Purpose & Data Alignment Programme (P/DAP)
Especially created for social housing providers, this programme walks you through creating a Data Strategy & Framework that will build trust, help you fulfil your social purpose & bring your values to life.
The Strategy & Framework can be applied to customer data & colleague data, as well as property & asset data, and financial data.
Consider your projects, policies and activities that relate to the people you work with or serve. Can you say, hand-on-heart, they are all aligned with your overarching purpose and your values, your North star?

Why focus on purpose & data alignment?
Without data about your people – customers & colleagues – you can’t provide your services.
When that data is managed properly, it helps build relationships based on trust, and bring your social purpose and values to life.
But when things go wrong with that data, and it is inaccurate, irrelevant, unavailable or not secure, the risks of harm to the organisation and your people are huge.
To amplify those benefits, unlock your potential, and avoid the risks, your projects and procedures that involve the handling of data must align with your organisation’s purpose.
Most projects and procedures in social housing (and similar values-led organisations) involve some sort of person-related data, whether it’s data linked to your customers, colleagues or anyone else. Spending time and energy on any of these projects and procedures that don’t align with your overarching purpose is a waste of resources at best, and harmful at worst.
It risks your resources, efficiency, financial viability, and governance rating from the Regulator, which in turn can impact your ability to provide homes for your communities.
We also have the imminent and huge shift in regulation and legislation in the shape of the Social Housing White Paper and its focus on tenant satisfaction, empowerment, and engagement, which will involve changing the ways many providers collect and analyse customer data.
Why work with us on your purpose & data alignment?
Simply put, we know social housing and we know data: Our housing association templates, tools and training are especially designed for social housing providers, based on years of experience of working in and with the sector.
Our director, Clare Paterson, has over 20 years of experience in quality assurance and risk management, including around ten years specialising in data protection and 12 years in a large housing association. And almost every member of the CPDP team has a background in social housing.
Clare launched CP Data Protection to offer accessible, real-world advice and training that supports rather than scares you, and is especially passionate about helping HAs fulfil their social purpose.
Inside the Purpose/Data Alignment Programme (P/DAP)
By the end of the Programme, you will have the tools and knowledge you need to build, implement and maintain an effective data governance framework or data strategy that will align your data management with your purpose.
The Programme guides you, with clear and practical advice and examples, through how to achieve purpose and data alignment; how to manage your customer & colleague data and build a robust governance framework around it, in a way that builds trust, and helps you fulfil your social purpose, while avoiding expensive and damaging data-related issues such as complaints, breaches or service down-time.
- Ready-to-use template documents and resources.
- Six modules, each covered in a live and interactive coaching session with your consultant.
- Sessions can be arranged at frequencies and times that work best for you. We recommend monthly, and we can take breaks for holiday seasons to suit you.
- As many of your colleagues as relevant can attend, so key colleagues can benefit directly from the sessions.

Module 1
Introduction & a high-level Risks and Recommendations Exec Report based on your current status.
Customer Data is a ‘RIOT’ – brainstorm the risks, internal controls, opportunities, & threats of handling your data.
Review your current data – ensure you understand what you hold and where it is.
Module 2
Roles and Responsibilities for data governance and strategy.
Module 3
Risk & Quality Management – your risk appetite and assessing, controlling and monitoring risks, as well as identifying what “good” looks like.
Includes planning for breaches as well as reducing the risks involved in new projects & policies.
Module 4
Engagement and communications – internal and external.
Training plans
Module 5
Policies & procedures – embedding data-handling rules into your everyday processes.
Module 6
Monitoring, reporting and continuous improvement.
How the P/DA Programme is delivered
- You will have online log-in details to access the Programme resources, including training material and videos for delegates, and template documents to use in your own data governance framework. The cost of the Programme includes a licence to download the templates and apply your own branding as required.
- The coaching sessions will be conducted over Teams, and will last up to 90 minutes each, although delegates aren’t required to commit to the whole time if it’s not required.
- Sessions can be recorded on request (and with consent from all attendees) for delegates to revisit or view later.
How to sign-up to the P/DA Programme
Contact us to discuss the P/DAP and whether your organisation is ready to make the commitment & investment needed to get the most out of the Programme.
It’s generally a six-to-twelve month project, but the cost remains at £8,000 (+VAT) per organisation, with the option of additional consultancy support on a retainer or hourly basis if required.
Don’t worry if you’re not ready for the P/DAP yet, we can help build the foundations to get you there fast, with several free resources, data protection templates available and standard or bespoke training as well as consultancy support to suit your needs.
What do people say?
“Clare is fantastic and engaging. The training helped with the way I look at giving advice especially getting to the bottom of why we need new projects, procedures. Also helps with having those conversation with those involved, to help them and us make sure that what they are doing will help the organisation. I would recommend this training to everyone.”
“[The Purpose Paradox] should be required viewing not just for DPO’s, but all decision makers in an organisation. It’s such a simple idea but so often gets missed time and time again.”
“Clare is friendly, professional and flexible. She applies her expert knowledge to provide practical examples that you can apply to your working day. Nothing is too much or too big of a question, I can’t think of a time I asked Clare a question that she didn’t know the answer to. I always come away from a conversation with Clare with a clear answer and never left confused. It’s been an absolute pleasure working with Clare for the past 3 years and hope there are many more to come.
I first met Clare when she provided training to my colleagues and I at a previous organisation, I came away thinking what an interesting subject Data Protection is. I think that shows how amazing her training style truly is – not many people come out of a Data Protection Training session and decide that’s the career path they want to take! I love Clare’s approach to training, it’s not death by PowerPoint; she takes the time to talk things through and always applies examples specific to the audience’s job role.”
“Clare’s warm and friendly approach encourages other colleagues and teams to interact to a greater extent on the topics of Information Governance, which in return improves the overall service quality and compliance levels for the organisation. I am confident Clare’s skills and abilities would be of huge benefit to any organisation looking to improve their Information Governance posture and maturity levels.”
“I worked with Clare whilst she put into place a comprehensive GDPR training and policy refresh for my organisation. Clare is organised, reliable and knowledgeable. Her presentations and policy work are excellent quality and she brings a warm and professional manner to all her work. Clare is generous with her time and knowledge and is a pleasure to work with – I highly recommend her.”