Council tax privacy statement

Who the Council is and what the Council does

The Council is a data controller under the Data Protection Legislation as the Council collects and processes personal information about you in order to meet our statutory obligations in respect of the billing, collection and recovery of council tax.

The Council collects and processes data to ensure efficient and effective billing, collection and recovery of Council Tax.

This notice explains why the Council asks for your personal information, how that information will be used and how you can access your records.

We use this information to:

  • To manage and collect council tax, business rates, BIDS and other monies owing to the council
  • To provide you with necessary and appropriate services
  • To help us to develop and improve our services
  • To complete and send reports to Government departments
  • To do the things that the law says we have to do
  • To prevent and detect crime
  • We process personal data because it is necessary to comply with our legal obligations

Why the Council needs your information and how the Council uses it

In accordance with prevailing legislation, Cheltenham Borough Council is required to levy and collect council tax. The legislation that requires Local Authorities to collect and administer tax from its residents is as follows, the list is not exhaustive:

  • The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992
  • The Local Government Finance Act 1992
  • Local Government Act 2003 – section 85.

The Council uses your information collected for purposes of administering council tax setting up your account for billing purposes, processing discounts, exemptions etc.

The lawful basis for processing your information are:

  • GDPR Article 6(1)(a) - the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes
  • GDPR Article 6(1)(c) - processing is necessary for compliance with legal obligation to which the Council is subject
  • GDPR Article 6(1)(e) - processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest in the exercise of official authority vested in the Council.
  • Local Government Finance Act 1992
  • Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992

For more information visit our Council Tax webpages.

What information do we collect about you?

We collect information about:

  • Your name, address, contact details (telephone number and email address)
  • Occupancy status
  • The people in your household, to establish correct council tax charge and eligibility for discounts and exemptions
  • Bank details for payments, refunds
  • Your property, to establish correct council tax charge and eligibility for discounts and exemptions
  • To award certain reductions or exemptions we have to collect evidence; this data can include student exemption certificates, award of benefit notices, disability information
  • Your employment status, employer, national insurance number
  • Information relating to household income and expenditure
  • If you cannot pay as per your bill and need to enter into a payment arrangement, we will ask for details about your financial situation.

Who do we share the information with?

  • Information may be shared with other services such as Housing Benefit and the matching of Council Tax data with Electoral Registration records. It may also be shared with other agencies in accordance with prevailing Data Protection Legislation for the detection and prevention of fraud and crime
  • Under section 85 of the Local Government Act 2003, information gathered as part of the Council Tax billing process will be shared for the purposes of bringing empty homes back into use
  • By law the Council must give out some information if the Council is asked - for example by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) or HM Revenue & Customs
  • The Council may share your personal data with partner authorities and service providers for the purpose of administering and collecting council tax. We have a duty to protect public funds and may use your information to perform statutory enforcement duties and data matching for the prevention and detection of fraud and/or crime
  • The council has a legal duty to submit information to the government as part of the National Fraud Initiative (NFI).You can read about the type of information we have to disclose to the NFI on their website
  • The Council will also use the information for the purpose of performing any of its statutory enforcement duties. It will make any disclosures required by law and may also share this information with other bodies responsible for detecting/preventing fraud or auditing/ administering public funds. The Council may share the details with other organisations that handle public funds and assist in the processing of other benefits
  • We may also share your data with other agencies or organisations where the law allows us to do so and for the prevention and detection of fraud and/or crime. This includes:
    • Other departments within the council
    • Other local authorities
    • Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service
    • Department for Work and Pensions
    • Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs

How long the Council keep your information (retention period)

Council Tax has retention schedules in place. Your data will be held for as long as your account is open or has a remaining balance payable. Once your account is closed and payments have been made in full your data will be held for six years plus the current year.  Your information will be disposed of in a controlled and secure manner in accordance with the Council’s Policy.

How the Council protects your Information

  • All the information the Council collects is stored securely on our IT system and manual filing systems. The Council has strict procedures for the way this is done. Any and all information about you is treated as confidential and with respect. There are also clear rules and guidance about storing, recording and sharing information which staff receive training on.
  • The Council will not transfer your personal data outside the EU
  • The Council has implemented generally accepted standards of technology and operational security in order to protect personal data from loss, misuse, or unauthorised alteration or destruction. 
  • Please note however that where you are transmitting information to us over the internet this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure. 
  • If you use your credit or debit card to make payments, the Council passes your card details securely to our payment processing partner as part of the payment process. The Council does this in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Security Standard and doesn’t store the details on its website. The information you give to the Council when using our online payment system will only be used for the recording of your payment.
  • The Council will notify you promptly in the event of any breach of your personal data which might expose you to serious risk.

Right to complain

Any breach of data held can be reported to the Information Commissioner’s Office. Their contact information can be supplied on request or at www.ico.org.uk

Further information

Data protection officer details

For more information please visit our page on how we use_your_data