Privacy and cookie policies

For the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the ‘controller’ of the personal data you provide to the Home Energy West Yorkshire Customer Advice Service (CAS), is West Yorkshire Combined Authority (‘the Combined Authority’, ‘we’, ‘us’) of Wellington House, 40-50 Wellington St, Leeds LS1 2DE (tel: 0113 251 7272), who are the responsible statutory body for WY Metro. The Combined Authority is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office with registration number ZA051694.

The Combined Authority is collecting this data and will process it for the purposes of:

• providing impartial and personalised tailored advice to consumers, and act as a single point of contact for enquiries.
• contracting the delivery of retrofit, through buildings assessments and/or installation of measures on the property.
• providing a high value service to customers, particularly in facilitating ongoing support with further Home Energy West Yorkshire projects.
• informing policy and programme development.
• monitoring and auditing project delivery.

The CAS will be operated by a managing agent, the Energy Saving Trust (EST), acting as a data processor on behalf of the Combined Authority. Sub-processors will also be used, when appropriate, to deliver particular or specialised services (e.g. event organisers, interpretation services).

This is except for personal data processing for the delivery of retrofit, where EST will operate as the data controller. EST will be using partners to deliver on-site works, assessments, and installations. You can read information on how EST process personal data in their privacy policy.

The Combined Authority will contract an external evaluator to assess the strengths, weakness, impact, reach and value for money of the CAS. The results of the evaluation will help inform future policy and programme development. The evaluator will receive  personal data to aid this work, such as basic contact details (to gather first-hand feedback), information on what services the CAS provided, and energy data, to assess the impact of these services on thermal comfort, fuel bills etc.

We will not share your information with any organisation or third party, save for those mentioned above, except in certain circumstances, which are:

1. if we have a legal obligation to do so or if we are required or requested to do so by a competent authority such as the police or a court;
2. if we need to use or disclose your information to obtain legal advice or in connection with legal proceedings;
3. if we need to share your information to protect your vital interests
4. if you are unable to give us consent or it is unreasonable for us to ask for your consent in the circumstances (e.g. if you are injured).

We will retain your information until the end of the Home Energy West Yorkshire programme, for the purpose of facilitating ongoing support with other Home Energy West Yorkshire projects and to offer a joined-up, efficient service. After this period, personal data will be securely deleted or anonymised.

Information provided to the Combined Authority will be processed under Article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR which states that 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.

As a data subject you have a number of rights under the UK GDPR. These include the right to access the information which we hold about you. In some cases you may have a right to have your personal data rectified, erased or restricted, and to object to certain use of your data. You have an absolute right to demand that you stop receiving marketing information.

This would not affect the legality of what we do with your personal data before you make such a request and would not stop us from continuing to use your data to the extent that we do not require your consent. It would stop us from further using data for purposes which require your consent (e.g. marketing).

We act in accordance with our corporate privacy notice, which provides further information on personal data processing, how to contact the Data Protection Officer, and how to make a request, find out more information on the West Yorkshire Combined Authority website.

If you are unsatisfied with the manner in which we collect or handle your personal data you have a right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Information about how to make complaints can be found on the ICO’s website.

We use cookies on our websites to provide you with better services and user experience. If you wish to reject cookies, please see the information at the bottom of this section. 

Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer by websites that you visit. They are widely used to help website's function, enhance the users experience, share statistical information to the owners of the site and support advertising and marketing activities. 

How we use cookies

Necessary cookies

Necessary cookies are needed for the basic functionality of a website. They enable core features such as traffic distribution, access to secure areas of the website, and other essential functionalities that make the website usable. Without these cookies, the website cannot function properly, and certain services or features may not be available to the user.  

Examples of necessary cookies include:

• Session cookies: These cookies store temporary information and are deleted once you close your browser. They are used to maintain the state of your session, such as keeping you logged in while you navigate through the site.
• Authentication cookies: These cookies help identify and authenticate users, ensuring that only authorised individuals can access specific areas of the website.
• Security cookies: These cookies are used to prevent fraud and protect your data, such as detecting and mitigating malicious activities. 

Essential cookies do not collect any personal data for marketing purposes and are typically essential for the website to function optimally. 

Statistics cookies

Statistics cookies are used to collect information about how visitors interact with a website. These cookies help website owners understand and analyse website traffic and user behaviour, enabling them to improve the functionality and performance of the site. The information gathered is aggregated and anonymised, meaning it does not personally identify individual visitors. 

Examples of how we use statistics and analytics cookies include:

• Performance cookies: These cookies collect information about how visitors use the website, such as which pages are visited most often and any error messages users may encounter. This helps website owners identify and fix issues and improve the user experience.
• Analytics cookies: These cookies are used to gather data on user interactions with the website, such as the number of visitors, the time spent on the site, sources of traffic and user behaviours. Tools like Google Analytics or Microsoft Clarity use these cookies to provide insights into website performance and user engagement. 

By using statistics cookies, website owners can make data-driven decisions to enhance the overall functionality and user experience of their site, ensuring it meets the needs and preferences of its visitors. 

Marketing cookies

Marketing cookies are used to track visitors across websites with the goal of displaying ads that are relevant and engaging to individual users. These cookies help in collecting data about users browsing habits and behaviours, which is then used to build a profile of their interests. This information is essential for targeted advertising and marketing efforts. 

Examples of how we use marketing cookies include: 

• Personalised advertising: Marketing cookies help deliver ads that are tailored to your interests based on your browsing history, this may include retargeting adverts for websites you have previously visited.
• Tracking advertising performance: Marketing cookies help measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns by tracking actions such as clicks, conversions, and sales generated from specific ads.
• Social media integrations: Marketing cookies enable the integration of social media functionalities, such as sharing buttons or embedded content. 

By using marketing cookies, we can ensure that our ads are shown to the right audience, improving the relevance of the ads and the likelihood of engagement and conversion. This targeted approach benefits both the advertiser and user by delivering more relevant and useful advertisements. 

Third-party cookies in embedded content

Embedded content from other websites such as videos and maps can also set cookies on your device. These third-party cookies may be used for a variety of purposes, including tracking user interactions, collecting usage data, and delivering personalised content or advertisements. 

We capture YouTube cookies, but you are able to reject them. We also embed Vimeo videos, which may set cookies to store player preferences and collect limited analytics to improve video performance. Essential cookies are required for the videos to play, while non-essential ones are only set with your consent. 

The Combined Authority does not control the dissemination of any other third-party cookies. You should check the third-party websites for more information about these. This privacy policy only applies to The West Yorkshire Combined Authority website and does not cover other websites or services that we may link. 

Third-party embedded content on our websites include: 

YouTube videos: YouTube uses cookies on videos embedded on our website to enhance user experience by tracking video performance and player preferences.

Vimeo videos: Vimeo uses cookies to ensure videos play correctly, remember user settings, and gather limited performance data.

View cookies or update your preferences

You are able to review all the cookies used on the site and full details about their use. You can also update your preferences, if you wish to permit or deny different cookies. 

Do both by clicking the 'Cookie preferences' link in the footer area on any page of the website.