How we will use and share your information
The information held on your account by the council’s Revenue and Benefit Service will be used for administering and collecting Council Tax and Business Rates and for the processing of Housing Benefit, Housing Payments and Local Council Tax Reduction claims.
It may be used to make sure you are receiving all the benefits, discounts, exemptions and entitlements to which you are eligible for and to ensure you are paying the correct amount of Council Tax.
This information might include name, address, contact telephone number, reference numbers, email address and information relevant on how we communicate with you, such as large print and any other contact arrangements you have specified.
Your information may be used to improve communication with you.
We will use this information to identify hard to reach groups to promote benefit, discount and entitlement take up and to improve access to our services.
Your information may be used by other departments within the council, where appropriate, to enable the council to effectively carry out its functions, duties and to deliver services.
Information will be held on appropriate secure systems and may be used for the purposes of improving call centre and customer service centre waiting times and to resolve your query as quickly as possible.
The council must protect the public money it handles and for this purpose we may pass your information to other parties who may use the information to detect and prevent crime and fraud, and to assist us in collecting outstanding debt owed to the authority.
These include:
External agencies: such as the Police, HM Revenue and Customs, and HM Inland Revenue.
Government departments: such as the Cabinet Office, for participation in the National Fraud Initiative data matching exercise, Debt Recovery and Vulnerable Support pilot and the Department for Work and Pensions for data matching.
Private sector companies: such as companies that help the authority to collect outstanding debt. Other organisations responsible for auditing or administering public money, such as the National Audit Office.