Council tax - privacy notice

The personal information you give to us in person or through any of our forms relating to council tax and any other personal information we hold about you in this context will be managed to:

• Process council tax liability
• Administer council tax
• Communicate with you about your council tax, for example, we may use your mobile number or email address as a means of communicating with you in regards to council tax matters

We process your information in order to perform a task carried out in the public interest and in the exercise of official authority, namely the task of administering council tax, in terms of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. It is also to fulfil legal obligations to ensure proper administration of our financial affairs in terms of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973.

Data protection law gives certain types of information special significance because of its sensitivity such as health information. This is known as special category data. If we process this type of information about you in relation to council tax we do so on the basis that it is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest.

It is important that we hold accurate and up to date information. If any details have changed, or change in the future, then you should ensure that you inform the Revenues and Benefits Section as soon as possible so that they can update your record.

Without the correct information we may charge you the incorrect rate of council tax and you may not receive the benefits, reductions or discounts which you are entitled to. If we ask you to give specific information in order to assess the correct amount of council tax payable and you do not give this information we may fine you. Deliberately giving false information in order to avoid or reduce council tax is also a crime.

Most of the information we hold about you will come from you as an individual. Some of the information about you may come from third-party sources including other local authorities, electoral registration officers, local assessors and housing bodies operating in the East Renfrewshire area. Such information includes:

• your name & address
• your age
• contact details such as email or telephone (including mobile)
• your status (in order to assess relevant exemptions) such as being a student
• dates of residence in particular premises and details of any past and / or present interest you may have in a particular property
• health or medical information (in connection with reduction claims)

HM Revenue and Customs officials may also give information they hold about you to us relating to council tax reductions. This information can be provided for the purpose of determining an application for council tax reduction, reviewing or appealing a determination and / or preventing or detecting fraud or an error in connection with the council tax reduction or as a result of an attempt to obtain council tax reduction fraudulently..

Your information will be accessed by our staff who need to do so to administer council tax and any benefits, reductions or discounts you're entitled to. If such administration is provided on our behalf by an external agency, that agency will also have access to your information. We also need to ensure proper administration of our funds so details will be checked internally for fraud prevention and verification purposes. Information is also analysed internally in order to give management information and inform future service delivery.

Your information may also be shared with other departments within the council, bodies responsible for auditing or administering public funds, other councils, public sector agencies, governmental departments and other private companies or entities (such as credit reference agencies or service providers). We also meet requests for specific information from other regulatory and law enforcement bodies where this is necessary and appropriate. Organisations who we may share data with include:

• The Department for Works and Pensions and other UK Government departments
• Scottish Government
• Social Security Scotland
• Health & Social Care Organisations such as East Renfrewshire Health & Social Care Partnership
• Registered social landlords
• External enforcement, collection or tracing agents
• National Fraud Initiative
• Renfrewshire Valuation Joint Board
• GBG Plc - ID3 global bank details verification

The Council will only keep your personal data for as long as necessary and thereafter this will be securely destroyed. For the following purposes we will keep personal data in relation to:

• Council tax benefit claim processing 6 years
• Council tax collection 6 years
• Council tax debtors 20 years

Further information about how we manage our records can be found within our Integrated Business Classification and Records Retention Schedule (PDF, 2 MB).

Contact us if you need this information in an alternative format.

Depending on why we need to process your information you will have rights to how your information is used. Further information about your rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, can be found within our main privacy policypage published on our website.

If you have concerns about the processing of your personal data, by the council, you can contact the Data Protection Officer at dpo@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk.

For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data sharing, visit the Information Commissioner's Office website