Last Updated: September 2023

The Kent & Medway Economic Partnership Privacy Notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review. The policy was last updated on 13/09/2023

Kent County Council respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data.  This privacy notice will inform you as to how we look after your personal data and tell you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

Who are we?

Kent County Council (KCC) collects, uses and is responsible for certain personal information about you. When we do so we are regulated under the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (‘UK GDPR’) and the Data Protection Act 2018.  We are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information.

KCC’s Economy Team provides a range of information and services which aim to boost economic growth within the county. We work closely with external partner organisations locally, nationally and internationally to implement these activities.

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)

 

In order to carry out this work, we need to communicate with various Kent organisations and businesses about the strategies, projects, programmes, events and activities that we and our partners deliver. Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

For information, in addition to ‘personal data’ covered by the General Data Protection Regulation and explained below, we may also collect commercial information about the businesses participating in our projects such as the annual turnover, number of employees, company description etc. to help with the implementation of our projects including capturing results and impacts.

 

The personal information we collect and use

 

Information collected by us

In the course of our activities, KCC’s Economy team collects the following personal information when you provide it to us:

• Names, job roles, contact details (email, phone and postal address) of representatives of Kent organisations and businesses
• We also collect the following ‘special category data’ (personal data which is more sensitive and is treated with extra care and protection) when you provide it to us:
• Age, Disability, Gender reassignment, Marriage and Civil Partnerships, Pregnancy and Maternity, Race, Religion and Belief, Sex, Sexual Orientation

We also obtain personal information from other sources as follows:

• Kent company websites and social media networks (Linked In, Twitter etc.) where we believe we may have a programme that is of specific interest to the business

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 from SELEP and KMEP Board Members and their Spouse/Partner (spouse or partner means anyone who meets the definition in the Localism Act, i.e. my spouse or civil partner, or a person with whom I am living as a spouse or a person with whom I am living as if we are civil partners)

• 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.

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.

We will also use your personal information to:

• Contact you about relevant strategies, programmes, policies, events and business support activities which may be of interest
• Enable you to benefit from programmes and project activities
• Keep records about organisations which have participated in programmes or projects to satisfy the requirements of external funding bodies

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.

How long your personal data will be kept

We will hold your personal information:

• Until you or your company notifies us that you wish us to delete your personal data.

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 (if applicable), 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.

Reasons we can collect and use your 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.

We rely on you providing consent as the lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal data. You may withdraw your consent at any time.  If you do withdraw your consent no further personal information will be collected and the existing personal information shall only be retained in accordance with KCC’s data protection policy.  If you do withdraw your consent you will no longer be able to be kept informed about KMEP’s programmes and activities.

Who we share your personal information with

• We will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law or in connection with legal proceedings.
• We will share personal information with our legal and professional advisers in the event of a dispute, complaint or claim. We rely on Article 9(2)(f) where the processing of special category data is necessary for the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims or whenever courts are acting in their judicial capacity.
• We may share your data with KMEP partnership organisation or local stakeholders involved in a particular KMEP programme, activity or event in which you participate with your consent. This would include the following types of data: Name, contact details and role within your company

Your Rights

Under the UK GDPR you have a number of rights which you can access free of charge which allow you to:

• 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 Commissioner’s Office.

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

• object to how we are using your information
• 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
• 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 delivering a service to you.

For further information about your rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, see the guidance from the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under the United Kingdom 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.

Your Right to Withdraw your Consent

Where we rely on your consent to process your personal information, you can withdraw your consent to our use of your data at any time.

You can do this by contacting us by email or telephone using the details provided on this website.

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.

The United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation also gives you the right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner who may be contacted at https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/ or telephone 0303 123 1113.

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

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.