

nmstat

Persistent

Expires after 1000 days

Randomly generated ID

This cookie is used to help record the visitor’s use of the website.
It is used to collect statistics about site usage such as when the visitor last visited the site.
This information is then used to improve the user experience on the website. This Siteimprove Analytics cookie contains a randomly generated ID used to recognise the browser when a visitor reads a page. The cookie contains no personal information and is used only for web analytics.

It is also used to track the sequence of pages a visitor looks at during a visit to the site. This information can be used to reduce user journeys, and enable visitors to find relevant information quicker.

AWSELBCOR

Session End of browser session Randomly generated ID  The AWSELBCOR cookie ensures that all page views for the same visit (user session) are sent to the same endpoint. This enables us to determine the sequence of a user's page views needed for features like Behaviour Tracking and Funnels.
AWSELB Session End of browser session Randomly generated ID The AWSELB cookie ensures that all page views for the same visit (user session) are sent to the same endpoint. This enables us to determine the sequence of a user's page views needed for features like Behaviour Tracking and Funnels.

Social media cookies

We provide access to content from social media and networking websites such as YouTube and Twitter. Please check with these websites to find out how your information is used.

Cookie name Originator Purpose More information
_fbp from Facebook Pixel Facebook Used for advertising on Facebook  
eu_cn
external_referer
guest_id
personalization_id
pid
tfw_exp
ua
Twitter Used on pages with Twitter feed  
PREF from youtube.com YouTube embedded content Expires 6 months  
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE from youtube.com YouTube embedded content Expires 10 years A cookie used to remember your previous selections or preferred settings made when looking at information or using a service. Cookies remain for up to eight months when they expire. They are then deleted. You can also delete these cookies at any time.

Orlo

Orlo is a social media management platform.

Cookie name Originator Purpose
ssi_customer
ssi_tracker
Orlo These cookies enable us to see which social media posts brought visitors to this site and what pages were visited. You can delete these cookies at any time.

Third party cookies

Some of our pages use content from other websites, such as Google Maps. We do not have any control over these cookies. You should check the websites of the companies to find out how your information is used.

Cookie name Originator Purpose
PREF,NID, SNID, MPRF Google maps A unique reference is given to each computer to allow analysis of requests to Google Maps. Data is only used for overall visitor analysis. Cookies remain for up to two years when they expire. They are then deleted. You can also delete these cookies at any time.

Social sharing

Social sharing audio and video services are run by other companies, who may put cookies on your computer when you use them on our site or if you are already logged in to them.

Services that we may use and their use of cookies:

Facebook pixel

We use a Facebook pixel as an Audience Engagement monitoring tool.

We use a Facebook pixel to identify visitor audiences who have responded to a Facebook advert the Council has commissioned. We do this to:

  • analyse if Facebook adverts are delivering value for money
  • analyse if the Facebook adverts are reaching their intended audience
  • allow us to identify respondents to Facebook adverts (anonymously) and send follow up adverts to further promote a campaign
  • Facebook visitor audiences provide a greater level of detail around audience membership demographics than other methodologies

We use this information to judge the efficacy and performance of our Facebook advert campaigns.