Statement of Tasks Carried Out in the Public Interest

This statement identifies the instances where the University rely upon the ‘public task’ lawful basis to process personal data. It draws on relevant statute and our overlying responsibilities as an educational institution, which are necessary for statutory functions, governmental functions, and activities that support or promote democratic engagement. These are specified in a non-exhaustive list in Section 8 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

What do we mean by ‘tasks carried out in the public interest’?

Whenever we process personal data, we will establish a legal basis for doing so in line with General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and DPA 2018 (Data Protection Legislation).

The GDPR outlines various conditions that may apply when an organisation is processing personal data. This serves as a checklist for organisations to follow; we must ensure that at least one of these conditions apply if we intend to use personal data in any way. One of these conditions is that processing is ‘necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest’.

This is one of six conditions that appears in article 6 of the GDPR. The condition is often referred to as ‘public task’ by organisations, so whenever you see this quoted in the context of GDPR, you know that we are referring to this condition (of note; there is no link between the GDPR ‘public task’ basis explained here, and the concept of ‘public task’ in the Re-use of Public Sector Information Regulations 2015).

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) state that organisations can rely on public task as a lawful basis if they need to process personal data ‘in the exercise of official authority’, which covers ‘public functions and powers that are set out in law’, or in order to perform a ‘specific task that is in the public interest that is set out in law’.

We do not need to specify a statutory power each time we use public task as a basis for processing, but as a University, the processing must be in line with our underlying purposes as an educational institution. This means that we do not have to have an explicit statutory provision each time we use public task; we are able to rely on common law tasks, or tasks set out in statutory guidance or charters. In particular, for much of the University’s activity, we rely on the following statute:

Section 123a and 123b of the Education Reform Act - a higher education corporation has the power to provide higher education, and to carry out research and to publish the results of the research or any other material arising out of or connected with it in such a manner as the cooperation see fit. A higher education corporation also has the power to do anything which appears to the corporation to be necessary to pursue its aims in this respect.

Every time we use public task, we have a duty to explain how the processing is necessary for that purpose. We will demonstrate how the processing is targeted and proportionate in achieving the purpose. If there is another way of us achieving the purpose that is less intrusive to data subjects, we do not have a lawful basis for processing.

Manchester Metropolitan University’s core purposes

The University will be relying on the lawful basis of ‘Public Task’ in its undertaking of the following tasks:

Processing relating to	Description
Education core purposes
Teaching and education services	Delivering a high quality teaching experience at Undergraduate and Postgraduate level to students, and provide staff with the support they require to deliver this teaching. Delivering an inclusive curriculum, supported by appropriate teaching and learning methodologies and is designed to inspire and support all students. Identifying, supporting and empowering academic leadership at the appropriate level to deliver teaching, and subsequent awards and prizes. This includes; Instigating effective academic leadership, to secure excellent teaching practice. Providing educational courses in a variety of forms, i.e. online, face-to-face and distance learning. Teaching on undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Supporting student learning. Assessing student academic performance. Delivering consistency across a number of different programmes and disciplines to meet educational benchmarks and professional requirements. Developing group-level and personal-level goals and strategies with our students, with an aim to progress personal and professional development. Distributing educational material in a variety of forms to support our students and members of the public. The running of the Library service, to support learning, teaching and research at the University. Recognition and award; Awarding recognised forms of undergraduate and postgraduate qualifications including diplomas, certificates and degrees, and the related administration of Graduation. Working with other institutions to award joint degrees and other qualifications.
Practice	Supporting and promoting teaching in Higher Education as a professional practice. Supporting innovation and pedagogy through professional development of our staff, and encourage innovation, improvement and excellence. Ensuring that all students benefit from the expertise and reflective practices of our academics. This includes: Strive for excellent teaching outputs through career support and reward for our academics, to the benefit of our students. Provide input into national and international debates on Higher Education, to inform the development of excellent practice and innovation and to make Manchester Metropolitan world-leading in the development of Higher Education teaching and pedagogy. Facilitate, support and reward teaching practice excellence. Furthering teaching practice and career development by encouraging staff to undertake training and development, and supporting progression through further teaching qualification. Support development of academic leadership within the University, to ultimately drive improvement to our education key performance indicators.
Integrate Disclosures to Professional, Statutory and Regulatory Bodies?	Integrate formal/ timetabled educational activities with other student activities, such as independent working, work placement, international experience, volunteer service and personal tutoring. This includes: Ensuring the curricula and support systems are informed by students’ prior learning and background, and directed toward future employment or education. Founding and awarding scholarships, studentships, bursaries and prizes. Encouraging independent learning. Engaging with employers. Provide full student support in academia and general welfare. Provide careers education and support.
Engage	Enhancing the reputation of Manchester Metropolitan University, through inspiring and supporting the community, and attracting students and academics from a range of different backgrounds. This includes Promoting external education and higher education. Widening participation for all. Promoting, recognise and reward student service in the local community. Engage with global challenges, and work to find creative solutions through academic study and output.
Research and Knowledge Exchange core purposes
Research and Knowledge Exchange (RKE)	Engage in high-quality research, innovation and knowledge exchange to produce significant benefits for society, culture, the environment and the economy. This includes: Engaging in research and undergraduate and postgraduate level, which helps to enhance the University’s reputation, which gives us greater influence and ensures that the institution’s values, opinions and outputs are taken seriously. This will also help to attract a high quality of staff and students. Supporting and supervising research students and staff. Meeting our responsibilities as a University to engage in work that enhances the knowledge base and has a positive impact on people’s lives. Enhancing our students’ learning experience by creating and maintaining the best learning environment possible, that is rich in high-quality research. Engaging in relationships with other educational institutions to promote research and innovation. Engaging in research funded by private companies.
*Internationalisation core purposes*
Internationalisation	Develop the University’s global connections to build reputation, grow influence and create institutional stability. This includes Encouraging international students to broaden the talent pool to the University, and to increase international student recruitment both on and off campus. Developing new and existing international partnerships that bring multiple benefits across Faculties, and target further relationship building with international partners based on alignment of interests, research strengths and market demand and quality. Provide opportunities to our staff and students to travel overseas to facilitate research collaboration, enhance student experience and employability.

Additional activities undertaken by Manchester Metropolitan University

In addition to the above core purposes of Education, Research and Internationalisation, the University process information in its capacity as a public authority in respect of the below tasks. These tasks directly support the core functions on the University.

Processing relating to	Description
Estates, Facilities and Capital Development core purposes	Procuring and looking after buildings and the campus landscape, and providing facilities and services to support research, teaching and learning. This includes: Providing a campus that can deliver the aims and strategies of the University, which includes key services such as libraries, labs, classrooms, accommodation, sports premises, apparatus and IT service facilities. Diving the Estates Strategy and the delivery of the Estates Masterplan. Estates maintenance and projects, infrastructure, compliance and environmental sustainability. Acquiring, constructing, maintaining and managing property to create educational, research and cultural hubs in the UK and overseas. Faculties and halls management. The procurement of goods and services to support the University’s core purposes.
Governance core purposes	Processing relating to constitutional matters, including supporting the Board of Governors and the University Executive Group, Academic Board, and other decision-making bodies of the University that directly support research, teaching and learning. This includes: Supporting the board of Governors and its Committees. Overseeing aspects of the recruitment process, induction and development of MMU’s Governors. Providing the secretariat service to the University Executive Group and the Academic Board, and their committees. Processing relating committee servicing standards, and to overseeing the development and monitoring of systems used by the university.
Enrolment and recruitment core purposes	Progressing aspects of student recruitment and enrolment, and staff recruitment and retention by targeting and retaining high performing individuals who can make a valuable contribution to the University’s ongoing success. The recruitment process underpins a framework of achieving excellence in the University’s core purposes of research, teaching and learning. This includes: Targeting high quality students, and those frrm under-represented groups to enrol with the University, and offer appropriate support to those individuals. Adding to the talent pool to allow for cutting-edge teaching, learning and research. Ensuring individuals with the correct skills, knowledge and abilities are attracted to work at the institution.
Finance core purposes	Providing support, reporting and advice to academic and professional services management teams, and delivering services relating to the core functions of the University. This includes raising and processing funds making investments to support the University in its core functions.
Other relationships	Working closely and amalgamating with other educational institutions, including schools and Higher Education institutions to promote education and research. Building and maintaining relationships with charities, and other organisations such as the NHS and other governmental and private agencies to further the University’s strategic goals. Working closely with the Student’s union to supplement the University’s goals, and provide complimentary services to the institutions staff and students.

Further information

Further information regarding the lawful bases of processing personal information is included within the University’s various privacy notices.

If you have any questions about this document, or any other matters in relation to data protection, please contact our data protection team at [email protected].