Privacy notice - Community Support Scheme

The Community Support Scheme is a discretionary scheme operated by the Council to provide Crisis Support for people in immediate need, and Community Care Support to help people remain in the community or move back into the community after a period in supported accommodation.

The information we collect and the information provided to us by the Department for Work and Pensions is required in the assessment of your application for help through the Council’s Community Support scheme.

What type of Personal Data do we collect?

We may collect the following types of Personal Data:

• Your name
• Contact details (postal address, telephone number, email address etc.)
• Date of Birth
• National Insurance number
• Financial information (including earnings and benefits information)
• Bank accounts
• Savings, investments and property ownership
• If you are blind
• Whether you are a student
• Marital status
• Household details including any children you may have
• Rent details
• Landlord details
• Disability details
• Any other information required to calculate your application through the Community Support Scheme

We may collect your Personal Data in a number of ways, for example:

• When you make an online application for help through the Community Support scheme
• When you contact us directly by telephone
• When you contact us by email
• When the Department for Work and Pensions provides us with information in relation to your state benefits following a request for crisis support

Processing of this data is legitimised as it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

• To administer applications for emergency, crisis support for Middlesbrough residents
• To administer applications for help with furniture and white goods for Middlesbrough residents who are returning to the community following a period of time in supported housing
• To ensure that the information we hold about you is kept up-to-date;
• To deal with any problems or complaints that arise in relation to your account
• Most of the personal information we hold is provided by you in your application for help through the Community Support scheme which you will make either on line through the Council’s website, or by telephone and the supporting information you include with it.
• We may need to verify certain information in relation to your income or personal circumstances. Where necessary, we will do this by verifying your information with the Department for Work and Pensions (if you receive state benefits) or contact you directly to verify any details we are unable to establish with them.
• There will also be instances when we will need to contact external agencies such as the Police or your landlord, to verify the details you have told us

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

• External companies the Council contracts with to provide furniture or white goods on our behalf
• On occasions, your information may be accessed by contracted IT support organisations in the delivery of IT support. Access by IT support will only be provided for such reasons as fixing any technical issues with software, and any viewing of data will be incidental to this

Subject to a legal gateway, your information may also be shared for the prevention of fraud and criminal activity with (this list is not exhaustive):

• The Police
• The Department for Work and Pensions

We will not normally share your information with organisations other than our partner 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 or if there is a risk of harm or in emergency situations. If this does apply, any information which is shared will only be shared on a need to know basis with appropriate individuals.

The security of your personal information is important to us. This is why we follow a range of security policies and procedures to control and safeguard access to and use of your personal information.

After we deliver a service to you, we have to keep your information as a business record of what was delivered. The type of service will determine how long we have to keep it. Our corporate retention guidelines show how long we will keep it for different services.

The retention periods for this service are as follows:

• The records held regarding your application for help through the Community Support scheme will be kept for 6 years

The Council will not process your information overseas, however it may be necessary if requested by an external organisation under a legal requirement or at your request.  In any event we would ensure that your information is safe.

At no time will your information be passed to organisations external to us and our partners for marketing or sales purposes or for any commercial use without your prior express consent.

Your Information Rights are set out in law and, subject to some exceptions, you have the:

• Right to rectification - to ask for information to be corrected
• Right to erasure - to have your personal data deleted
• Right to object - to how your data is used
• Right to restriction - to request limits on how your data is used
• Right to portability - to request that we move your data to another organisation
• Right of subject access - to request a copy of data the Council holds about you

If you have a concerns about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, you should raise your concern with us in the first instance or directly to the Information Commissioner's Office. Visit the website of the Information Commissioner's Office.

If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice or your information rights, please contact:

The Data Protection Officer
Middlesbrough Council
PO Box 500, Middlesbrough, TS1 9FT
Phone: 01642 245432
Email: dataprotection@middlesbrough.gov.uk