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Connect to Work Programme Privacy Notice

Last updated: May 2025

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

Who we are

Kent County Council (KCC) is the Accountable Body for the Connect to Work programme and is responsible for processing your personal information. When we do so, we are regulated under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We are the ‘data controller’ for this information alongside the Department of Work and Pensions. Our Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

The Connect to Work programme provides supported employment services to help individuals with barriers to work access and sustain meaningful employment. This includes services delivered by KCC and commissioned providers across Kent and Medway.

Personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us may include:

  • Name, date of birth, and contact details
  • National Insurance number
  • Employment and education history
  • Residency and benefit status
  • Details of any support services you are receiving
  • Health information, disabilities, or learning difficulties (where relevant)
  • Ethnicity and other equalities monitoring data
  • Referral and case management information

We may also receive information from:

  • Referral partners (for example Jobcentre Plus, social care teams, health professionals)
  • Commissioned delivery partners
  • Other services you are engaged with

How we use your personal information

We use your information to:

  • Assess your eligibility and suitability for the programme
  • Provide tailored employment support
  • Monitor your progress and outcomes
  • Report to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and other government departments
  • Evaluate and improve the programme
  • Ensure compliance with funding and legal requirements

How long your personal data will be kept

We will retain your personal information for up to 6 years after the end of the programme, in line with government guidance and funding requirements. After this period, your data will be securely deleted or anonymised.

Legal basis for processing

We collect and use your personal data under:

  • Article 6(1)(e) UK GDPR – Public task: processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest
  • Article 9(2)(g) UK GDPR – Substantial public interest: for processing special category data
  • Schedule 1, Part 2 of the Data Protection Act 2018 – Equality of opportunity or treatment

Who we share your information with

We may share your information with:

  • Commissioned delivery partners
  • Employers and training providers (with your knowledge)
  • Other organisations who may be able to support you (with your knowledge)
  • Government departments including DWP, DfE, and HMRC
  • Local authorities and health services
  • Other organisations where required by law or for safeguarding purposes

All partners are required to comply with data protection legislation and are subject to data sharing agreements.

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 (subject access request)
  • 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:

  • 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 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 Commissioners Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under GDPR.

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

Withdraw your consent

Where we rely on your consent, you can withdraw your consent at any time. The withdrawal of consent shall not affect the lawfulness of processing based on consent before its withdrawal.

You can do this by:

  • clicking on unsubscribe on any emails received from Let’s talk Kent
  • updating your registration profile
  • clicking on cookie management buttons when accessing the website
  • contacting KCC directly.

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.

External links

Our website may contain links to other websites. Those links are provided for convenience and may not remain current or be maintained. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of linked websites and we suggest you review the privacy policies of those websites before using them.

Security

While no online service is completely secure, we work very hard to protect information about you against unauthorised access, use, alteration, or destruction, and take all reasonable measures to do so.

Who to contact

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.

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

The UK GDPR 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 on 03031 231113.

Read our corporate privacy statement.