Levelling Up Fund: Privacy notice
Updated 11 June 2021
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/levelling-up-fund-additional-documents/levelling-up-fund-privacy-notice
Personal data
The following is to explain your rights and give you the information you are entitled to under the Data Protection Act 2018.
Note that this section only refers to your personal data (your name, address and anything that could be used to identify you personally, not the other contents of your Levelling Up Fund 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 a data controller for all Levelling Up Fund 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. Why we are collecting your personal data
Your personal data is being collected as an essential part of the Levelling Up Fund bidding process, so that we can contact you regarding your bid and for monitoring purposes. We may also use it to contact you about matters specific to the Fund.
3. Legal basis for processing your personal data
The 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. With whom we will be sharing the data
As part of the process of selecting and monitoring the Levelling Up Fund, the MHCLG will share your personal data with relevant government departments including:
- Department for Transport (DfT)
- Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT)
- Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS)
- Cabinet Office
- Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland
- Office of the Secretary of State for Wales
- Northern Ireland Office
- Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS)
Depending on the area of funding e.g. transport investment, MHCLG may share data with governmental departments in the Devolved Administrations (as part of the appraisal process); and contractors where they are used for the monitoring and evaluation of Levelling Up Fund projects. Their contract will set out what they are permitted to do with organisational data.
5. For how long we will keep the personal data, or criteria used to determine the retention period
If your bid is successful, your personal data will be held for up to seven years from the closure of the bidding process. This is currently estimated to be March 2028. As part of the monitoring process, we will contact you regularly to ensure our records are up to date.
Should your bid be unsuccessful, we will erase your personal data.
6. Your rights, e.g. access, rectification, erasure
The data we are collecting is your personal data, and you have considerable say over what happens to it.
You have the right to:
a. know that we are using your personal data
b. see what data we have about you
c. ask to have your data corrected, and to ask how we check the information we hold is accurate
d. complain to the ICO (see below)
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 section 4 above, 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
If you are unhappy with the way the department is using your personal data, you can make a complaint.
You have a right to lodge a complaint with the independent Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) if you think we are not handling your data fairly or in accordance with the law. You can also contact the ICO for independent advice about data protection, privacy and data sharing. The ICO’s contact details are provided below.
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 Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
Telephone: 0303 123 1113 or 01625 545 745 https://ico.org.uk/