Privacy Policy

Last Updated: May 2018

This notice explains what personal data (information) we hold about you, how we collect, how we use and may share information about you. We are required to give you this information under data protection law.

Who are we?

Kent County Council collects, uses and is responsible for certain personal information about you. Kent County Council processes personal information to support the fulfilment of its own duties as a local authority, and on behalf of the following groups and boards for which it acts as the secretariat or local facilitator:

• South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP),
• Kent and Medway Economic Partnership (KMEP) (a local federated board of SELEP)
• Kent and Medway Business Advisory Board (BAB) (a sub-group of KMEP), and
• KMEP’s Skills Commission and the Skills Guilds (sub groups of KMEP).

When Kent County Council processes the personal data, we are regulated under the General Data Protection Regulation which applies across the European Union (including in the United Kingdom) and we are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information for the purposes of those laws. Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

The personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

In the course of our activities to grow the local economy, we collect personal information to the extent that you specifically provide it. You may choose to provide us with any or all of the following personal information on the GDPR consent form:

• Name
• Email Address
• Postal Address
• Job Title
• Company Name
• Telephone Number(s)

Board Members of SELEP and KMEP are also asked to provide their declarations of interests using the form stipulated in the National LEP Assurance Framework. This form asks for the following personal data:

• Name of your employer(s)
• Name of any business carried on by you
• Name of any other role in which you receive remuneration
• Description of employment or business activity.
• The name of any firm in which you are a partner.
• The name of any company for which you are a remunerated director
• Any financial benefit obtained (other than from the LEP) which is paid as a result of carrying out duties as a Member. This includes any payment or financial benefit from a Trade Union within the meaning of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 (a)
• Any contract for goods, works or services with the LEP
• Any contract for goods, works or services entered into by any organisation - that you are employed by/owner of/a member of - where either party is likely to have a commercial interest in the outcome of the business being decided by the LEP.
• Any beneficial interest you or any organisation - that you are employed by/owner of/member of - may have in land or property which is likely to be affected by a decision made by the LEP in a forthcoming meeting.
• Any interest in securities of an organisation - that you are employed by/owner of/member of – where that body has a place of business or land in the area of the LEP;
• Membership of any body to which you have been appointed or nominated by the SELEP:
• Membership of any body exercising functions of a public nature (e.g. school governing body or another LEP):
• Membership of any body directed to charitable purposes
• Membership of any body, one of whose principal purposes includes the influence of public opinion or policy (including any political party or trade union)
• Any other interest which you hold which might reasonably be likely to be perceived as affecting your conduct or influencing my actions in relation to my role.

In addition to ‘personal information’ covered by the General Data Protection Regulation, we may also collect commercial information about your business through business surveys or through the information you provide in your economic commentary. The business surveys could ask for information, such as the annual turnover, number of employees, company description etc.

We also obtain personal information from other sources such as company websites.

Why we collect personal information

Growing the local economy, improving educational attainment, planning to meet the local housing need are some of central government’s aims. The Government has devolved some responsibilities and funding to the local authorities and the 38 Local Enterprise Partnerships in England to help it achieve these aims.

Being able to access the expertise, knowledge and labour market insights of the private sector and education sector enables Kent County Council, the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, and its local boards and sub-groups listed under ‘who we are’ to better meet these government objectives.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information to:

• Administer the boards and sub-groups listed under ‘who we are’. This may include: o notifying you of the relevant board meeting dates, o requesting your views on future agenda items, o sending you meeting papers, o using your personal information to inform the minutes of the meeting, and o contacting you regarding the action points following board meetings.
• Request labour market intelligence and economic commentary data.
• Seek your views to inform strategy development and delivery.
• Invite you to attend events, which may be hosted or facilitated by Kent County Council, KMEP, BAB, SELEP, Skills Commission/Guilds, another local authority, or a central government department/agency.
• Forward you information from central government and its agencies which is intended for the private sector.
• Send you links to publications and research.
• Conduct surveys.
• Consult you and potentially ask for your support for lobbying campaigns undertaken by Kent County Council or any of the boards listed under ‘who we are’.
• Notify you of forthcoming funding opportunities.
• Inform you of the progress of Kent County Council and the LEP in delivering capital projects.
• Request data as required by law and government best practice, and
• Ensure the SELEP and KMEP websites comply with the government’s transparency requirements set out in the LEP National Assurance Framework.

How long your personal data will be kept

The minutes of BAB, KMEP, SELEP and the Skills Commission/Guilds are retained indefinitely. These minutes are likely to include your name, job title, company name, your declarations of interests and any comments you make during the meetings.

We will hold the remainder of your personal details (i.e. your email address, postal address, telephone numbers) for:

• The duration of your tenure as a board member, plus an additional month following your resignation from the board, prior to your information being securely destroyed.
• Or until you notify us that you wish us to delete your personal information. This can be requested at any time by emailing info@kmep.org.uk.

Reason we can collect and use your personal information

We rely on the following article 6 clauses as the lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal information:

• (a) You (the data subject) has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes; and/or

• (e) The processing is necessary for you to perform a task in the public interest or for your official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.

If you do not consent to us processing your personal data, you will no longer be able to be a member of the board(s).

Specifically, the provision of your name, job title, company name, and one form of contact information (e.g. email address or postal address) is required from you to enable you to remain a Business Advisory Board Member and/or Skills Guild Member.

The provision of your name, job title, company name, and a form of contact information plus a completed register of interest is required from you to enable you to remain a member of the Kent and Medway Economic Partnership (KMEP), and/or South East Local Enterprise Partnership (SELEP). This is a requirement of the LEP National Assurance Framework.

Who we share your personal information with

This LEP National Assurance Framework requires us to show the following personal information publicly on the KMEP and SELEP website:

• The name, job title, and company of each member of the Business Advisory Board and/or Skills Guild.
• The name, job title, company name, and completed register of interest form for each member of KMEP and/or SELEP.
• The minutes of BAB, KMEP, SELEP and Skills Commission and Guilds. These minutes are likely to include your name, job title, company name, your declarations of interests and any comments you make during the meetings.

Excluding this information (listed above) that must be displayed on the KMEP and/or SELEP websites in order to comply with the LEP National Assurance Framework, your personal information will never be shared publicly.

However, we may share your personal information in the form of your name, job title, company name, email address, and your economic commentary with the following organisations:

• The boards and organisations listed under ‘who we are’ – to enable us to undertake the activities described in ‘how we use your information’.
• Other Local Authority Bodies (i.e. County, District/Borough, and Unitary Councils) in Kent, Medway, Essex, Southend, Thurrock and East Sussex – to enable them to use your economic commentary to inform their strategy development and delivery.
• Central Government (i.e. Departments, Ministers and local Members of Parliament) – to fulfil our responsibilities to complete their data/monitoring requests, and for your views to inform their strategies, policies, and funding decisions.

In addition, Kent County Council, acting as secretariat, may share your name, telephone number and email address with the Chairman and Vice-Chairmen of the boards listed under ‘who we are’ so they can contact you to discuss the functions and action points of the board. We would seek new additional consent from you before we share any further details than those outlined above.

Your personal information will never be shared with or sold to a private-sector business for their promotional purposes.

Kent County Council will, however, share personal information with other parties and organisations such as law enforcement or other authorities as required by law.

Your Rights

Under the GDPR you have rights which you can exercise free of charge which that you to:

• Withdraw your consent for us to use your personal data at any time

• Know what we are doing with your information and why we are doing it

• Ask to see what information we hold about you

• Ask us to correct any mistakes in the information we hold about you
• Object to direct marketing
• Make a complaint to the Information Commissioners Office

Depending on our reason for using your information you may also be entitled to:

• Ask us to delete information we hold about you
• Have your information transferred electronically to yourself or to another organisation
• Object to decisions being made that significantly affect you
• Object to how we are using your information
• Stop us using your information in certain ways

We will always seek to comply with your request however we may be required to hold or use your information to comply with legal duties. Please note your request may delay or prevent us in being able to communicate to you about the activities of the Board(s).

For further information about your rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, see the guidance from the UK Information Commissioners Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under the General Data Protection Regulation.

If you would like to exercise a right, please contact the Information Resilience and Transparency Team at data.protection@kent.gov.uk.

Keeping your personal information secure

We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost, or used or accessed in an unauthorised way. We limit access to your personal information to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.

Who to Contact

Please contact the Information Resilience and Transparency Team at data.protection@kent.gov.uk to exercise any of your rights, or if you have a complaint about why your information has been collected, how it has been used or how long we have kept it for.

You can contact our Data Protection Officer, Benjamin Watts, at dpo@kent.gov.uk or write to the Data Protection Officer, Sessions House, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XQ.

The General Data Protection Regulation also gives you right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. The supervisory authority in the UK is the Information Commissioner who may be contacted at https://ico.org.uk/concerns or telephone 03031 231113.

For further information visit https://www.kent.gov.uk/about-the-council/about-the-website/privacy-statement