The data protection officer role is an important part of information governance. Responsibilities that land on a data protection offier include maintaining compliance with data protection legislation, ensuring company policies and procedures are relevant, appropriate and in place where needed and managing any requests for data, as well as potential data breaches. For many organisations, this role can be a costly one and there is no doubt that just now is an exceedingly difficult financial environment for all organisations and businesses.

There has been a record jump in the number of UK businesses in critical financial distress, and one in four councils in England say they are likely to have to apply for emergency government bailout agreements to stave off bankruptcy in the next two financial years (2025/26 and 2026/27).

Faced with such stark financial challenges, it is no surprise that budget holders are urgently looking at how they can reduce costs through various strategies that optimise operations and minimise expenses.

A proven way to reduce costs is to narrow the in house operational focus, improving productivity and the quality of core outcomes by outsourcing some essential tasks, reducing overheads.

Having a solid culture of data protection is crucial for safeguarding sensitive information, ensuring compliance with legislation and maintaining the trust of service users, patients, pupils, parents, clients, partners and staff.

Contracting out the role of the data protection officer as a managed service, to a managed service provider (MSP), means engaging with specialists holding in-depth knowledge and experience of the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act (2018).

This allows an organisation to access high-quality data protection expertise without the need to develop or fund the knowledge in-house. This is particularly relevant for smaller busiensses, who may find the costs of maintaining a full time resource expensive, when that expertise may only be needed for a few hours or less each week.

Key advantages of having a data protection officer through managed service 

• Outsourcing your data protection officer responsibilities can lead to significant cost savings by eliminating the expenses associated with hiring, training, and retaining an in-house information governance expert. Having a specialist outsourced data protection service allows you access to experienced experts, and their knowledge of the law, without having to maintain and develop your own resources.
• Access to expertise – a managed service provider will provide access to specialist staff who will be up to date with the latest ICO advice and legal best practice, the same that a data protection officer with full training and regular access to updated courses should have.
• Managed services offer holistic support, ensuring quick resolutions of privacy issues or challenges. This can be particularly beneficial for organisations operating across multiple tasking challenges, such as healthcare providers.
• Flexibility – good, effective managed service providers offer the ability to increase or decrease demand in response to changes in your data protection pressures, for example you may have a surge of Freedom Of Information (FOI) requests, Subject Access Requests (SARs), or data breaches which could be managed by a reputable, effective data protection managed service supplier.
• Improved efficiency and processes – rationalising your data protection operations is a sure way to improve your own organisational efficiency and productivity by enabling your teams to focus on their core responsibilities, knowing that the data protection element of the business is well supported. BLS Stay Compliant have a dedicated operations team that liaises with and supports our managed service clients. This ensures that we proactively manage and resolve potential data protection compliance problems before they cause any issues or escalate in size.
• Minimising any downtime and its associated costs, which can be significant for key healthcare or emergency service providers. By outsourcing information governance responsibilities, data protection is managed on demand, meaning that times where data protection responsibilities are reduced, costs are saved and, when requirements increase again, the support remains in place, ready whenever it is needed. 

BLS has been providing bespoke managed service solutions for over a decade.

Acting as a data protection officer, we can handle all your data protection challenges and procedures, ensuring that the personal data you process complies with UK and European legislation, specific to your sector.

In the past 3 months we have provided support to our managed service clients by :

• carrying out independent audits, including Data Security and Protection Toolkit (DSPT) independent ssurance assessments

• reviewed and provided policies that align with legal requirements

• trained (to CPD standards) and advised clients and their staff about their obligations under data protection laws

• written and reviewed Data Protection Impact Assessments (DPIAs) for high-risk processing activities

• acted as the main point of contact for supervisory authorities, such as the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), the police, courts and solicitors

• taken responsibility for managing SARs, FOI requests and Environmental Information Regulations requests, including applying all appropriate bespoke redaction manually. As a steadfast rule, we do not use redaction software which can be unreliable, making the process much less risky when ensuring with absolute certainty that all redaction has been completed. 

• managed enquiries or complaints from individuals whose data is being processed

• processed individuals rights demands under GDPR, such as access, rectification, or deletion of their data

• trained and briefed the highest level of Senior Information Risk Owners (SIRO), leaders, Boards, Committees and elected members in the data protection legislation pertinent to their organisation and their role.
  
  
• managed data breaches and any subsequent fallout from any information made public, either through security breaches or mistakes.

Our team at BLS Stay Compliant has the necessary qualifications, skills and insurance cover to handle all your data protection responsibilities, with years of expertise in applying data protection laws, and strong legal, technical, and organisational skills. We manage sensitive personal information on a daily basis and have the appropriate DBS vetting and technical safeguards in place.

Why not give us a call for a chat and see how we can help reduce your overheads and staff costs by taking on a data protection officer role for your organisation?

Alternatively, our data protection officer training can help ensure your information governance team are fully equipped with the knowledge and skills to complete their role. Our courses run online several times a year and are CPD accredited, making them a cost effective way of ensuring your team’s compliance. Our data protection officer courses can also be run bespoke to your organisation, ensuring all the information is relevant and timely.