Privacy notices

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council privacy notices.

Revenues and Benefits Services

How we use your information in relation to revenues and benefits services

This privacy notice tells you what to expect when Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council (RCBC) collects personal information in relation to your use of RCBC’s Revenues and Benefits services.

Purpose of processing and legal basis for processing your personal information

The billing, collection and enforcement of local taxation and other miscellaneous debts as well as the assessment and payment of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support is the statutory responsibility of the Borough Council

In order to enable RCBC to carry out its duty and/or obligations it is necessary for us to collect personal information from you to include your name, address, contact details and other personal information to support any application for a reduction in Council Tax, Non Domestic Rates or assessment of Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Support.

Who we share your information with

We work with a range of other organisations to either store personal information or help us deliver our services to you. We may also share your personal information when we feel there’s a good reason that’s more important than protecting your privacy. As an example, we may share your information in order to find and stop crime and fraud.

Those that we share your information with are:

  • other RCBC Services
  • bodies investigating or processing claims
  • public sector agencies e.g. Department for Work and Pensions, HMRC, other local authorities and private sector companies such as credit reference agencies; and
  • bodies working to prevent fraud and supporting national fraud initiatives.

Retention period or criteria used to determine the retention period

We will retain your personal information for the duration of any local taxation liability, and for the duration of any Housing Benefit or Council Tax Support claim, plus a further period of 6 years.

The sources the personal data originates from and whether it came from publicly accessible sources

Personal information originates mainly from the customer but can be provided by other sources on an individual basis e.g. Letting Agents, Solicitors, Landlords, Other Council Services, or other third parties particularly when a property is occupied and/or vacated.

Information is also provided by other bodies to assist with the processing of applications for Housing Benefit and/or Local Council Tax Support or reduction in Council Tax and/or Non Domestic Rates as well as the prevention of fraud as below:

  • Department of Work and Pensions
  • Valuation Office Agency
  • HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
  • Jobcentre Plus
  • Pension Service
  • Credit Reference Agencies
  • other local authorities and/or County Council’s

Whether the provision of personal data is part of a statutory or contractual requirement or obligation and possible consequences of failing to provide the personal data

We have a statutory duty to provide these services to you and you are therefore expressly consenting to our use and disclosure of your personal information in the manner described in this privacy notice therefore the consequences of you failing to provide your personal information is that we can no longer comply with our statutory duty.

The existence of automated decision making, including profiling and information about how decisions are made, the significance and the consequences

Where this occurs we ensure through monitoring against RCBC’s policies and procedures that the correct decision and outcome is verified.

Changes to this privacy policy

We keep our privacy policy under regular review.

The data controller and their contact details

We are the data controller, and if you have any concerns about how your personal data is handled you can contact us by:

Your rights about your data

You have the right to request access to information about you that we hold. To make a request for your personal information, contact our Information Security Team, whose details are above.

You also have the right to:

  • object to processing of personal data that is likely to cause, or is causing, damage or distress
  • prevent processing for the purpose of direct marketing
  • object to decisions being taken by automated means
  • in certain circumstances, have inaccurate personal data rectified, blocked, erased or destroyed; and
  • claim compensation for damages caused by a breach of the Data Protection regulations.

If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, we request that you raise your concern with us in the first instance. Alternatively, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office https://ico.org.uk/