Voluntary
Action
Leicestershire
VAL Employment
Data Sharing Policy, June 2013
Name of Policy
Introduction
Voluntary Action LeicesterShire (VAL) takes its commitment to protecting all
of the data that we hold on individuals and organisations very seriously. VAL
needs to keep certain information on all persons and groups involved with
VAL in order to carry out its day-to-day operations, meet its objectives and
comply with legal obligations.
VAL is committed to ensuring any personal data will be dealt with in
accordance with the terms of the Data Protection Act 1988. To comply with
the law, personal information will be collected and used fairly, stored safely
and not disclosed to any other person unlawfully.
This document covers all of the projects and services provided by VAL
including: Infrastructure support (support provided to the VCS around
influencing decisions, developing their groups and volunteering); The
VALUES project; Healthwatch; the Parent Partnership Service; the Choice
Advice Service; and the Children’s Workforce Development Project. (NB. This
list reflects VAL’s projects and services as delivered in April 2013. This list is subject to
change)
Guiding principles

VAL will fully uphold the Data Protection Act 1998 when dealing with
personal information, including respecting the right of data subjects under
this Act.

VAL will not hold information about individuals or groups without their
knowledge and consent.

VAL will only hold information for specific purposes. It will inform data
subjects what these purposes are, and inform them if those purposes
change.

VAL will only obtain data that is adequate, relevant and not excessive in
relation to the purpose, or purposes, for which it is collected.
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
VAL will make every effort to ensure that the data held is accurate and
kept up-to-date, and will respond to any request from an individual or
group to check the accuracy of the data that is held about them.

VAL will not keep data processed for any purpose for longer than is
necessary for that purpose.

VAL will maintain secure data storage systems and policies ensuring that
personal and organisational data is protected against unauthorised or
unlawful processing. VAL will maintain procedures for staff in the event of
a data breach.

Where possible, VAL will protect the anonymity and confidentiality of
individuals and groups it supports when sharing information externally.
What information do we collect?
VAL holds information on both organisations and individuals. This policy
covers only the organisational data that VAL holds1. NB. Please refer to
VAL’s separate Data Protection Policy for information about data relating to
personal information.
VAL holds a range of information about the groups/organisations we engage
with. This may include information such as:
oThe organisation/group’s services and beneficiaries
oThe organisation/group’s current and past support needs
oThe organisation/group’s annual income
oThe organisation/group’s staffing and volunteering arrangements (e.g.
numbers of full and part time staff; numbers of volunteers)
PLEASE NOTE: Records may include names and addresses of individuals in
their role as part of an organisation or group. For the purpose of data sharing,
this information is treated as ‘organisational’ data2.
Please refer to VAL’s Data Protection Policy for information about data relating to personal
information
2 Val can offer an alternative postage address if required.
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How we may use your organisation/group’s
information?
VAL collects organisational data to ensure that we can:
1. Offer appropriate support to the VCS.
2. Influence policy and decision-making relating to the VCS.
3. Recruit and support volunteers.
4. Inform you of appropriate, relevant and timely information.
In particular, we may use the organisational information we collect to:

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Plan our services according to need;
Inform general research about the VCS;
Send mailings to inform organisations/groups of news and events that
may be of interest to them (NB. Groups can limit the type of news and
events they receive by changing their mailing preferences);
Include groups/organisations on VAL’s Online Directory (only done with
the group’s/orgainsation’s permission);
Provide performance reports to our funders (this includes the provision
of named case studies).
How do we use organisational information to
communicate with you?
Groups/organisations are able to specify their mailing preferences (post/
email/ both/ neither) to ensure they receive appropriate mailings from VAL. In
addition, groups/organisations are able to opt-in to receiving tailored
information, which overrides the general mailing preferences set. In cases
where VAL is engaging with multiple contacts from the same
group/organisation, contacts can specify their own mailing preferences.
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How do we use organisational information in our
performance reports?
VAL’s performance reports are publicly available on VAL’s website. Named
case studies are provided to demonstrate how VAL’s work benefits the local
community. However, we would not name a group, nor include any other
identifying information, when a group/organisation has accessed any of the
following support from VAL:

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Support relating to allegations of criminal activities;
Support relating to HR issues that involve a grievance or disciplinary
action against any individual in the group/organisation (staff member,
volunteer or trustee);
Support relating to poor contractual performance;
Support relating to financial crisis;
Support relating to TUPE and redundancy issues.
VAL is also required to provide a list of groups/organisations that we have
worked with each quarter to funders, but this list will not contain information
about the type of support that the groups/organisations received from VAL.
Why, when and how do we share information with
third parties?
VAL receive a number of requests from funders and commissioners for
information about VCS provision in a locality. We believe this is important to
provide because:
1. It helps promote VCS services in the area.
2. It supports the visibility of VCS provision in the area.
3. It helps funders retain accurate and appropriate contact with VCS
groups.
4. It helps to identify opportunities and gaps for partnership and crosssector working for the benefit of communities.
VAL adopts the position that we will supply lists of groups/organisations
operating in an area to statutory partners as long as there is a clear rationale,
and clear purpose, for the use of that information. For example, we may
provide a list of VCS provision in an area in order that a funder is able to
undertake an effective and worthwhile consultation exercise. We will not
however supply individual names or contact details unless this information is
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contained with the group’s/organisation’s Online Directory entry (i.e this
contains publicly available information). In no circumstance will VAL share
information about a group’s/organisation’s financial or human resources, and
the content of any support provided by VAL will not be shared in this way; this
information (content of provided by VAL) will only ever be available in the form
of structured case studies, as mentioned in the section above.
In cases where a request for information comes from other sources (e.g.
private companies), VAL will only ever refer them to VAL’s Online Directory
and/or offer to disseminate information to groups/organisations via its
database on behalf of the third party, respecting groups/organisations’ mailing
preferences in the process.
In addition, there may be times when VAL has to share information with
regulatory bodies if we have serious concerns relating to the legal operation of
a group/organisation. For example, if VAL receives information or evidence
that leads VAL to believe or suspect that there is serious malpractice taking
place – i.e. putting service users at significant risk - VAL is required to inform
the Charity Commission.
How can you change your organisational information?
You can contact VAL at any time to review/change/amend your information by
contacting the VAL helpline (0116 257 5050; [email protected]). VAL
also undertake bi-annual audits to review the accuracy of its data and you can
request an amendment to your Online Directory entry via the website
(http://www.valonline.org.uk/directory).
Further information
If you would like further information about VAL’s Data Sharing Policy, please
contact the VAL Helpline (0116 257 5050; [email protected]).
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