Guidance

Environmental Stewardship privacy notice

Published 18 July 2024

Applies to England

Environmental Stewardship privacy notice including Entry Level Stewardship, Organic Entry Level Stewardship and Higher Level Stewardship.

1. Purpose for Processing

Environmental Stewardship consists of 3 elements:

1.1 Entry Level Stewardship (ELS)

A scheme to improve water quality, reduce soil erosion, improve conditions for farmland wildlife, maintain and enhance landscape character and protect the historic environment. It includes Uplands ELS: simple and effective land management agreements with priority options.

1.2 Higher Level Stewardship (HLS)

A discretionary grant that concentrates on the more complex types of management where land managers need advice and support and where agreements need to be tailored to local circumstances.

1.3 Organic Entry Level Stewardship (OELS)

A ‘whole farm scheme’ open to farmers who manage all or part of their land organically and who are not receiving aid under the Organic Aid Scheme or the Organic Farming Scheme, includes Uplands OELS, organic and conventional mixed farming agreements.

2.  Why we are able to process your personal data

The law allows us to process your personal data under article 6(1)(e) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). We are allowed to process personal data when we need to carry out a public task. The relevant law is the Environmental Stewardship (England) Regulations 2005.

We have a legal obligation to provide beneficiary data to Defra, who publish it to meet EU retained legislation, aimed at promoting transparency.

3. What personal data we process

The information we collect and process is:

• customer registration information
• bank account information
• applications, offers and agreements (including the agreement (AG) number)
• grants
• geospatial mapping data for parcels
• land of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
• details of anyone who acts for you, for example an agent

If you use the Rural Payments service to manage your Environmental Stewardship agreement or correspond with RPA, we put small files (known as ‘cookies’) onto your computer. The cookies used on this service are not used to identify you personally.

We may process your personal data including your email address in any questions or feedback you send to us. We may also use your information to contact you about future grants and updates to farming policy that would be relevant to you. 

4. Your responsibility with other people’s personal data

If you’ve included personal data about other people in your records, you must tell them. You must provide them with a copy of this privacy notice so that they know how their personal data will be used.

5. Where your personal data is stored

We store, transfer and process your personal data on our servers in the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU).

6. How long we keep your personal data

We keep your information for 11 years.

Please refer to our Personal Information Charter and the section ‘How long we will keep data’ for information on any potential exceptions.

7. Who we share your personal data with

We share your personal data with:

• Natural England
• Forestry Commission
• Environment Agency
• National Park Authorities
• National Audit Office
• Hallmark (for in situ visits)
• local authorities (involved in setting up an agreement)
• Catchment Sensitive Farming
• Farm advice organisations

8. Your rights

Read our Personal Information Charter to find out your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

9. How to make a complaint

If you have concerns about how RPA uses your personal data, please read how to get in touch or make a complaint.