Department for Education:
privacy notice for the Stronger Practice Hubs programme
Last updated: 20/07/2023
Date of next review: 20/07/2024
We might make changes before the review date. Check regularly for updates.
This privacy notice explains how the Department for Education (DfE) uses personal information in the Stronger Practice Hubs Programme. This includes information you give to us, or information that we may collect about you.
Who we are
This work is being carried out by the Early Years Education Recovery (EYER) team which is part of the Department for Education (DfE). The Stronger Practice Hubs programme forms part of the suite of EYER interventions that are currently being rolled out across the early years sector. For the purposes of data protection legislation, the DfE is the data controller for the personal data that is processed as part of EYER work.
The Stronger Practice Hubs programme will establish a national network of up to 18 Early Years Stronger Practice Hubs across England. This started in AY22/23 – and the aim is to appoint two Hubs per government office region. These will be existing, well-established early years settings which will support early years providers and practitioners in their region to adopt evidence-based practice improvements and address key COVID-19 recovery issues.
Why we get your personal data
When we collect and use this information, we need to follow the law. The main laws are the Data Protection Act (DPA) and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).
The DfE is the data controller for your personal data. We must have a reason to collect your personal data. This is called a ‘lawful basis’. We can use this lawful basis to process your personal data:
- public task – this is when we need your personal data to do our work, to provide or fund education.
What we need
We will collect the following types of personal information, some of which may be special category data, directly from you:
- Name, email address, telephone number, organisation name and address, and job role for settings applying to become Hubs
- Name, email address, telephone number, organisation name and address, and job role for Local Authority officers (e.g., those who are on mailing lists for engagement sessions, or who have contacted directly asking a question about the programme)
- Name, email address, telephone number, organisation name and address, and job role for other interested parties, including other early years settings that engage with their local Hub, voluntary organisations (VCSEs) and community leaders
We will collect the following types of personal data about Hubs from our delivery partner:
- salary information as evidence of claims relating to time spent on Hub activities
- Financial information (bank details)
Why we need it and what we do with it
We collect and process your personal information to:
- Design and manage the Stronger Practice Hubs selection process to appoint 18 new Hubs, which includes gathering contact information from applicant settings
- Manage the promotion of an evidence-based framework
- Manage the oversight and quality assurance of the Stronger Practice Hubs programme, including assurance and monitoring of all grant claims from the Hubs, entailing handling financial information
- Manage the facilitation of best practice and intelligence sharing between Hubs and with the DfE
- Manage the governance of the Stronger Practice Hubs programme
- Manage engagement with and enquiries from Local Authorities (LAs), early years providers, voluntary organisations (VCSEs) and community leaders, which may include processing professionals’ contact details
- Inform and manage programme evaluations – of the Stronger Practice Hubs programme and overarching EYER programme
- Make grant payments to relevant parties.
How long we keep it
The Early Years Education Recovery (EYER) team will only keep your personal information for as long as we need it. We decide how long to keep your personal information based on the needs of the department and the law. For this project, we will keep your personal data for up to 12 months following its end date to allow for evaluation. The end of this project is estimated to be December 2024.
We will take necessary steps to keep your information safe. It will then be securely destroyed when it is no longer needed.
Do we use any data processors?
A data processor is an organisation that processes your information on DfE’s behalf. For this project, the data processors are:
- Delivery partner – the National Children’s Bureau (NCB)
- Evidence partner – the Evidence Endowment Foundation (EEF)
- Evaluation partner – IFF Research
- Stronger Practice Hubs
- Overarching EYER evaluation partner – still to be appointed
We only use data processors for these activities:
- Collating and agreeing claims under the Stronger Practice Hubs programme grant
- Collecting management information from early years settings to evidence the effectiveness of the Stronger Practice Hubs programme
- Collecting information from Hubs, the delivery partner, the evidence partner, and early years settings to inform the project evaluation and overarching EYER evaluation
- Collecting information form Hubs and settings to inform the evaluation of evidence based early years programmes
Do we transfer your personal information overseas?
When DfE stores personal information outside the UK, we will make sure we keep your personal data safe. We follow the data protection law. We also use extra security measures, contracts and data sharing agreements.
Do we share your personal information?
If the law allows it, we might share your personal information with other parts of DfE including the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), and with other government departments.
We will share your personal information with our evaluators contracted by DfE to act on our behalf:
- Stronger Practice Hubs evaluation partner – IFF Research
- Overarching EYER evaluation partner – still to be appointed
We will also share your personal information with:
- organisations that request information to help prevent and detect crime or fraud
DfE may share your personal information to:
- safeguard children or young people - sharing is under the statutory guidance ‘Keeping children safe in education’ and ‘Working together to safeguard children’.
- investigate complaints
- ensure schools/academies follow their funding contract; and
- provide a quality education under the regulations (Education (Independent School Standards Regulations 2014))
The DfE Personal Information Charter gives you more information on how we use your personal information.
What are your rights
You have rights about how and why your information is collected and used.
These include:
- The right to see the personal information we have about you – this is called ’right of access’
- The right to ask us to change any information you think is not accurate or complete – this is called ‘right to rectification'
- The right to ask us to delete your personal information – this is called ‘right to erasure’
- The right to ask us to stop using your information – this is called ‘right to restriction of processing’, and
- Your ‘right to object to processing’ of your information
For more information on your rights, please see the ICO website.
Finding out what information we have
You have the right to ask for access to your personal information. This is known as a subject access request (SAR).
To make a SAR, you can use the DfE contact form.
Or you can post your request to the Data Protection Office at the below address.
Include as much information as you can about the information you need. Include the years you need the information for. If possible, tell us which part of the department holds the information. You’ll also need to tell us your telephone number and address.
We may need to check your identity and your right to access the information you’re requesting. To check your identify, we may ask for a copy of your passport, photo driving licence or proof of your address.
We’ll try to respond to your request within one month. But, if your request is complex, this could take a further two months, but we’ll tell you if this is the case.
How to contact us or make a complaint
If you have a question, or feel your data has been mishandled, you can contact us by:
using our secure DfE contact form or writing to:
Emma Wharram
Data Protection Officer
Department for Education (B2.28)
7 & 8 Wellington Place
Wellington Street
Leeds LS1 4AW
You can also complain to the ICO by writing to:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113.
Or use the online ICO contact form
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