Summary of privacy notice
To inform programme participants about:
- why their details are required
- who they will be shared with
- how long their data will be retained
- their information rights
Background and data controllers for the information we collect
The Get Britain Working Trailblazer is the programme that is designed to help people to move towards employment who are currently not working or looking for work. The programme is funded via West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA), who in turn have received funding from the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and is led locally by Leeds City Council. The focus of the Trailblazer programme is to reduce economic inactivity through interventions to support economically inactive Leeds residents that have the right to work in the UK to increase participants’ levels of confidence and self-esteem and inspire them to take the first steps into accessing support in order to progress nearer to or into employment. As part of the funding arrangements, we are required to monitor programme participant eligibility, progress and achievement and share this information with WYCA who in turn will share this data with DWP.
The purpose of this privacy notice is to tell you about what information we collect about you when you use our service, how we use that information and who we may share it with. It is provided to meet the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) to explain how we process your personal data in delivering the Trailblazer programme.
The following data controllers are listed below, along with their respective responsibilities under this programme:
- Department for Work and Pensions - DWP act as the Data Controller for evaluation of the programme. Find out more about how they use and protect your information.
- West Yorkshire Combined Authority - WYCA will process your personal data to monitor and audit the scheme, evaluate the impact, effectiveness and value for money of the scheme and carry out any promotional activities. Find out more about how they use and protect your information.
- Leeds City Council (LCC) - LCC will process personal data to deliver the Get Britain Working Trailblazer scheme and fulfil their reporting obligations to the combined authority. This will include reporting on your destination, and you or your employer, education or training provider may be contacted to confirm this. More information about participating in the programme and the requirements could be found in the participating sheet.
To deliver this programme, Leeds City Council engaged with VSC - Volition who act as the data processor and have the responsibility for overseeing the programme, supporting providers and collecting and quality assuring data returns.
We also work with diverse range of organisations to deliver these services who will also act as data controllers in their own right to collect and process your information.
The data we will collect
If you decide to take part you will be asked to sign a declaration to confirm that you understand how your personal information will be used, and that you agree to take part.
We will process the following data:
- name
- address
- date of birth
- national insurance number
- email address
- telephone number
- employment status
- education status
Special category (including finance data):
- personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin
- personal data revealing gender
- biometric data (where used for identification purposes)
- personal data concerning health
Criminal offence data:
- self-declaration of criminal record
How we collect information about you
We collect information about you from you directly (for example, by asking you to complete one of our forms, via the telephone, or face-to-face).
Why we process your data
We use your information to:
- assess your eligibility for the programme
- monitor your progress and achievements as a result of receiving support
- provide information on appropriate employment opportunities
- fulfil the programme's reporting obligations to WYCA
All the data collected will be treated in strict confidence and in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The data provided by you will only be used for the purposes specified.
Lawful basis for processing
We collect and hold your information to enable us to meet the conditions of the Funding Agreement with WYCA.
We will process your personal data in accordance with UK GDPR Article 6(1) of the UK GDPR. The processing shall be lawful only if and to the extent that the following applies:
- Article 6(1)(a) – processing is lawful if consent is given. If you decide to take part you will be asked to sign a declaration to confirm that you understand how your personal information will be used, and that you agree to take part. This is completely voluntary, and you can stop taking part at any time. If you do stop taking part, you won’t be asked to provide any more information, but we will still use the information you have already provided to help with evaluation
- Article 6(1)(b) – processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party.
- 6(1)(e) - processing is necessary for the purposes of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.
We will process your special category data in accordance with UK GDPR Article9(2). The processing shall be lawful only if and to the extent that the following applies:
- Article 9(2)(g) - substantial public interest laid out in law (need to list at least one of 23 specific substantial public interest conditions set out in Part 2 of Schedule 1 of the DPA 2018).
The processing of special category data under Article 9 and criminal offence data under Article 10 are further supported by the following conditions in Schedule 1, Parts 1, 2 and 3: 1. Employment, social security and social protection .
All the listed conditions require an Appropriate Policy document to be in place, which sets out and explains the procedures for securing compliance with the principles in Article 5 and policies regarding the retention and erasure of such personal data. Our Appropriate Policy document provides further information about this processing and supplements this privacy notice.
Data retention, storage and destruction
Our data retention policies and procedures are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention. This means that your information will be kept for 7 years after the programme ends unless the law says that we need to hold it for longer or if there is a business requirement to do so. After this, your information will be deleted or archived.
Who we can share your data with
We share your data with agencies shown below as follows:
- West Yorkshire Combined Authority, who will use this information to confirm our compliance with the Get Britain Working Trailblazer Grant Funding Agreement and also to evaluate the impact, effectiveness and value for money of the scheme. This information will then be shared by WYCA with DWP.
- Volition - Leeds, who act as managing agents for us and undertake a range of quality and administrative duties for the programme on our behalf.
In addition, we will share your personal data:
- where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject
- in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person
- for the purposes of security and prevention of fraud and other criminal activity
- where such disclosure is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure
Automated decision making
Your data will not be used for any automated decision making, including profiling.
Your rights
The following rights under data protection law are available under the UK GDPR:
- the right to access – you can ask for copies of your personal data
- the right to rectification – you can ask us to rectify inaccurate personal data and to complete incomplete personal data
- the right to erasure - you can ask us to erase your personal data
- the right to restrict processing – you can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data
- the right to data portability – you can ask that we transfer your personal data to another organisation or to you
- the right to object to processing – you can object to the processing of your personal data
- the right to complain to a supervisory authority – you can complain about our processing of your personal data
All data rights apply where we process your information based on your consent.
Where we process your information under the terms of the contract, certain rights to do not apply, such as the right to objection to processing and the right to withdraw consent.
These rights are subject to certain limitations and exceptions. You can learn more about your rights through the 'Your individual rights' page, and the Information Commissioner's Office.
You may exercise any of the above rights in relation to your personal data by writing to us, using the contact details provided below.
When your data gets sent to other countries
The information you provide will not be transferred to another country outside of the UK.
Contact us
Any queries in relation to this privacy notice should be forwarded to:
Email: cefundingbids@leeds.gov.uk
Data Protection Officer
Aaron Linden
Head of Information Management and Governance - Data Protection Officer
Leeds City Council
Merrion House
110 Merrion Way
Leeds LS2 8BB
The council privacy notice is available to view.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with the way in which your information has been handled you should speak with the specific service in the first instance.
Any data protection complaints about how the council has processed your personal data, will be handled in accordance with the council’s complaints policy. You can find out how to submit a complaint by visiting this link.
If we cannot resolve your complaint, you can refer to the Information Commissioner if you consider that there has been an infringement of data protection legislation. Further details can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website.
Changes to this notice
We keep our privacy notice under regular review. We will notify you of significant changes to this notice by email or other means as appropriate. This privacy notice was last updated November 2025.
