Privacy notices

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council privacy notices.

Guide contents

Revenues and Benefits Services

This Privacy Notice is designed to help you understand how and why the Revenue  & Benefits Service processes your personal data. This notice should be read in conjunction with the Council’s Corporate Privacy Notice.

Who are we? 

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council is a ‘Data Controller’ as defined by Article 4(7) of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The Revenue & Benefits service maintains Council Tax and Business Rate accounts, applying any discounts and reliefs, along with recovering any unpaid debts to the Council. We also administer any claims for Housing Benefit, Discretionary Housing Payment and Council Tax Support. 

What personal information do we collect?

The personal data we collect includes, but is not limited to:

  • Name
  • Address
  • Occupancy status
  • Employment and benefit details
  • Contact details, such as telephone number or email address
  • Income and expenditure details
  • Financial information, such as bank details 

The information we request will be the minimum necessary in order to provide our services effectively and to perform our statutory duties. 

Why do we collect 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 Council. 

We collect and process information about you for the following purposes:

  • assess your liability to pay Council Tax or business rates, or both
  • assess any potential entitlement to an exemption, discount, disregard, relief or reduction
  • to collect and where necessary recover Council Tax, sundry debt, business rates and BIDs in line with legislation
  • to calculate any entitlement to housing benefit
  • to calculate any entitlement to a discretionary housing payment
  • to calculate any entitlement to a welfare assistance claim
  • to respond to requests for advice and guidance
  • derive statistics to inform both local and central government on business rates
  • assess your entitlement to discretionary payments in line with Council policies
  • assess your eligibility for government-mandated and discretionary grants
  • enforcement agents contracted to the Council for the collection of Council Tax, overpaid housing benefit, unpaid sundry debtor accounts, business rates, BIDS and related costs
  • prevent business rates avoidance and rates evasion
  • for the prevention and detection of crime or fraud including data matching under the National Fraud Initiative
  • prevent abuse of public funds
  • assist in assessing eligibility for children within your household for Free School Meals

Who do we obtain your information from?

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 Council Tax Support or reduction in Council Tax and/or Non Domestic Rates as well as the prevention of fraud as below:

  • Department for Work and Pensions
  • Valuation Office Agency
  • HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
  • Jobcentre Plus
  • Pension Service
  • Credit Reference Agencies
  • Other local authorities 

Who do we share this 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 it is necessary or we have a legal obligation, for example, we may share your information to find and stop crime and fraud. 

We may share your information with the following:

  • Other RCBC services
  • Bodies investigating or processing claims
  • Public sector agencies, e.g. Department for Work and Pensions, HMRC
  • Other local authorities
  • Crime Reference Agencies
  • Bodies working to prevent fraud and supporting national fraud initiatives 

How long do we keep your information for?

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 six years. 

What is our lawful basis for processing your information?

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council relies on the following lawful basis to process your personal data:

  • UK GDPR Article 6(1)(c) Legal obligation: the processing is necessary for us to comply with the law
  • UK GDPR Article 6 (1) (e) - processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest

UK GDPR Article 9(2)(g) – processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest with processing meeting Schedule 1, Part 2 of the Data Protection Act 2018 as below:

  •  (6) Statutory and government purposes

The legislations, policies and guidance that relate to this service includes, but is not limited to:

  • Local Government Finance Act 1988 (and subsequent amendments and associated statutory instruments)
  • Local Government Finance Act 1992 (and subsequent amendments and associated statutory instruments)
  • Social Security Administration Act 1992 (and subsequent amendments and associated statutory instruments)
  • Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 and Housing Benefit (State Pension Credit) Regulations 2006
  • Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations 2001
  • Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Consequential Regulations) 2006
  • Discretionary Financial Assistance Regulations 2001
  • Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) Order 1997
  • Social Security (Information-sharing in relation to Welfare Services, etc) Regulations 2012
  • Welfare Reform Act 2007 and 2012
  • Localism Act 2011
  • Tribunal, Courts and Enforcement Act 2007
  • Taking Control of Goods Act 2013

Your Rights

You have a number of rights that you may exercise in relation to your personal data. Some of the rights do not apply automatically and may not be available in certain circumstances where a lawful exception applies. 

  • You have a right to access your personal data. You can request a copy of personal data that we hold about you and ask us to explain how we use your data.
  • You have a right to object to processing of your personal data. You have an absolute right to stop your data being used for direct marketing. In other cases where the right to object applies, we may be able to continue using your data if we have a compelling reason for doing so. 

If we are relying on consent as the lawful basis to process your data you can withdraw your consent at any time, and we will stop further processing. 

  • You have a right to request the restriction or suppression of your personal data.
  • You have a right to have your personal data erased, if we no longer have a legitimate use for it. This right is sometimes called the ‘right to be forgotten’.
  • You have a right to rectification of your personal data if the information we hold in relation to you is inaccurate or incomplete.
  • You have a right not to be subject to any decision based solely on automated processing, including profiling, which produces legal or similarly significant effects. You can request human intervention or challenge any solely automated decision-making that significantly affects you. 

The Council has appointed a Data Protection Officer. Their contact details are:

Data Protection Officer

Redcar and Cleveland House

Kirkleatham Street

Redcar

TS10 1RT 

You can also contact the team by emailing InformationGovernance@redcar-cleveland.gov.uk or by calling 01642 774774

If you would like to request access to your personal data or exercise any of your other data protection rights, please contact the Information Governance Team:

Information Governance 

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council

Redcar and Cleveland House

Kirkleatham Street

Redcar

TS10 1RT 

Email: InformationGovernance@redcar-cleveland.gov.uk 

Telephone: 01642 774 774 

You can seek advice and have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). The ICO is an independent body set up to uphold information rights in the UK. You can contact them through the ICO website www.ico.org.uk, their helpline on 0303 123 1113, or in writing to:

Information Commissioner’s Office

Wycliffe House

Water Lane

Wilmslow

Cheshire

SK9 5AF 

For more information about how the Council uses your data, including your privacy rights and the complaints process, please see our Corporate Privacy Notice.