A cookie is a small file that is downloaded onto your device when you visit a website, which means the website can recognise your device if you return to it.
Cookies are used to:
- recognise where you have already given your username and password, so you don’t need to do it for every visit
- recognise your device so you don’t have to give the same information several times during the same online task
- measure how you use the site so it can be updated and improved based on your needs
- provide data to help understand how a website and its services are used.
Cookies cannot be used to identify you as an individual.
How cookies are used on this site
Measuring how our site is used – Google Analytics
We use the following cookies to collect information about how visitors use our website:
- _ga
- _gat
- _gid
The information they provide includes details on number of website visitors, which web pages are viewed and how visitors get to the website. The information is anonymous and individuals are not identified.
Google Analytics – advertising features
This site also uses Google Analytics Advertising Features. These features will not be used for advertising but instead provide us with more information about who visits our site and what they look at, in order to provide us with information and make improvements to the website. The information collected by these cookies cannot identify individuals.
Within Advertising Features we have implemented Demographics and Interests reports. These allow us to see a breakdown of age groups, gender and interest categories. More information about google determines demographic information and interest reports.
We retain this Google Analytics data for a period of 50 months.
Opt out of sharing cookies
To opt out of sharing cookies you can use the Google Analytics Opt-out Browser Add-on.
You can also disable cookies in your browser settings: