Council Tax Privacy Notice

To carry out the processing to which this notice relates we collect:

• personal information such as: your name, date of birth, address, occupancy status such as how many adults reside in the property, who is liable for Council Tax, employment and benefit details, income and expenditure details and bank details
• contact details including your postal address, telephone number, email address,
• sensitive personal information such as: information about your physical and mental health

We collect your information from you or third parties in the following ways:

• by asking you or others to complete an online form.
• when you or others telephone our Council Tax department or Customer Services Contact Centre.
• from incoming correspondence such as emails/letters/forms/applications for discounts, reviews and exemptions from you, or others, including landlords, letting agents and house building organisations.
• from council property inspectors and other departments such as planning and housing.
• from our benefits department.
• from the registrar of births, deaths and marriages.
• through requests for information from other local authorities and public bodies.
• from 3rd party credit searches, other financial organisations and data matching exercises conducted through the National Anti Fraud Network.
• Searches of the internet and social media services.
• checking the register of electors.
• searches of the Land Registry records.

Your information might be used:

• To bill, collect and administer Council Tax.
• To identify and allocate Council Tax payments and refunds.
• To recover unpaid Council Tax.
• To assess and apply relevant discounts.
• To assess and award Council Tax Support.
• To assess and apply relevant exemptions.
• For the administration of central government grants or discounts.

The law means that you have to give us the information we have asked for. If you don’t give us this information then we will be unable process your Council Tax payment meaning you will be prosecuted and receive a court summons for the offence. The table below sets out the legal basis for each of the activities that this Privacy Notice covers:

Activity	Legal Basis
Bill, collect and administer Council Tax Identify and allocate Council Tax payments and refunds. Recover unpaid Council Tax To assess and apply relevant discounts To assess and award Council Tax Support To apply relevant exemptions	To allow the Council to comply with a legal obligation under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, on the basis of UK law under the Local Government Finance Act 1992

   

We sometimes need to share your information within the Council or with other organisations. We will only share your information when necessary and when the law allows us to, and we will only share the minimum information we need to. For Council Tax matters we may need to share your information with:

• Our Benefits Department to allow them to process and award claims or recover over payments.
• Your Councillor or MP (for example, if you have made a complaint to them about the Council).
• DWP to request deductions from certain benefits or to request additional information about you.
• Our Environmental Enforcement Team to allow them to carry out their enforcement functions, such as serve an enforcement notice on the owner of a property.
• Enforcement Agents and legal service providers who are under contract with the Council, for the purpose of tracing a taxpayer or recovering unpaid Council Tax.
• St Leger Homes.
• Other Local Authorities, as permitted under Regulation 4 of The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 (S.I.1992/613).
• Accounts Receivable to help resolve payment or debt enquiries.
• Cabinet Office for the National Fraud Initiative (NFI). You can find more information about the NFI at: http://www.doncaster.gov.uk/services/the-council-democracy/the-national-fraud-initiative-and-data-matching
• Policing Authorities for the prevention and detection of a crime.
• The Valuation Office Agency, for the purpose of identifying and valuing properties to be entered into the Council Tax list.
• The Valuation Tribunal Service, for the purpose of determining appeals.
• Building Control, for the purpose of registering a property.
• Central government departments for the administration of energy grants, discounts or schemes.

In certain cases we may also share your information with other individuals and organisations. For example, if the sharing would help with a safeguarding issue, or help prevent a crime. Sometimes, we might share your information without your knowledge. The Council will never sell your information to anyone else.

We will keep your information for different periods of time, depending on what we are using it for. We only keep your information for as long as we need to, after which we will securely delete the information.

The law gives you specific rights over your information. These rights are:

• to be informed of our use of the information we hold about you;
• to access information we hold about you;
• rectify information about you that is inaccurate;
• to have your information erased (the ‘right to be forgotten’);
• to restrict how we use information about you;
• to move your information to a new service provider;
• to object to how we use information about you;
• not to have decisions made about you on the basis of automated decision making;
• to object to direct marketing; and,
• to complain about anything the Council does with your information (please see the ‘Complaints’ section below).

Some of the rights listed above apply only in certain situations, and some have a limited effect. Your rights are explained further in the Subject Rights Procedure on our website, as is how to make a request under one or more of them.

You can request information about yourself by making a subject access request and view the document named above on the Council’s Data Protection webpage

The Council is required by law to have a DPO. The DPO has a number of duties, including:

• monitoring the Council’s compliance with data protection law;
• providing expert advice and guidance on data protection;
• acting as the point of contact for data subjects; and,
• co-operating and consulting with the Information Commissioner’s Office (see ‘Complaints’ below).

The Council’s Data Protection Officer can be contacted by email at information.governance@doncaster.gov.uk 

If you are unhappy with the way in which your information has been handled you should contact the Council’s Data Protection Officer so that we can try and put things right.

Alternatively, if we have been unable to resolve your complaint, you can also refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is the UK's independent body set up to uphold information rights, and they can investigate and adjudicate on any data protection related concerns you raise with them. They can be contacted via the methods below:

Website: www.ico.org.uk

Telephone: 0303 123 1113

Post: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.