Cookies are small text files that are sent by websites that you visit to recognise who you are when you return there.  These files are stored on your computer’s hard drive, and are read by your web browser.  Detailed information about cookies is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office (http://www.ico.gov.uk/) and the website at www.aboutcookies.org. This site uses “session” cookies, but not “persistent” cookies.

“Session” cookies are temporary bits of information that are erased once you exit your Web browser window or otherwise turn your computer off. Session cookies are used to improve navigation on websites and to collect aggregate statistical information.

“Persistent” cookies are more permanent bits of information that are placed on the hard drive of your computer and stay there unless you delete the cookie. Persistent cookies store information on your computer for a number of purposes, such as retrieving certain information you have previously provided (e.g., passwords), helping to determine what areas of the website visitors find most valuable, and customizing the website based on your preferences.

A list of the specific cookies used on this site is set out at the end of this Cookie Policy.

There are a number of options available to you to prevent the use of cookies on your computer.  You can either set your browser so that it will not accept and store any cookie, or if you have a little more time and knowledge you may be able to allow only certain ‘trusted’ websites to store cookies on your computer. It is worth bearing in mind that if you decide to delete all of your cookies, then you will likely have to re-enter all of your usernames and passwords on all of the websites that you visit.  You may also choose not to access websites that use cookies.

List of cookies used on this site

The aim of the following list is to provide you with an understanding of the types of cookies we use on this site.  The information in this list was accurate as at May 2018 to the best of our knowledge.

ASP.NET_SessionId

This cookie is a ‘session cookie’ and tells us that you are actively using our site. This way we can always know, at any given time, how many users we have visiting.

__utma

This cookie is used to identify unique visitors to our sites. The results are sent to our Google Analytics account so that we may see how many unique visitors come to this site based over a period of time.

__utmb

This cookie is used by Google Analytics to determine the visitor session times on our sites. Each time you visit a new page on the site the cookie is set to expire within 30 minutes, if it does not find an existing cookie, a new one is created.

__utmc

This cookie is used by Google Analytics in conjunction with __utmb to determine visitor sessions. Unlike __utmb this cookie does not have an expiry date, it determines whether a new session should be created based on whether you have previously closed your browser, re-opened it and come back to the site.

__utmt

This cookie is used by Google Analytics to throttle request rate. It expires after 10 minutes.

__utmz

This cookie is used by Google Analytics to determine the type of referral used by each visitor to arrive at our site. The cookie determines if the user has come directly to the site or via a search engine, email or email campaign. We use this data to understand how our users arrive at the website.

CMSCookieLevel

This cookie is used by Drupal, the server provider, and is a system cookie which specifies which cookies are allowed by the visitor.

CMSPreferredCulture

This cookie is used by Drupal the server provider which stores the visitor’s preferred culture.

Local Shared Object

Adobe uses a particular type of cookie called a ‘Local Shared Object’, which is typically collected if you watch a video, for example, that uses the Adobe Flash media player (i.e. an embedded YouTube video on a page that is being played via Flash). Please note that these types of cookie will not be found on iPads, which do not support Flash. Have a look at Adobe’s website if you want to control Flash cookies on your computer. If you have got a Firefox browser, you can also get an add-on to detect and delete Flash cookies.