Leaf

Cookies

Cookies are small text files that are automatically stored on your computer as you browse the web. Typically, they contain 2 pieces of information:

  1. Site name
  2. Unique user ID

They are widely used in order to make websites work, or work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to the owners of the site. The tables explain the cookies we use and why.

First party cookies

Cookie nameEssential or non-essentialType of cookieSession or persistentExpiry timeDescription
_ga
_gid
_gat
Non-essentialGoogle Analytics_ga: persistent
_gid: persistent
_gat: session
_ga: 2 years
_gid: 1 day
_gat: 1 minute
Google Analytics used to monitor traffic levels, search queries and visits to this website.

Google Analytics stores IP address anonymously on its servers in the US, and Google does not associate your IP address with any personally identifiable information.

These cookies enable Google to determine whether you are a return visitor to the site, and to track the pages that you visit during your session.

These cookies are set only after the user has given consent to us to use cookies.

_ga: This cookie is used for Google Analytics to distinguish unique users by assigning a randomly generated number as a client identifier.

_gat: This cookie is used for Google Analytics to throttle request rate.

_gid: This cookie is used for Google Analytics to store and update a unique value for each page visited.
nmstatNon-essentialTracking / SiteImprovePersistent1,000 daysThis cookie is used to help record visitors' 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 recognize the browser when a visitor reads a page.

The cookie contains no personal information and is used only for web analytics

Third party cookies

Cookie nameEssential or non-essentialType of cookieSession or persistentExpiry timeDescription
AWSELBEssentialFunctional / Amazon Web ServicesSessionOn browser closeThis cookie is used by Amazon Web Services Elastic Load Balancing functionality for routing client request on the server.
siteimprovesesNon-essentialTracking / SiteImproveSessionOn browser closeThis cookie is used purely to track the sequence of pages a visitor looks at during a visit to the site.

This information can be used to create User Journeys and enable visitors to find relevant information more quickly.

Report your cookie concerns

You can report your cookie concerns on the Information Commissioner’s website.