Devon County Council (DCC) is collecting and or processing your personal data as a Data Controller under Data Protection legislation and our ICO registration number is Z6475582.

This privacy notice concerns the processing of personal data that takes place in connection with the Prosper Business Support Programme . Data Controllers for this programme are Devon County Council, Heart of the South West Growth Hub, Mid Devon District Council, East Devon District Council, and Exeter City Council.

This notice explains what information we collect, why we collect it, and how we keep it secure. It also explains your rights and our legal obligation. Should you wish to find out more about Devon County Council’s data protection policies, please contact our Data Protection Officer.

Why are we collecting your personal data?

The processing of your personal data is necessary to enable Devon County Council and its delivery partners to provide free and bespoke support to businesses that are eligible for the Prosper business support programme.

We will notify you of any changes to this privacy notice

This privacy notice was last updated 26/08/2025. If we use your personal data for any new purposes, updates will be made to the policy information and changes communicated, where necessary, in accordance with current data protection legislation. Any queries relating to this privacy notice, please contact the Data Protection Officer.

What information are we processing?

We may collect, store, or otherwise process information about you which may include:

Name and contact details
Business name and address
Companies House registration or letter from HMRC confirming registration
Demographic information (held anonymously)
Details you share with us about your business

Purposes of collecting or processing your personal data

DCC may need to collect or otherwise process your personal data so that we can:

Provide you with free and bespoke support under the Prosper business support programme
Confirm eligibility for support under the Prosper business support programme.
Monitor the change in your business for the duration of the programme to effectively evaluate and measure the success and impact of the Prosper business support programme,
Design and deliver future business support programmes to continue to support local businesses,
Contact you in the future about business support and potential funding opportunities that you may wish to access.
Ensure that delivery of support under this programme is inclusive and caters to clients’ accessibility needs.

The legal basis for us collecting your personal data

Where we are collecting personal data about you for the provision of one of the purposes outlined in this privacy notice, we rely upon:

Article 6(1)(e) – processing for the purposes of delivering a public task carried out in the public.

If we believe it is necessary to share your personal data to protect you or someone you work with from harm, we do so under our legal obligations set out in the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006, and the Children Acts 1989 and 2004. The lawful basis for this processing under Article 6(1)(c) of the UK GDPR is legal obligation, and where applicable, Article 6(1)(d) for protecting vital interests. If the data includes medical or social care information, we rely on Article 9(2)(g) – processing necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, specifically for safeguarding purposes as defined in the Data Protection Act 2018, Schedule 1, Part 2.

We may collect demographic data, such as age, gender, and ethnicity, to monitor access, ensure inclusivity, and evaluate the Prosper programme’s impact. This processing is carried out under the public task basis (UK GDPR Article 6(1)(e)). Where special category data is involved, (Article 9(2)(g)).

Personal data that is collected for any of the purposes outlined in this notice is never used for direct marketing purposes and is not sold on to any other third parties.

Recipients or categories of recipients that we may share your personal data with

When processing your personal data, it may be necessary for us to share personal data with third-party organisations such as:

The Ministry of Housing, Communities, and Local Government (MHCLG)
Organisations contracted or subcontracted to complete the activities of the Prosper business support programme, including external evaluators and business support and advice providers, for example, Business Information Point (BIP) who are working with us on this programme.

We may also need to share some personal data about you so that we can support third party organisations to discharge their regulatory requirements. This includes organisations such as:

The data protection regulator (the Information Commissioner’s Office)
The Care Quality Commission.

We may also share information to enable us to comply with court orders and other legal obligations. If this is necessary, we will only share the minimum amount of personal data needed for this purpose.

International Transfers

No personal data that is processed for any of the purposes outlined in this privacy notice will be transferred to countries outside of the territorial scope of UK data protection laws.

How long will be hold your personal data?

For the purposes of the Shared Prosperity Fund, DCC will retain your personal data for a maximum period of 7 years, and in line with our organisation’s record retention schedules.

The Prosper Business Support programme, managed and run by DCC, is funded by the Shared Prosperity Fund (UK SPF). DCC is required to retain all programme documents, including personal data, until MHCLG announces the destruction date.

Your data protection rights

Under Data Protection Legislation, you have the right to obtain a copy of their personal records held by us, this is called a Subject Access Request (SAR).

Details of how to make a request can be found here

Further details on your rights under data protection legislation and how to exercise them.

Complaints

If you have any comments, queries or complaints about this privacy notice or the processing of your personal data please contact our Data Protection Officer.

Alternatively, if you are not happy with the way that DCC is handling your personal data, you are entitled to appeal to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). The Information Commissioners Office enforces and oversees the Data Protection Regulations.

Contact details are below:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF Email: casework@ico.org.uk