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Contents

1. Introduction
2. Why we need your information and how we use it
3. Type of information collected
4. How we collect information
5. Who your information may be shared with
6. How long we keep your information
7. Protecting your information
8. How you can access, update or correct your information

Introduction

We look after data to allow for the billing, collection and recovery of Council Tax.

Why we need your information and how we use it

We will use your information for the administration of Council Tax.

This includes the billing, collection and recovery of Council Tax in accordance with:

• The Local Government Finance Act 1992
• The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992

Type of information collected

The data we collect and process for administering Council Tax is:

• personal information such as:
  • name
  • household makeup to apply the relevant discounts, exemptions and reliefs
  • employment and benefit details
  • income and expenditure details
  • your bank details should you pay by direct debit
• contact details including:
  • your current and previous addresses
  • telephone number
  • email address

How we collect information

We collect your information from you or third parties in the following ways:

• by asking you or others to complete an online form
• when you or others telephone our Council Tax department
• from incoming correspondence such as emails / letters / forms / applications for discounts, reviews and exemptions from your, or others, including landlords, letting agents
• from our benefits department
• from the registrar of births, deaths and marriages
• through requests for information from other local authorities and public bodies
• from third party credit searches and data matching exercises conducted through the National Anti-Fraud Network
• checking the register of electors

Who your information may be shared with

We sometimes need to share your information within the council or with other organisations.

We will only share your information when necessary and when the law allows us to. We will only share the minimum information we need to.

For Council Tax matters we may need to share your information with:

• our Benefits Department to allow them to process and award claims or recover payments
• your Councillor or MP (for example, if you have made a complaint to them about the Council)
• DWP to request deductions from certain benefits or to request additional information about you
• Enforcement Agents, who are under contract with us to recover unpaid Council Tax
• other Local Authorities, as permitted under Regulation 4 of the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992 (S.1.1992/613)
• Policing Authorities for the prevention and detection of a crime
• The Valuation Office Agency, to identify and value properties to be entered into the Council Tax list
• The Valuation Tribunal Service, to determine appeals

We may also share your information with other individuals and organisations. For example, if the sharing would help with a safeguarding issue, or help prevent a crime. Sometimes, we share your information without your knowledge. We will never sell your information to anyone else.

By law we must give out some information if we are asked - for example by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) or HM Revenue and Customs.

We are required by law to join in National Fraud Initiative (NFI) data matching exercises.

How long we keep your information

We will keep your information for as long as it is required by us or other regulatory bodies in order to comply with legal and regulatory requirements or for other operational reasons. 

We currently keep data for current taxpayers back to the start of Council Tax in 1993. This is because there has yet to be a revaluation of the current valuation bands so it is possible for an adjustment to be required back to 1993.

Protecting your information

Please see Â鶹ÊÓƵ's privacy notice.

How you can access, update or correct your information

For Taxation we will approach you to review the data we hold. There is no set pattern but normally we will review aspects of the data we hold each year.

The Data Protection law gives you the right to apply for a copy of information about yourself. This is a 'Subject Access Request'. 

The accuracy of your information is important to us to be able to provide relevant services more quickly. 

Contact us if:

• you change your address or email address
• any of your circumstances change
• any of the other information we hold is inaccurate or out of date

You can contact the Council Tax Team by email council.tax@southtyneside.gov.uk or telephoning 0191 424 4330.