Council tax

  1. Summary

    This privacy notice explains what personal information is collected, what it is used for and who it is provided to. The notice also describes why we require your data, and the legal basis on which we do this. This privacy notice relates to our Council Tax Service, including the use of the automated SMS messaging service, and provides additional information that specifically relates to this particular service, and should be read together with our general privacy notice, which provides more detail.

  2. What personal information does this service use?

    We use personal information, such as:

    • name
    • address
    • telephone number
    • email address
    • date of birth
    • family information
    • employment details
    • data held by Credit Reference Agencies.
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    We sometimes use special categories of personal data such as health information or other sensitive information, for example about your finances. We also use information about criminal convictions and offences where these relate to the administration and recovery of council tax.

     

  3. What is your personal information used for?

    We use your personal data for the following reasons:

    • to work out and collect council tax;
    • to resolve complaints made about the service;
    • collecting debts owed to us;
    • for crime prevention or detection of fraud, including the use of data-matching initiatives designed to protect public funds;
    • to ensure safe systems of work for staff visiting / meeting with customers, for example in their homes;
    • to prepare statistics and for research. We will always seek to anonymise or pseudonymise the data where possible
    • for consultation purposes, in connection with the administration of Council Tax and Benefits (as required under Schedule 1A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992).

    We will use your personal data in accordance with law enforcement purposes, as set out in Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 ('the 2018 Act'). 

    The term ‘law enforcement purposes’ relates to the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences, or the execution of criminal penalties (including the safeguarding against, and the prevention of, threats to public security.)

    We may need to process sensitive personal data for law enforcement purposes, where it relates to a pressing social need, which cannot reasonably be achieved through less intrusive means. Such processing will only take place if either one of the law enforcement purposes set out in the 2018 Act is satisfied, or you have given your consent.
     

  4. What is the lawful basis we are relying on?

    We collect and use this information to make sure that we can undertake our public duties in the administration and collection of council tax. If you do not provide the requested information you will still be liable as owner/occupier of property and if you do not pay when required, could be subject to enforcement action. We collect and use special category personal information for reasons of substantial public interest based upon the law.

  5. Where has the personal information come from?

    The majority of personal information will be provided by you, but we sometimes also receive information from other organisations such as Government bodies like the Department for Work and Pensions, the Land Registry, landlords and their managing agents, companies who provide services on our behalf, credit reference agencies, Enforcement Agents (bailiffs) and Companies House.

  6. Who will we share your personal information with?

    Your personal data is shared securely with the following organisations, where it is necessary and appropriate to do so:

    • representatives of the person whose personal data we are processing;
    • debt collection and tracing agencies;
    • local and central government;
    • ombudsman and regulatory authorities;
    • courts and tribunals;
    • enforcement agents;
    • police forces;
    • data processors;
    • regulatory bodies;
    • customs and excise;
    • law enforcement and prosecuting authorities;
    • The Office for National Statistics (ONS).
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  7. How long will we keep your information?

    Our retention schedule sets out how long we keep personal information for.

  8. Your personal information and your rights

    You can find out more about your rights regarding the personal information used for this service. Your rights apply to the information held by the Council as a data controller, and the information we hold on behalf of the other data controllers.

    We may occasionally use your information to make decisions through automated means. If we do so we will inform you and advise you of your rights to have the decision reviewed or retaken.

  9. Contacting us about your data and updates

    If you have any questions or concerns about how we use your personal information, please contact the Council’s Data Protection Officer.

    You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office if you're unhappy about how we process your information.

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