What information do we need?

In order for us to collect council tax from our residents we need to hold information such as your name, contact details, address for the property you are liable for, along with your bank details if you pay your bill by direct debit.

Why we need it?

We need to hold this information about you in order to exercise a task which we have official authority to carry out collect council tax under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992.  We are not able to fulfil our duty to collect the tax unless we hold information about who is liable for the tax. Your information will be used to set up your council tax account, for administering payments and processing any discounts or exemptions where applicable.

We will contact you by email, post or SMS text message in the event you are in arrears with your Council tax payments.

Do we share your information?

We do not trade personal data for any commercial purpose.

We are under a legal obligation to share personal information with the Cabinet Office for the purpose of the National Fraud Initiative to assist in the prevention and detection of fraud. We also carry out data matching exercises internally across different data sources, including but not limited to the electoral roll, licensing data, creditors data, blue badge, resident’s parking and allowances issued by children’s services.

We may also disclose your personal information with other local authorities, or law enforcement agencies for the prevention and detection of crime, or the assessment and collection of tax.

We may also share your information with other council services and local authorities to ensure our records are accurate and up-to-date, to improve the standard of the services we deliver, and to perform any of our statutory duties, including enforcement duties.

In any other circumstances we will seek your consent to share your information.

How long do we keep your information?

We will hold your information on a secure database that we own and will not hold your personal data for longer than 7 years after the end of your liability. Your personal information will not be subject to any overseas transfers.

What information do we need?

• Council Tax Number of empty property
• Address of empty property
• Name, address and contact details e.g. email address or telephone number of property owner/Leaseholder
• Name and address of current residents

Why we need it?

To maintain accurate council tax records and make sure you are paying the correct charge and to allow us to offer advice and assistance to property owners to help bring empty properties back into use, to help ease the shortage of housing in Torbay.

The processing is therefore necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller, under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and  the Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992

Do we share your information?

We do not trade personal data for any commercial purpose.
Personal information collected will be shared with internal departments of the Council such as Revenue and Benefits, Corporate Fraud, Corporate Debt, Housing Options, Torbay Development Agency, for the purposes stated above.

Outside of the above, we will only disclose your personal information if we have a lawful basis to do so, for example, for the prevention and detection of crime.

How long do we keep your information?

We will store a copy of your completed request as a backup for 12 months.

What information do we need?

The information collected on the application form and supporting evidence will be used by us to process your Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support Claim and other claims you may make for Discretionary Housing payments. 

For the purposes of assessing your eligibility and entitlement to Housing Benefit, the Local Authority sometimes needs information about other people in your household, apart from the person who has applied for the benefit, for example, non-dependants. Where appropriate, the Local Authority will collect and process relevant data for other people in your household, only for the specific purposes of determining or reviewing your entitlement to Housing Benefit.

Why we need it?

We need to know this information about you so that we can sure that you are eligible for benefits and to make sure that you received the right amount of benefits.

Do we share your information?

We do not sell your personal data for any commercial purpose, however we will share your personal information with other government departments such as the Department for Work and Pensions, the Employment Service, HM Revenue and Customs, Valuation Office and Valuation Tribunal Service. We may also share information about you with other local authorities, the police and other departments. We do this because we have a duty to protect the public money that we spend and will take the steps we need to take to ensure that the information the council holds about you is accurate and correct and in order to prevent and detect crime and fraud.

How long do we keep your information?

We are required to hold your personal data for Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support for seven years after the end of the claim, after which time it will be securely destroyed.

What information do we need?

• personal information (such as name, addresses for you and your business, names of other occupiers or owners, dates of occupation, dates of vacation);
• property details (such as ownership, the type of premises, the type of business, whether the premises is occupied or not, what equipment, plant or machinery is on the premises, how many premises you occupy or own);
• financial information (in certain cases it will be necessary to obtain financial details to establish whether you or your business are entitled to any relief or reduction); and
• contact details (such as telephone numbers, email addresses to be able to contact you in relation to your account).

Why we need it?

We need to hold this information about you in order to carry out a task in the official authority of Council to collect tax and rates under the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and the NNDR Regulations 2013 and 2016.

We use your data and that of the business to:

• assess your liability to pay Non Domestic Rating;
• assess any potential entitlement to an exemption, mandatory relief, discretionary relief or reduction;
• to collect and where necessary, recover Non Domestic Rates in line with the legislation;
• prevent fraud and abuse of public funds;
• prevent Non Domestic Rates avoidance and Non Domestic Rates evasion;
• enable us to carry out all of our legal duties in relation to Non Domestic Rates administration, collection and recovery;
• derive statistics to inform both local and central government on Non Domestic Rates;
• enable us to carry out specific functions for which we are responsible including ensuring that you receive other council services to which you/your business are entitled; and

Do we share your information?

We routinely share the information provided with:

• Cabinet Office for the purposes of the National Fraud Initiative and to comply with our requirements under the Local Audit and Accountability Act 2014.
• Her Majesty’s Revenues and Customs (HMRC);
• Office for National Statistics to provide property level business rate data
• Other local authorities to ensure correct assessment of Non Domestic Rates liability, prevention of fraud or the recovery of amounts outstanding; and
• Other departments within Torbay Council including Council tax teams, housing, planning and civil enforcement. on a case by case basis to;
  • Ensure details given are consistent with the assessment of Council Tax and Non Domestic Rates liability under the Local Government Finance Act 1988 and 1992 (as amended) and to protect Council funds;
  • Enable recovery of outstanding Council Tax and Non Domestic Rates debts where necessary; and
  • Prevent fraud and error under the Local Government Finance Act 1988 (as amended), the Non Domestic Rating (Collection and Enforcement) (Local Lists) Regulations 1989 and subsequent legislation.
  • Ensure the information we hold is accurate
  • Prevent, detect and prosecute fraudulent activity

How long do we keep your information?

We will hold personal data on a secure database for no longer than 7 years after the end of your liability.

What information do we need?

When you contact us by telephone to make enquiries through our Customer Contact Centre, we will request your name and ask you to confirm your contact details. Depending on the nature of the enquiry, we may also ask you additional questions to verify your identity as the caller. This verification enables us to discuss personal data we may hold to assist with answering your enquiry. We record these telephone calls.

Why we need it?

We record telephone calls for training and monitoring purposes, and also to provide a record of the conversation in the event of any dispute.

Our lawful basis for keeping records of telephone calls is that it is necessary for the purposes our legitimate interests and yours, in ensuring that information is accurately transferred to your records and to deal with any disputes which may occur.

Do we share your information?

We do not trade personal data for any commercial purpose.

We may also disclose your personal information with other local authorities, or law enforcement agencies for the prevention and detection of crime, or the assessment and collection of tax.

In any other circumstances we will seek your consent to share your information.

How long do we keep your information?

We will retain a recording of a telephone call for a maximum of 6 months.