Privacy Policy
The LEP works with Government and local business and public sector partners to shape economic strategy and investment in jobs, skills and growth for our area. We provide services and information for local businesses through our Growth Hub and work with regional partner organisations such as the Midlands Engine to achieve our objectives. Undertaking this work means that we must collect and use information about the organisations, and in some cases the individuals, that we work with.
The LEP’s accountable body is Staffordshire County Council, which is registered as a ‘Data Controller’ under the Data Protection Act 1998. This means that we, on behalf of the county council, must make sure you know what we intend to do with your information and who it will be shared with or disclosed to. This notice explains how we use and share your information.
Why do we collect information?
We obtain, create and manage a large amount of information relating to our services and partners. Our aim is to ensure that we have the right information to allow us to carry out our work.
We will only use the information that you supply in order to shape our policy and provide you with the services you have requested or require. Sometimes we may not be able to provide a service if you do not provide information.
How do we collect information?
Your information may be collected or recorded on paper or online form, by telephone, or email. Information may be provided by you in writing or by a member of our staff on your behalf. There could be personal information on forms such as grant or loan applications, personnel records, applications to join the LEP Executive Board and other kinds of document. Sometimes we may need to ask other agencies or organisations for relevant information about you to fulfil our legal responsibilities or to provide services.
How will we use that information?
We will use the information you provide in order to:
- Deliver our objectives and understand your needs
- Maintain and update your record or contact details
- Contact you where necessary
- Obtain your opinion and feedback about the work of the LEP
- Ensure that we fulfil our legal obligations
How will we share your information?
Where necessary information may be shared with other organisations such as Staffordshire County Council, Stoke-on-Trent City Council and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. In such cases, the information provided is only the minimum necessary to enable them to provide services to you. These organisations are required to retain your information in a secure manner and only use it to undertake the services they provide to you. The LEP is also required by law to protect the public funds it administers and may share information provided to it with other bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds in order to prevent and detect fraud. More information is available from the National Fraud Initiative web site.
The information we intend to share is business related and is unlikely to be of a sensitive, personal nature. If that were to be the case, we would only share it with partner organisations if we had obtained your consent or unless we are legally required to share it. We have an information sharing protocol with local partners under which our partners agree to similar commitments toward privacy, security and transparency.
At no time will your information be passed to organisations external to the LEP or our partners for marketing or sales purposes or for any commercial use without your prior express consent.
How do we look after your information?
Under the Data Protection Act 1998, we have a legal duty to protect any information that we collect from you. We take measures to safeguard your data and apply security standards and controls to prevent any unauthorised access to it. Information which you have provided will be stored securely. It will only be used for the purpose(s) stated when the information was collected.
How long do we retain information?
How long we keep the information before it is disposed of varies depending on the type of information, legal requirements and business need. In some instances the law sets the length of time information has to be kept. The county council’s retention and disposal schedules give details about how long information is kept.
Access to information and correction
Under the Data Protection Act you have a right to make a request for a copy of some or all of your personal information we hold about you. Please note we may make a charge for this service.
We want to make sure that personal information is accurate and up to date. You may ask us to correct or remove information you think is inaccurate. Please help us to make sure that we have identified you correctly by letting us know when you change address or name, and tell us if any of your information we hold is wrong
Who does this privacy policy apply to?
This website contains links to the websites of other organisations. This privacy policy only applies to Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire LEP not to other organisations whose websites we might link to from this site.
Changes to our Privacy Policy
We keep our Privacy Policy under regular review. We will publish any revisions on our website. This privacy policy was last updated on 21st May 2018.
How to contact us
Please contact us if you have any questions about our privacy. Initial queries may be directed to chair@stokestaffslep.org.uk. Staffordshire County Council’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dpo@staffordshire.gov.uk.
How to contact the Information Commissioner’s Office
Further information about Data Controller Registration (Notification) the Data Protection Principles and raising concerns about how information is handled is available from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
Contact details for the ICO are as follows:
The Information Commissioner, Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Telephone: 01625 545745 Fax: 01625 524510 Email: mail@dataprotection.gov.uk www.ico.org.uk
