Council Tax billing and collection process privacy notice - Privacy notices

As part of the Council Tax billing and collection process, Herefordshire Council will collect data about you and members of your household where appropriate. You will usually have to pay Council Tax if you are aged over 18 years and own or rent a home.

This information collation includes:

• Name and current address
• Re-addresses if different
• Household make up to accurately apply relevant discounts, exemptions and disregard, and other relevant information

We will use this data to process your application and may check some of the information with other sources to ensure this data is accurate.

All personal data held, is processed in accordance with data protection law. The data controller for the information outlined in this privacy notice is Herefordshire Council.

Hoople Ltd is the data processor who will process your information on behalf of Herefordshire Council.

We will collect information about you (where applicable) to:

• Meet our legal obligation to levy and collect taxes
• In the administration of Council Tax by setting up your account for billing purposes, processing discounts and exemptions
• Process your application for Council Tax exemptions or discounts
• Where the processing is necessary to comply with legal obligations, for example the prevention and/or detection of crime including fraud
• Protect public funds
• The information will be used for the purpose of performing any of our statutory enforcement duties

Prevailing legislation requires local councils an obligation to levy and collect taxes. The legislation that requires local councils to collect and administer tax from its residents is as follows:

• Local Government Finance Act 1992
• Local Government Finance Act 2012
• The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992
• The prevention or detection of crime, including false representation in accordance with the Fraud Act

We will share information with agencies in accordance with the prevailing data protection statute for the detection, prevention and prosecution of fraud and criminal activity. Examples are:

• The Department for Work and Pensions
• HM Revenues and Customs
• The Police
• Health and social care organisations
• Environmental health section for Herefordshire Council for homes in multiple occupation
• For the purpose of performing any of our statutory enforcement duties
• To make any disclosures required by law
• Other bodies responsible for detecting or preventing fraud or auditing or administering public funds
• Other organisations who handle public funds and assist in the processing of other benefits

On occasions, your information may be accessed by contracted IT support organisations in the delivery of IT support for both the IT infrastructure and associated systems, for the processes detailed in this privacy notice. Access by IT support will only be for such reasons as fixing any technical issues with software, and any viewing of data will be incidental to this.

We will not share your information with organisations unless there is a legal gateway to do so. However, there may be certain circumstances where we would share without your consent, such as where we are required to do so by law, to safeguard public safety, and in risk of harm or emergency situations. Otherwise outside of the conditions stated, we will only share your information as detailed where you have provided your written consent to do so.

We will only keep your information for the minimum period necessary. The information outlined in this privacy notice will be kept for the period required by the council for legal and audit purposes. All information will be held securely and destroyed under confidential conditions.

You have a number of rights under data protection law, including the right to request your information and to request that the information is amended or erased if incorrect.

To request your records, you will need to provide proof of identification and write to the Information Governance Team, Herefordshire Council, Plough Lane, Hereford HR4 0LE or email informationgovernance@herefordshire.gov.uk

You also have the right to make a complaint about our handling of your personal data to the Information Commissioner's Office.

If you have any questions or concerns about how your information is used, please contact the revenues and benefits service - Council Tax team at counciltax@herefordshire.gov.uk in the first instance. You can also contact the Data Protection Officer, Herefordshire Council, Plough Lane, Hereford HR4 0LE, email informationgovernance@herefordshire.gov.uk

You can find more information about data protection and how it applies to you on the Information Commissioner's Office website.

Council Tax section