Council Tax privacy notice

Coventry City Council complies with the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK GDPR and is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) as a Data Controller.

This Privacy Notice explains how personal information is going to be used, what for, who it will be shared with and why.

Why we collect Personal information about you?

We collect and hold personal information relating to council tax liability. 

We use this information to:

• To manage and collect council tax, business rates, BIDS and other monies owing to the council
• To provide you with necessary and appropriate services
• To help us to develop and improve our services
• To complete and send reports to Government departments
• To do the things that the law says we have to do
• To prevent and detect crime

We process personal data because it is necessary to comply with our legal obligations.

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

What information do we collect about you?

• Name
• Contact details
• The name and age of other persons living in your household
• Bank details
• Other information that may be required to check your entitlement to discounts and exemptions

Who we share your Personal Data with?

We will share data with:

• Other council departments for the assessment of tax, the prevention of crime and to do the things the law says we have to
• Enforcement Agencies for the collection of tax and other monies owing to the council
• Other Council departments for the assessment of tax, the prevention of crime, to do the things the law says we have to and on the basis of the provisions contained within the Digital Economy Act 2017
• Other Councils and public bodies where the law permits
• Credit Reference Agencies
• Solicitors, Insolvency Practitioners and Her Majesty’s Court and Tribunal Service
• Other Organisations that carry out services for the council.
• The Cabinet office (who are a government department) for the purposes of a data matching exercise called the National Fraud Initiative. The purpose of the exercise is to detect fraud and error. The Council is legally required to participate in this exercise. Read more on the National Fraud Initiative.
• The Office for National Statistics (ONS)
• Coventry Business Improvement District Limited
• Elected Members, Members of Parliament and Advice Agencies when acting on your behalf

We will only keep your information as long as we need to so we can give you the service you need, unless we have to keep it for legal reasons. In accordance with financial regulations governing the retention of accounting records, in normal circumstances the council will retain personal information for a period of six years from the end of the financial year in which settlement was made of any amount owing to the council.

Your Rights

You have the right to:

1. Ask to see the personal information we hold about you
2. Ask us to change information we hold about you if it is wrong
3. Ask us to delete the information we hold about you
4. Ask us to limit the way we use your personal information
5. Ask for human Intervention regarding decisions made about you by a computer
6. Data portability (have your data transferred to another Authority)
7. Complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office

To exercise any of these rights please complete the Council Tax enquiries online form. 

Complaints

You have the right to submit a complaint if you are unhappy with the way your request is handled or disagree with a decision made by the Council regarding your data. In these circumstances, you can contact the Data Protection Team (DPO) and request a review of the decision.

DPOTeam@coventry.gov.uk

If you are not satisfied with any outcome from the DPO you may wish to apply to the Information Commissioner’s Office at

The Information Commissioner’s Office,
Wycliffe House,
Water Lane,
Wilmslow,
Cheshire,
SK9 5AF.