Under the General Data Protection Regulation 2016 (GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) Bassetlaw District Council, Queen’s Building, Potter Street, Worksop, Notts, S80 2AH is a Data Controller for the information it holds about you. This notice provides details of how the Council's Housing Benefit department collects and uses information about you. The Council has a lawful basis for collecting, holding and processing personal and sensitive information about you for this purpose under Public Task.
Information we collect about you
Some information we require is essential – we cannot consider your application without it. Whilst some information is optional. However, if you choose not to tell us something this may mean that we may not make the right decision or be able to progress with your application.
- Personal details including your current and any past names, nationality, date of birth, gender and national insurance number (including partners, dependents or any other household members details)
- Address information including the date you moved in, legal interest in your home, landlord’s or letting agent’s details including details of your tenancy (if you rent)
- Financial information including your income, benefits received, expenditure, details of any debts, bank and building society details, account balances, savings, any money from inheritance and properties and business you own
- Employment details including employer’s name, contract information, hours of work, pay and deductions
- Physical or mental health information including your doctor or hospital consultant’s details
- Preferred contact details, which could be a phone number and/or email address
How we collect information about you
We can collect information about you from:
- You
- Department for Work and Pensions (DWP)
- Her Majesty’s Revenues and Customs (HMRC)
- Other Council departments
- Third parties such as your employer (we normally ask for your consent beforehand)
- Landlords or Managing Agent (we normally ask for your consent beforehand)
We collect information by the following means:
- Online
- Via Email
- Over the telephone
- By paper correspondence
- In person (face-to-face).
- Electronic transfer of information
Use of your personal data
We are collecting your personal data for the following purposes:
- To administer the Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Discretionary Housing Payment and/or Hardship Fund schemes
- To accurately assess you for entitlement to Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Discretionary Housing Payment and/or Hardship Fund schemes
- To assist in the recovery of Housing Benefit Overpayments
- To protect public funds, and for the prevention and detection of crime and fraud.
We are required by the following legislation to process your personal data appropriately for the purposes listed above:
- Data Protection Act 2018.
- The Social Security Administrations Act 1992
- The Housing Benefit Regulations 2006
- The Local Government Finance Act 2012
The above list is not exhaustive.
Sharing of your personal data
We MAY share your information with the following third parties for the reasons detailed above:
- Other Council Departments such as Council Tax or Corporate Accountancy etc
- Other Councils such as Nottinghamshire County Council
- Governmental Departments such as Cabinet Office, MHCLG, HMRC
- DWP
- Police
- National Crime Agency
- Third parties such as your employer (we normally ask for your consent beforehand)
- Landlords or Managing Agent (we normally ask for your consent beforehand)
- Debt Collection Agencies working on the Council’s behalf (to assist in the recovery of Housing Benefit Overpayments)
We MAY be required to disclose information about you in other specific situations such as:
- Where we are required to disclose information by law
- When disclosing the information is required to prevent or detect crime
- When disclosure is in the vital interests of the person concerned
We will not sell or rent your information to third parties. We will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.
Keeping your personal data
We will keep your personal data in accordance with our retention schedule, unless you explicitly request it to be removed under GDPR information rights. This right to have your data removed is not an absolute right, for example, we will need to retain your data if this information forms part of a legal requirement, public registry or an existing contract.
We want to ensure any information we hold is accurate. You can help us by promptly informing us of any changes to the information we hold about you.
View the most recent copy of the Retention Schedule. The Retention Schedule is a Live Document and as such, is updated regularly. Read our policy and guidelines that govern how we manage our Retention Schedule.
Protecting your personal data
We are strongly committed to data security and will take reasonable and appropriate steps to protect your personal information from unauthorised access, loss, misuse, alteration or corruption. We have put in place physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard the personal information that we hold.
We do not currently transfer your data to any third country or international organisation.
Research and statistics
Anonymised and pseudonymised data may be used for research and statistical purposes. Any data collected may be used for research and statistical purposes that are relevant and compatible with the purpose that the data was collected for.
Your rights
There are a number of rights that you may exercise depending on the legal basis for processing your personal data. In most cases, these rights are not absolute and there may be compelling or overriding legal reasons why we cannot meet these rights in full. This will be explained to you in more detail should you contact us for any of the reasons detailed below:
- Request a copy of the personal information the council holds about you
- To have any inaccuracies corrected
- To have your personal data erased
- To place a restriction on the council’s processing of your data
- To object to processing and
- To request your data to be ported (data portability)
- We do not currently transfer your data to any third country or international organisation.
Where the processing of your personal data is based on your consent, in most circumstances, you have the right to withdraw that consent at any time and we will act on your instructions.
For more information about how the Council may use your data and to learn more about your rights please see the Council’s Privacy Statement.
If you have any concerns or questions about how your personal data is processed, please contact the Council’s Data Protection Officer at the above address or by email to DataProtectionOfficer@bassetlaw.gov.uk. If you are dissatisfied, you can then make a complaint to the Chief Executive under stage 1 of the Council’s complaints procedure. Should you wish to pursue this further, please send your reasons in writing to the Council’s Chief Executive Officer here at Queen’s Buildings. If you remain dissatisfied with the Council’s response, you can complain to the Information Commissioner's Office in writing to: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF or by telephone 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745
Last Updated on Thursday, March 7, 2024