Policy paper

Communities for Afghans phase 2: privacy notice for grant applications

Updated 17 March 2025

This privacy notice explains your rights and gives you the information you are entitled to under UK data protection legislation.

It only refers to your personal data (for example, your name, address and anything that could be used to identify you or others personally), not the other contents of your Communities for Afghans application.

1. The identity of the data controller and contact details of our data protection officer   

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) is the data controller for all Communities for Afghans scheme-related personal data collected with the relevant forms submitted to MHCLG, and the control and processing of personal data.

The data protection officer can be contacted at dataprotection@communities.gov.uk.

2. What personal data we are collecting and why  

As part of the grant award process for the Communities for Afghans scheme – Phase 2, we will be collecting the following data from applicants:

• names, role and contact details of staff from VCS organisations who are applying for grant funding to act as Principal Sponsors. This will include the lead organisation and any organisations in a consortium with the lead organisation.

Your personal data is being collected as an essential part of the Communities for Afghans scheme application process, so that we can contact you regarding your Communities for Afghans grant funding application and assess the structure of your organisation or proposed organisation to deliver the Communities for Afghans scheme.

For example, we may get in touch to:

• discuss your Communities for Afghans Scheme grant bid
• ask for further information or supporting documentation
• confirm that we are content with your organisation’s structure
• confirm that we are content with your organisation’s geographic spread and ability to deliver throughout the UK

We may also use it to contact you about matters specific to the project.

3. Lawful basis for processing the data 

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) will process all data according to the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (UK GDPR) and all applicable laws and regulations relating to processing of Personal Data and privacy, including, where necessary, the guidance and codes of practice issued by the Information Commissioner and any other relevant data protection regulations (together “the Data Protection Legislation (as amended from time to time)”).

The Data Protection Legislation sets out when we are lawfully allowed to process your data.

The lawful basis that applies to this processing is Article 6 (1) (e) of the UK GDPR, that:

• processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller
• data being processed belongs to business contacts processed during the routine course of business of a government department

4. Sharing your personal data

As part of the process of assessment and monitoring of the Communities for Afghans grant, MHCLG will share your personal data with relevant government departments or arm’s-length bodies, including:

• Wales Office
• Scotland Office
• Northern Ireland Office
• HM Treasury (HMT)
• No. 10 and Cabinet Office
• Home Office
• Ministry of Defence

Depending on the location of your proposal, MHCLG may share data with the devolved governments as part of the process of assessment and monitoring.

MHCLG will use an in-house service called ‘Apply for grant funding to be a Principal Sponsor for the Communities for Afghans scheme’ to collect information on organisations making an application for grant funding. As a data processor, this organisation shall only process personal information at the direction of the department. They cannot take ownership of the data or any derivatives of it.

There are data processing agreements in place between the department and its data processors to ensure that the processing of your personal data remains in strict accordance with the requirements of data protection legislation.

5. How long we will keep your personal data

Your personal data will be held for up to 6 years from end of the scheme. The scheme is due to end in March 2034. We will continue to hold your personal data so that we are able to contact you in order to monitor the progress of the fund and to evaluate the Communities for Afghans scheme.

As part of the monitoring process, we will contact you regularly to ensure our records are up to date.

6. Your rights

The data we are collecting is your personal data, and you have rights that affect what happens to it. You have the right to:

• know that we are using your personal data
• see what data we have about you
• ask to have your data corrected, and to ask how we check the information we hold is accurate
• complain to the ICO

In some circumstances you may also have the right to withdraw your consent to us having or using your data, to have all data about you deleted, or to object to particularly types of use of your data. We will tell you when these rights apply.

7. Sending data overseas

Your personal data will not be sent overseas.

8. Automated decision making

We will not use your data for any automated decision making.

9. Storage, security and data management

Your personal data will be stored in a secure government IT system. Where data is shared with third parties, as set out in Sharing your personal data, we require third parties to respect the security of your data and to treat it in accordance with the law.

All third parties are required to take appropriate security measures to protect your personal information in line with our policies.

10. Complaints and more information

When we ask you for information, we will keep to the law, including the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation.

If you are unhappy with the way the department has acted, you can make a complaint..

If you want to make a Subject Access Request, another request in relation to your rights, or if you are not happy with how we are using your personal data, you should first contact dataprotection@communities.gov.uk.

If you are still not happy, or for independent advice about data protection, privacy and data sharing, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office:

The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113 or 01625 545 745