Revenues, Benefits and Customer Services Privacy Notice
What information do we collect?
We may collect some or all of the following information about you depending on which of our services you use:
Common to all services
- Name, address, contact details
- Correspondence (emails, letters, supporting documents)
- Conversations (recorded and typed notes of telephone conversations)
- Case notes
- Bank account details if applicable
Blue Badge
- National Insurance Number
- NHS Number
- Medical information to support your application
Council Tax and Business Rates
- Dates of occupancy
- Tenancy agreement and landlord details
- Agent details if applicable
- Business accounts and trading information (Business Rates only)
- Medical information only when required to support specific Council Tax Exemptions and Reductions
Sundry Debts
- Services provided
- Payments made and outstanding
Housing Benefit, Discretionary Housing Payment and Council Tax disregards, discounts and reductions
- Date of birth, gender
- National Insurance Number
- Financial information (income, savings, assets and where necessary, expenditure)
- Benefits you are in receipt of
- Details of others living in your household
- Landlord name, address and contact
- Medical information only when required to support your claim in specific circumstances
Free School Meals
- Child's name, address, date of birth and school
Discretionary Assistance Schemes (Assisted Purchase)
- Date of birth, gender
- National Insurance Number
- Benefits you are in receipt of
- Income
Equalities data
In some cases we may also ask you to provide ethnic, gender, sexual, age and other characteristic information to comply with equality legislation. Where we do so, it will always be made clear that this is optional and that you do not have to provide it. If you decide to provide such information, it may be used to provide better services and to help us to meet our equality obligations.
Why do we use this information?
We use this information about you to process
- the administration, billing and collection of Council Tax
- the administration, billing and collection of Business Rates including levies for Business Improvement Districts and other schemes as appropriate
- the collection of Sundry Debts owed to the council
- applications and payments for Housing Benefit and Discretionary Housing Payments
- applications for Council Tax Reduction
- entitlement to Free School Meals for your children
- applications for Blue Badge (disabled parking) permits
- applications for statutory and discretionary assistance and grant schemes
Collecting and using your information for these functions is vital to ensuring that the council collects the right amount of money to fund a variety of services such as social care, housing, highways, sports and health, museums, libraries and culture. We also use this information to assist individuals and families by helping them to obtain housing, school meals and mobility assistance where they may otherwise have difficulty.
What authority does Bradford Council have to collect and use this information?
We collect and use this information under powers given to local authorities (councils). Under the UK General Data Protection Regulations, the following categories of lawfulness apply:
Personal data
6(1)(b) Contract: processing is necessary for a contract you have with the individual, or because they have asked you to take specific steps before entering into a contract
- Sundry Debts, Discretionary Assistance Schemes
6(1)(c) Legal Obligation: processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation
- Sharing with government departments and the police
6(1)(e) Public Task: processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller
- Council Tax, Council Tax Reduction, Business Rates, Business Improvement Districts, Housing Benefits, Discretionary Housing Benefits, Free School Meals, Blue Badge, Discretionary Assistance Schemes, Covid-19 Business Support Grants, Test & Trace Self-Isolation Payments
Special Category data
9(2)(a) Consent: the data subject has given explicit consent to the processing of those personal data for one or more specified purposes
- Blue Badge
9(2)(b) Social Security: processing is necessary for carrying out obligations under employment, social security or social protection law, or a collective agreement.
- Housing Benefits, Blue Badge
Official Vested Authority
The main basis of our official vested authority is as follows, however this list is not exhaustive:
- Local Government Act 1972 and 2000
- Local Government Finance Act 1988, 1992 and 2012
- Social Security Administration Act 1992
In the rare circumstance that we do not have a legal or official vested authority to use your information, we will obtain your consent first.
Who are we likely to share this information with?
We may sometimes share the information we have collected about you where it is necessary, lawful and fair to do so. In each case we will only share the minimum amount of information, only when required, for the following reasons:
With other Bradford Council departments to:
- help safeguard vulnerable adults and children
- ensure your children receive Free School Meals where you are entitled
- provide advice and assistance to you
- process applications for statutory and discretionary assistance and grant schemes
- make it easier for you to register to vote in elections
- help carry out their legal duties, including the enforcement of regulations
- protect public money
- produce research and statistics
With other government departments and the police to:
- help process Housing Benefit, Blue Badge and other benefits
- help determine the correct Council Tax Band or Rateable Value of a property
- assist with appeals and disputes
- ensure your children receive Free School Meals where you are entitled
- prevent, detect and prosecute crime
- protect public money
- to share data with the National Fraud Initiative so that it can be cross referenced to detect and prevent fraud
- to share details of fraudulent and scam activity and attempts with the National Anti-Fraud Network
- produce research and statistics
With other organisations, including other councils (with your consent, or where the law allows us) to:
- provide services to you on the council's behalf
- provide services to the council
- for example, payment processing, document processing and undertaking reviews
- administer Business Improvement Districts
- provide advice and assistance to you including Personal Budgeting Support for Universal Credit
- protect public money
- to collect money owed to the council by engaging Enforcement Agents or sharing information with other councils
- to provide banks with details to recover overpayments made due to fraudulent activity
Landlords
If your Housing Benefit is paid directly to your landlord, we may discuss payment details (amounts and dates) with them as we have to provide this information.
Research and Statistics
Sometimes we may use the information you have provided us for research and statistics to help us better deliver services and share this with our partners. This may also involve sharing information we hold about you with government departments who lawfully request it. In most cases we remove any personal information that may identify you as an individual or household and only use and share anonymous statistics.
There are occasions however when government departments require your personal information and we will ensure only a minimal amount is shared for a specific purpose, for example The Office for National Statistics (ONS).
How do we keep this information secure?
Your information is stored securely on database and document management systems with stringent access and use policies. We also undertake quality checks and monitoring to ensure the information we hold is accurate at the time and being used appropriately.
When computers make decisions about you
Council Tax billing
When you submit an online form to update your Council Tax information, our system may process this automatically and determine a new bill. If you disagree with the outcome, you can appeal to have the outcome reviewed by a person in the normal way by following these instructions.
Income collection
If you have not kept up with payments or have not made an acceptable arrangement to pay, our system will automatically escalate your account and you will be issued with a reminder notice.
If payment or an acceptable arrangement has still not been made for Council Tax and Business Rates, the system will automatically escalate to court proceedings. The enforcement process is described in more detail on these pages for Council Tax and Business Rates.
If you disagree with the outcome, you can appeal to have it reviewed by a person in the normal way by following these instructions for Council Tax, Business Rates and Sundry Debt or by responding to the notices. If the case has progressed to court proceedings you may only be able to address this in court.
When your data gets sent to other countries
We do not send any information we collect about you outside the United Kingdom.
How long do we keep this information?
We will hold your personal information in line with Bradford Council’s retention schedule. At its expiry date the information will be reviewed, and only retained where there is an ongoing requirement to retain for a statutory or legal purpose. Following this your personal information will be securely destroyed.
What are your rights?
Please contact the Corporate Information Governance Team at [email protected] to exercise any of your rights, or if you have a complaint about why your information has been collected, how it has been used or how long we have kept it for.
You can contact our Data Protection Officer at [email protected] or write to: Data Protection Officer, City Hall, Centenary Square, Bradford, BD1 1HY.
The UK GDPR also gives you the right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. The supervisory authority in the UK is the Information Commissioner who may be contacted on 03031 231113.