Guidance

UK Shared Prosperity Fund intervention level evaluation: Privacy notice for people and skills evaluations

Updated 8 May 2024

© Crown copyright 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-growth-programmes-privacy-notices/uk-shared-prosperity-fund-intervention-level-evaluation-privacy-notice-for-people-and-skills-evaluations

The following is to explain your rights and give you the information you are entitled to under UK data protection legislation.  

1. Data controller

DLUHC is the data controller for any information collected via surveys for the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) intervention level evaluation. The Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dataprotection@levellingup.gov.uk. 

In order to conduct surveys for the UKSPF intervention level evaluation, DHLUC has commissioned two third parties, Frontier Economics and BMG Research, to collect personal data on its behalf. Frontier Economics is a specialist microeconomic consultancy. BMG Research is a specialist independent research agency. BMG Research and Frontier Economics are acting as data processors – meaning they will be conducting analysis and evaluation using your data on behalf of DLUHC. 

Sources of the personal data 

Frontier Economics, and BMG Research, will receive data directly from the local authority. Data shared by the local authority or delivery partner will be sourced directly from the data subject. 

Primary data will be collected in 3 ways:  

  1. Interviews with People and Skills stakeholders and beneficiaries to support the impact and process evaluation.  

  2. Surveys of individuals who have received support through the 9 people and skills projects in scope for the evaluation. 

  3. Surveys of businesses who have supported individuals with employment through employment skills programmes that involve local businesses in helping the inactive into employment.  

2. How we will use your data

Your personal data is being collected to help evaluate the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. You have been invited to take part in a survey as you have been involved with a programme that has been delivered using some funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), for example, an employment support programme. 

BMG Research will collect personal data for individuals (as detailed below) who have been contacted to take part in surveys, on behalf of DLUHC. This personal data has been collected by BMG Research via the local authority or delivery partner responsible for the programmes that have received UKSPF funding, or provided directly from you during the survey. 

The following personal data is being collected by BMG Research and is not provided to, or made available to DLUHC: 

  • Personal identifiers, including your name, email address, phone number and National Insurance Number 
  • Special category data including ethnicity and disability 
  • Personal information including age, gender, qualifications and employment status 
  • Your response to survey questions 

BMG Research will use your personal data and survey responses solely for the purpose of the evaluation of UKSPF. Your personal data will be removed to produce de-identified, aggregated statistical research findings for DLUHC. These de-identified findings may be shared with other government departments, partner organisations or researchers for statistical research purposes only. 

BMG Research may re-contact you to take part in a follow-on survey before the end of 2025 and may link your responses to the first survey to the follow-on survey. 

Your personal data (including any contact information) will not be shared with DLUHC or Frontier Economics. Once the evaluation has been published your personal data will be securely destroyed by BMG Research. 

DLUHC will publish the evaluation findings, which may include aggregated results from this survey. You will not be identifiable in any published findings. 

If the evaluation period is extended beyond 2025 your personal data may be used to link your survey data to data held in the DWP Employment Data Lab, to conduct further evaluation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund People & Skills interventions. For this processing, only personal data (not survey data) would be shared with the Department for Work & Pensions.  

The data protection legislation sets out when we are lawfully allowed to process your data. The lawful basis under UK GDPR for collecting this data is: 

Article 6(1) (e) 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 Protection Act 2018, Section 8(d) “exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown or a government department”. 

The special category data is being processed on the UK GDPR basis that processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest (Article 9(2)(g)). 

Data Protection Act 2018, Part 2, Schedule 1 section 6 “exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown or a government department”. 

4. Who will my data be shared with?

Only BMG Research will have access to the personal data you provide, on behalf of DLUHC. 

If the evaluation period is extended beyond 2025 your data may be shared with DWP for the purpose of linking datasets in the DWP Employment Data Lab and conducting further evaluation of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund People & Skills intervention. 

5. How long will my data be held for?

Your personal data will be securely removed from BMG Research’s systems when the evaluation report is published, and no later than December 2025, unless the evaluation period is extended beyond 2025 as mentioned above. If the evaluation is extended, we will contact you to provide further details. 

6. Your rights, e.g. access, rectification, erasure

The data we are collecting is your personal data. 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. Object to the processing of your data 

e. complain to the ICO (see below) 

7. Sending data overseas

If data is transferred outside of the UK, we will ensure that all necessary safeguards are in place as required by the UK GDPR. For the processing described in this privacy notice, data will only be transferred to the EU (Germany). The EU has been assessed as providing ‘adequate’ protection for people’s rights and freedoms about their personal data. 

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 IT system. It will not be transferred to any third parties outside of DLUHC and its data processors. 

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 are not happy with how we are using your personal data, you should first contact dataprotection@levellingup.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/

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