Get funding to improve animal health and welfare privacy notice
Updated 21 July 2025
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2025
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How the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) processes personal data relating to Get funding to improve animal health and welfare service, formerly known as Annual Health and Welfare Review (AHWR).
1. Purpose for processing
Get funding to improve animal health and welfare, formerly known as Annual Health and Welfare Review (AHWR), provides funding to vets and farmers to reduce disease and improve the health and welfare of their livestock.
2. Why we are able to process your personal data
The law allows us to process your personal data under article 6(1)(e) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). We are allowed to process personal data when we need to carry out a public task.
3. What personal data we process
The information that we collect and process is:
- Single Business Identifier (SBI)
- business name
- farmer name
- address
- your vet’s name and Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons (RCVS) number
- IP address
- County Parish Holding (CPH) number
- laboratory unique reference number (URN)
If we add to the list, we will contact you or your vet to request agreement.
If you are communicating with us on-line, we also collect your internet protocol (IP) address and details of which web browser you use.
When you use the registration service, we put small files (known as ‘cookies’) onto your computer. The cookies used on this service are not used to identify you personally.
We may process your personal data including your e-mail address in any questions or feedback you send to us. We may also use your information to contact you about future grants and updates to farming policy that would be relevant to you.
4. Your responsibility with other people’s personal data
If you’ve included personal data about other people in your records, you must tell them. You must provide them with a copy of this Privacy Notice so that they know how their personal data will be used.
5. Where your personal data is stored
We store, transfer and process your personal data on our servers in the United Kingdom (UK) and the European Union (EU).
6. How long we keep your personal data
We keep your information for:
-
3 years for pre-existing expressions of interest or where the application does not progress to a payment
-
7 years where a payment is made
Please refer to our Personal Information Charter and the section ‘How long we will keep data’ for information on any potential exceptions.
7. Who we share your personal data with
We share your personal data with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
For onward use (outside RPA or Defra), the data will be anonymised.
8. Your rights
Read our Personal Information Charter to find out your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).
9. How to make a complaint
If you have concerns about how your data is being used, please follow the RPA’s complaints procedure.
You can call or email the Customer Service Centre on 03000 200 301 or ruralpayments@defra.gov.uk
Or write to:
Rural Payments Agency PO Box 69 Reading RG1 3YD
If you have gone through RPA’s formal complaints procedure and are still unhappy with the outcome, you can e-mail RPA.DPAQueries@rpa.gov.uk or write to:
RPA Data Protection Lead Rural Payments Agency