Local welfare provision (Household Support Fund) privacy notice - Privacy notices

Herefordshire Council has been allocated £1.3 million from the Department for Work and Pensions to support households in Herefordshire struggling with the cost of living. Some of this funding is available through an application process which is run through the council's local welfare provision service and is the reason for this privacy notice.

Herefordshire Council will collect personal data about you and your family in order to provide emergency support as part of the Local Welfare Provision (Household Support Fund) application process.

This information will include:

Details about you, such as your full name, address, telephone number, email address, national insurance number, date of birth, household composition, income and savings.

Some other relevant information may be needed to process your application (where applicable), for example your energy provider or landlord's details.

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.

Herefordshire Council is also the data processor and will be passing relevant information required to issue a voucher to PayPoint Payment Services Ltd.

We will use this data to process your application and issue vouchers for emergency support.

Some of the information will be checked with other data sources to confirm your identity, residence, and income, or to protect public funds, for example, the prevention and/or detection of crime including fraud.

The legal basis for processing the data is the exercise of official authority under our public task.

The legal gateway for sharing information to establish eligibility for emergency support is Regulation 5(1) (a)(iii) of the Social Security (Information-sharing in relation to Welfare Services etc.) Regulations 2012 made under Section 131(1) of the Welfare Reform Act 2012.

We will share some of your information with partner organisations, including:

• PayPoint Payment Services Ltd to issue you a voucher
• Other third party organisations with funding to provide support to households struggling with the cost of living. This will only be shared with your consent

We will not normally share your information with organisations other than our partner organisations without your consent. However, there may be certain circumstances where we would share without consent, such as where we are required to do so by law, to safeguard public safety, and in risk of harm or emergency situations. We will only share the minimum information for the purpose, on a need to know basis and with appropriate individuals.

The information outlined in this privacy notice will be kept for a minimum of seven years, including the time required by Department for Work and Pensions as part of the grant conditions agreed to by Herefordshire Council.

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 put your request in writing and provide proof of identification to the Information Governance Team, Herefordshire Council Plough Lane, Hereford HR4 0LE or via email informationgovernance@herefordshire.gov.uk

You also have a 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 talkcommunityhelpline@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

More information about data protection and how it applies to you can be found on the Information Commissioner's Office website.

Local welfare provision page