Housing Services Privacy Notice

In order to deliver services to citizens and communities in Powys, the council need to collect, gather and process personal data about applicants, tenants, residents, other individuals and businesses.

This privacy notice sets out what personal data we hold about you and how we collect and use it.
 

Who is the controller?

Powys County Council is the controller for the purposes of data protection law. As a data controller, the council determines the purpose and methods for processing information and ensures safeguards over any personal and/or sensitive information it handles.

(The exception to this is where you have applied for a grant or loan or advice request that utilises an external partner for delivery. In which case that partner will adopt the role of data controller, as they are the party who seek to collect, store and manage your data.)

Powys County Council works closely with other controllers, such as Housing Associations, in the delivery of its housing functions.

Contact details for the council:

Powys County Hall
Spa Road East
Llandrindod Wells
Powys
LD1 5LG

Email: customerservices@powys.gov.uk

Telephone: 01597826000

Data Protection Officer:

The council's Data Protection Officer can be contacted by email at information.compliance@powys.gov.uk and by phone at 01597 826400

Why do we process your personal data?

Powys County Council hold and use your personal data to deliver a range of services including

• Delivering suitable housing solutions including:
   
  • Prevention and relief of homelessness - This may include sharing data with Shelter Cymru or other third parties who provide homeless prevention or relief services
  • Allocation of social housing
  • Affordable housing development
     
• Management of tenancy agreements including:
   
  • Carrying out repairs and maintenance to your home
  • Carrying out remote maintenance to environmental technologies within your home
  • Monitoring rent and service charge payments
  • Ensuring stock is of Welsh Housing Quality Standards
  • Helping you to sustain your tenancy
     
• Estate management
   
  • Addressing misconduct and anti-social behaviour
  • Protection of staff whilst on the estates
     
• Monitoring tenant and resident satisfaction
  • Informing future service delivery
     
• Ensuring statutory standards in the Private Sector for landlords, tenants and owner occupiers
   
  • Delivering Disabled adaptations, private sector housing grants and loans
  • The licensing of Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMO)
  • General housing complaints, proactive improvement activities including addressing empty homes and matters regarding Rent Smart Wales
  • General housing related advice               

Data protection law requires that we make clear the legal grounds on which we can hold and use your personal data.

Most commonly we rely on one or more of the following legal grounds when we process your personal data:

• where a contract is in place, such as a tenancy agreement or a contract for services
• where we need it to comply with a legal obligation e.g. to provide a repairs and maintenance service, to fulfil our statutory duties with regard to providing housing options, enforcing standards and discharging homeless duties
• where processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest. e.g. Social Services and Wellbeing (Wales) Act 2014 places a duty on local authorities to make arrangements to promote co-operation between relevant partners.
• where it is necessary for our legitimate interests and your interests and fundamental rights do not override those interests. This may include, for example, monitoring satisfaction with our services.
• In some circumstances we require your consent to process your personal information. For example, when carrying out a credit check for the purposes of identifying if budgetary support is needed for tenancy sustainment. Where we require your consent we will make this clear to you and will not process your information, for such purposes, unless you give us your consent.

For special category data including that around crime, criminal convictions and medical data which is considered to be more sensitive, then a further legal basis needs to be relied upon. Most commonly, we rely on the following:

• Where processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest including the protection of staff and the detection and prevention of crime and in support of the fundamental right to housing and or the provision of services for the disabled. e.g. the recording of a person's disability will enable the council to deliver a service in line with a person's fundamental needs.

Due to the sensitive nature of the information we collect, we put safeguards in place to ensure that:

• we only gather as much information as we need, and no more
• the information is accurate and up-to-date
• the information is only used for the purpose intended
• we keep the information for only as long as we need to   

We will not disclose personal information to third parties for marketing purposes or use personal data in a way that may cause unwarranted detriment.

However, there are circumstances where the council is legally required to disclose information:

• for the purpose of performing statutory enforcement duties
• disclosures required by law
• for the purposes of detecting/preventing fraud, including local and national fraud initiatives
• auditing/administering public funds

What type of personal data do we hold about you?

Personal data means any information relating to an individual who can be identified (directly or indirectly) in particular by reference to an identifier (e.g. name, NI number, tenancy reference number, email address, physical features). It can be factual (e.g. contact details or date of birth), an opinion about an individual's actions or behaviour, or information that may otherwise impact that individual in a personal or business capacity.

We hold and use various types of personal data about you, including, for example: biographical details; details of the terms of your tenancy with us; rent, disability details and service charge details etc.

Data protection law divides personal data into two categories: ordinary personal data and special category data. Any personal data that reveals racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership, physical or mental health conditions, sexual life or sexual orientation, or biometric or genetic data that is used to identify an individual is known as special category data. (The rest is ordinary personal data).

We hold and use various types of special category data about you, including: details of family living in your home which could include information about your health, religious beliefs, nationality or sexual orientation; equal opportunities monitoring data which could include information about your race or ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation or health.

How do we collect your personal data?
 

You provide us with most of the personal data about you that we hold and use. Other personal data about you we hold and use is generated by you in the course of your application for housing, grant, loan, complaint or advice request or in the management of your tenancy or audio/video recordings made to protect housing staff whilst at work and to prevent misconduct and crime

Some of the personal data about you that we hold and use may come from external sources. For example: support agencies, housing association partners, other Council departments, police, probation etc.

Who do we share your personal data with?

We will only share your personal data with third parties where we have an appropriate legal ground under data protection law which permits us to do so (unless you have already provided prior consent). Commonly, this could include situations where we provide the information to comply with our contractual duties to provide an improvement, maintenance and repair service to your home.  Or to carry out our statutory duties to prevent homelessness and discharge legal obligations of the housing authority in partnership with housing associations and the private sector.  This is to secure and maintain appropriate housing and standards for individuals and households.

Additional information may be shared as required and allowed for the prevention and detection of crime.

Your data may be shared with other organisations including:

• Housing Associations
• Support Agencies such as Care and Repair in Powys
• Police
• Probation
• Other Council departments
• Credit reference agencies
• Contractors
• Courts
• Voluntary sector organisations
• Doctors, GP's
• Landlords
• Contractors or businesses delivering services you have requested e.g. building work or financial services

• Businesses acting as a Data Processor on behalf of Powys County Council regarding housing functions

Where information is shared with other organisations or processed on our behalf, we will ensure adequate protection by ensuring contracts and sharing agreements are in place.  These will define the minimum amount of data to be shared, how your information is to be used and will enforce security controls to protect your information.

All council officers are required to undertake relevant training to ensure that personal data is processed in accordance with the principles of data protection legislation.

Consequences of not providing personal data

We only ask you to provide personal data when we have a good reason and there may therefore be consequences if you do not provide particular information to us.

If you choose not to provide us with personal data requested, we will tell you about the particular implications of any such decision at the relevant time.

How long will we keep your personal information?

We will only keep your information for the minimum period necessary. After this time, information is deleted/destroyed in accordance with council approved retention schedules.  Please see our 'retention schedule' which explains how long we keep information for: Data Protection and Privacy

Retention Schedule

A retention schedule is a list of records that need to be retained by the Council for a designated period of time. The Retention Schedule shows the title of each record, a time period for which records are to be retained, and identified the reason (legislative, regulatory and / or operational) on which retention is based.

Your rights

You have a number of legal rights dependent upon the legal basis for processing your personal data which are outlined here:

Subject Access Request - you are able to make a request to see and be provided with a copy of information about you that is being used by Powys County Council. This includes why information is being held and what sorts of decisions are being made using that information.

Right to be informed - you have the right to be supplied with information explaining why and how we use your information. These notices are called Privacy Notices.

Right of rectification - you are entitled to have personal information put right or completed if you feel it inaccurate or not complete.

Right to be forgotten - you have the right to request that personal information about you is erased where we have no compelling reason to continue using it.

Right to block or restrict - you are able to ask that we stop using your personal information for certain reasons and in certain ways.

Right to portability - Dependent upon the reasons and the way in which we use your information you may be entitled to obtain and reuse your information, to move your information from one IT system to another.  This applies only when its information you gave us, you consented to us using it, or we are using it because of a contract, and the use of information is undertaken by a computer.

Right to object - you are able to object to us using your information in some cases, such as direct marketing.

Rights related to automated decision-making including profiling - where you are able to request human intervention in the decision-making process.

How to make an enquiry or lodge a complaint

The council has a legal basis for gathering and processing of information necessary for the delivery of services.  You have the right to request that the council stop or restrict using your personal data in relation to any council service. However, this may cause delays or prevent us delivering a service to you.  Where possible, we will seek to comply with such requests, but this may not be possible where the council is required to do so by law, to safeguard public safety, where there is a risk of harm and/or in emergency situations.

Please submit an enquiry to us if you would like to:     

• View your information, please submit a request (Subject Access Request)
• Verify, correct or update your information
• Understand how we have arrived at a decision about you 
• If you have a concern, complaint, objection or request a restriction on how we process your data
• We will respond to all enquiries within 28 days of their submission, unless they are determined to be complex in which case an extension of timescales may be appropriate

Contact details for enquiries:

Housing Services:

Housing Services can be contacted via e-mail at housing@powys.gov.uk and by phone at 01597 827464

Data Protection Officer:

The council's Data Protection Officer can be contacted by email at Information.Compliance@powys.gov.uk and by phone at 01597 826400

For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data sharing issues, you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) at:

Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF

Tel: 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate number

Alternatively, visit ico.org.uk or email icocasework@ico.org.uk.