Housing privacy notices

Privacy notice for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support. 

Who we are and what we do

Elmbridge Borough Council is what is known as the ‘Controller’ of any personal data that you provide to us. For further information please see our corporate privacy notice.

The Housing Benefit department administer Housing Benefit under the Housing Benefit Regulations 2006 and Council Tax Reduction Scheme Regulations 2016.

What we need

As part of the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support application process, Elmbridge Borough Council will collect personal data about you and your family.

This information will include:

• details about you, such as your address, telephone number, email address, National Insurance number, date of birth, household composition and income details
• other relevant information needed to process your claim such as your landlord details

We will use this data to process your claim and may check some of the information with other sources to ensure this data is accurate. These may include government departments, local authorities and your landlord.

Why we need it

We will collect information about you to process your claim for:

• Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Support
• Discretionary Housing Payments
• where the processing is necessary to comply with legal obligations, for example the prevention and/or detection of crime including fraud
• protecting public funds

What we do with it

The information that you have provided will be held securely and will only be accessed by authorised council employees for the purposes of exercising any of the council's statutory functions.

To process your claim we share information under our legal obligations and with partner organisations, including:

• government departments in connection with welfare benefit claim
• the Department for Work and Pensions

We will not normally share your information with other 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. Any information which is shared will only be shared on a need to know basis, with appropriate individuals. Only the minimum information for the purpose will be shared.

How long we keep it

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

What are your rights?

If you have any concerns or questions about how your personal information is handled please contact our Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@elmbridge.gov.uk.

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 the Information Commissioner's Office or email casework@ico.org.uk.