Ministry of Justice data protection training

The challenge

MoJ wanted to raise the capability of staff members across the department who had data protection responsibilities and who were responsible for ensuring that the department complied with the new data protection (DP) laws prior to May 2018 to ensure business areas were not struggling to understand and tackle them.

The key people that the Data Protection Team (DPT) was aiming to train as Data Protection Practitioners included:

• the central team who monitored compliance against the new laws within MoJ;
• local unit contacts (KILOs) responsible for providing advice and guidance locally and processing information requests in line with legislation including the new DP laws;
• and the IA Leads who were responsible for IA and DP issues within HQ and the Executive Agencies and the HQ and Executive Agency implementation teams.

The training was intended to ensure there were sufficient staff members across the departments (including the Executive Agencies) with expertise in the new DP laws to avoid the risk of regulatory action from the Information Commissioner’s Office, including increased civil monetary penalties, increase in complaints from data subjects and claims for compensation (including claims in court), and reputational damage to our department.

The solution

DPT worked with us at QA, having produced a similar course for the Home Office. Using material from our course as a foundation and liaising with MoJ subject matter experts, the course material was adapted to ensure the material met departmental requirements.

Five sessions were held for three days each between June and October 2018 at various locations in London.

Benefits delivered

On average, the delegates scored QA 8 out of 10 against the questions below so their feedback on both the pre-coursework, the trainer, the course materials and the impact on their job was very positive, with 2 delegates providing top marks for the pre-coursework and the trainer, which is revealed by the two blue boxes in the graph below.

The general comments from the delegates that attended from across HQ and the agencies below provide justification for this:

HQ:

• "The handbook on GDPR is a useful go-to booklet which will certainly be handy for me at work."
• "Overall training was very good."

Agencies

• "The course has helped to consolidate the knowledge I had already gained."
• "Good stuff."
• "It will definitely help me assist our directorate going forward, ensuring compliance."
• "I understand GDPR and the differences now, I also learnt more about certain aspects of the KILO role for my fellow colleagues."
• "This will assist with security of our systems abroad."

Conclusion

The general trend from the returns reveals that the course provided by QA met their needs and they had a very positive experience, which will help them apply their knowledge in their job. This suggests that the course was a good fit for purpose and represents good value for money.