The services process personal information in order to enable it to discharge a range duties that the County Council is required by law to undertake, either directly or jointly with partners and commissioned private and third sector providers.  This includes:

• complaints
• intelligence and inspection reports
• visit sheets
• investigative procedures and service requests received by the department in regard to consumer and business related matters
• issues and investigations/enquiries into criminal and civil matters
• ensuring compliance with legislation through a variety of activities including visits, inspections, and testing
  
   

The service processes personal information, which is relevant to individual cases which may include, but is not limited to, the following personal data:

• names
• dates of birth
• addresses (including email)
• telephone number
• details of complainants, consumers, businesses, victims, and witnesses

We will process this information for the following purposes:

• to carry out our statutory duties/obligations
• to ensure compliance with the law and legislation
• for public safety interests
• for the prevention and detection of crime

We may share information and intelligence with other enforcement agencies and local authorities.

We will record and share details and activities relating to those suspected of criminal offences under investigation.

The legal basis for using the information you provide us is for: 

• the prevention and detection of crime
• legal obligation: the processing is necessary for you or others to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations)
• public task: the processing is necessary for us to perform a task in the public interest or for our official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law
• in some circumstances - Vital interests: the processing is necessary to protect someone’s life

We also use your personal data for some or all of the following purposes:

to deliver public services including we need to understand your needs to provide the services that you request and to understand what we can do for you and inform you of other relevant services.

• to confirm your identity to provide some services
• to contact you by post, email, telephone or using social media (e.g., Facebook, Twitter)
• to help us to build up a picture of how we are performing
• to enable us to meet all legal and statutory obligations and powers including any delegated functions
• for safeguarding procedures (including due diligence and complaints handling) in accordance with best practice, ensuring that children and adults-at-risk are given safe environments and to protect individuals from harm or injury
• to seek your views, opinions, or comments
• to send you communications which you have requested and that may be of interest to you.  These may include information about campaigns, appeals, other new projects or initiatives
• to allow the statistical analysis of data so we can plan the provision of services
  
   

We may need to share the personal information you have given to us or we’ve collected about you with partner organisations where relevant to the individual and/or their care provision. These include but are not limited to:

• Internal/external enforcement agencies, for example   Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, National Crime Agency, DWP, Financial Conduct Authorities Illegal Money Lending Team, Insolvency Service, Environment Agency, Licensing, Action Fraud, Environmental Health, Council Tax
• Citizens Advice Consumer Service
• National Trading Standards and Regional Investigations Teams
• Local Authority Trading Standards Departments
• Central Government Departments e.g. Office for Product Safety and Standards
• Police Forces and Fire and Rescue services
• Community Safety Partners
• with members of the public under certain Data Protection or Freedom of Information conditions 

Information will only ever be shared when it is strictly necessary to help us provide effective services and you may have the right to refuse.  We will not pass it onto any other parties unless required to do so by law or in all reasonable circumstances the disclosure is fair and warranted for the purposes of processing or subject to a data protection exemption.

We have specific data sharing agreements in place with some agencies and sometimes the law requires that we may have to pass your details on to a third party, for example, to prevent crime.

 

The standard record retention for the information identified above is 6 years from the date it is collected or six years from the date of resolution.  

More information about our retention periods can be found in our disposal Schedule and retention schedule

Please note stated retention periods may be subject to any legal holds imposed under the Inquiries Act 2005 that may concern the information and override standard retention periods.

 

You are entitled to a copy, or a description, of the personal data we hold that relates to you, subject to lawful restrictions. Please go to our Make a Data Protection Request page to find out how to make a request.

You may be entitled to rectification, restriction, objection, and erasure of your personal information depending on the service and legal basis. Please in the first instance contact the Property Services Terrier and Data Administrator to exercise these Information Rights or call the main Worcestershire County Council contact telephone number of 01905 765765.

Please see our overarching Privacy Notice for further contact details and if you have a complaint about your information rights.