Cookies used on our website

In order to make our web-site simpler to use and improve our service, we sometimes place small amounts of information on your computer. These are known as 'cookies' and they are used by most major web-sites.

Cookies are used to:

  • Remember settings so you don't have to change them again every time you load a page.
  • Recognise that you are logged in to an area of the web-site so you don't have to keep re-entering your username & password.
  • Measure how you use the web-site so we can continue to improve it.

In the coming months we will continue to evaluate the cookies used on the site and develop ways to give users control over how cookies are used for their individual sessions.

Google Analytics

This is to ensure that we are providing the best website for all our users.  It helps us to understand the level of demand for content on specific pages and to monitor site performance metrics such as page load times.

These cookies are classed by the ICO as 'minimally intrusive'

For more information, see the  Google Analytics Privacy Policy. You can choose to opt out of Google Analytics.

Name

Typical content

Expires

_utma

randomly generated number

1 day

_utmb

randomly generated number

30 minutes

_utmc

randomly generated number

when you close your browser

_utmz

randomly generated number and information on how the site was reached (e.g. direct or via a link, organic search or paid search)

6 months

 

'Do not track' (DNT)

If you are worried about your privacy online we recommend that you use the Firefox browser with the 'Do not track settings' enabled.

Find out more at dnt.mozilla.org