Domestic homicide reviews privacy statement

Background

Cheltenham Borough Council (CBC) as convenor of the Cheltenham Community Safety Partnership has a statutory duty to manage a domestic homicide reviews into the circumstances in which the death of a person aged 16 or over has, or appears to have, resulted from violence, abuse or neglect by—

(a) a person to whom they were related or with whom they were or had been in an intimate personal relationship, or

(b) a member of the same household as themselves

CBC is a data controller under data protection legislation This privacy notice concerns the processing of personal data that takes place by CBC as part of a domestic homicide review.

This notice explains what information we collect, why we collect it and how we keep it secure. It also explains your rights and our legal obligation. Should you wish to find out more about Cheltenham Borough Council’s data protection policies please contact our data protection officer.

We will notify you of any changes to this privacy notice

This privacy notice was last updated 18/09/2019. If we use your personal data for any new purposes, updates will be made to the policy information and changes communicated, where necessary in accordance with current data protection legislation. Any queries relating to this privacy notice please contact the data protection officer.

How we will use your personal data

CBC may need to collect personal data so that we can:

a) establish what lessons can be learned from the domestic homicide regarding the way in which local professionals and organisations work individually and together to safeguard victims
b) identify clearly what those lessons are both within and between agencies, how and within what timescales they will be acted on, and what is expected to change as a result
c) apply these lessons to service responses including changes to inform national and local policies and procedures as appropriate
d) prevent domestic violence and homicide and improve service responses for all domestic violence and abuse victims and their children by developing a co-ordinated multi-agency approach to ensure that domestic abuse is identified and responded to effectively at the earliest opportunity
e) contribute to a better understanding of the nature of domestic violence and abuse and
f) highlight good practice

Information that we collect from you will be obtained via face-to-face discussions and interviews, through email and telephone communications, via review of medical and social care records and via discussions with professionals who have been involved with the victims and their families. The council only uses IT systems for these purposes which are supplied under a contract and where the security has been assessed.

What information do we collect

We may collect and store records about you which may include:

  • Information from specialist providers (such as providers of domestic abuse services or provider of substance misuse services)
  • Details of engagement with services
  • Safeguarding records
  • Minutes from meetings and interviews
  • medical records
  • social care records
  • Details of any associated risk posed by, or to the person.
  • Evidence from all parties containing records of any incidents of crime and anti–social behaviour.
  • Details about vulnerabilities/disability or special requirements.
  • Criminal record information supplied by crime prevention services such as the police or youth justice service

The legal basis for us collecting your personal data

Where we are processing personal data about you as part of a domestic homicide review, we rely upon the following lawful conditions:

  • Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004
  • Article 6(1)(c) – processing that is necessary for CBC to fulfil a statutory obligation
  • Article 6(1)(e) – processing for the purposes of delivering a public task carried out in the public interest
  • Article 9(2)(b) – processing is necessary for the purposes of carrying out the obligations and exercising specific rights of the controller or of the data subject in the field of employment and social security and social protection law

When the decision to initiate a domestic homicide review is taken an independent chair is appointed and a multi-agency review panel is convened. The review panel is made up of representatives from a range of organisations who are best placed to contribute to the review and take forward any recommendations that come out of the process. We will securely share information relevant to the review with those organisations participating in the review process. This may include organisations such as:

  • Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
  • Gloucestershire Clinical Commissioning Group
  • Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Trust
  • South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust
  • Gloucestershire County Council
  • Cheltenham Borough Homes
  • Home Group
  • Gloucestershire Domestic Abuse Support Service (GDASS
  • Change, Grow, Live
  • Gloucestershire Constabulary
  • National Probation Service
  • County Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (DASV) Strategic Coordinator
  • Cheltenham Borough Council

Please rest assured that we restrict the amount of personal data that is shared to the minimum necessary and only share information that is relevant to the review.

We may also share information to enable us to comply with court orders and other legal obligations. If this is necessary, we will only share the minimum amount of personal data needed for this purpose.

If we feel that it is necessary to share your personal data with professionals to ensure you or someone you work with is safeguarded from harm, we rely upon the provisions of the Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006 and Children Act 1989 and 2004. Where it is necessary to share medical or social care information for these purposes, we rely upon article 9(2)(h) of the General Data Protection Regulation (information necessary for medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems).

How long will we hold personal data?

We will retain personal data for only as long as is necessary, and in line with our organisation’s record retention schedules.

Your data protection rights

Under data protection legislation, you have the right to obtain a copy of the personal records held by us using a Subject Access Request (SAR).

International transfers

CBC does not intend to transfer personal data to countries outside of the territorial scope of UK data protection laws as part of a domestic homicide review.

Complaints

If you have any comments, queries or complaints about this privacy notice or the processing of your personal data please contact our data protection officer.

Alternatively, if you are not happy with the way that CBC is handling your personal data, you are entitled to appeal to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO). The Information Commissioners Office enforces and oversees the data protection regulations.

Contact details are below:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Email: [email protected]

Automated decisions

No automated decisions are made using the personal data submitted to us for the purposes of domestic homicide reviews.