The Council Tax Privacy Notice
Who we are and what we do
Allerdale Borough Council looks after data to allow for the billing, collection and recovery of Council Tax.
Customer Accounts Department, Allerdale Borough Council
Email: revenues@allerdale.gov.uk
Telephone: 0300 373 3730
Why we need your information and how we use it
In line with current rules Local Authority tax collectors are required to charge and collect taxes. The law that requires Local Authorities to collect and administer tax from its residents is:
- The Local Government Finance Act 1992
- The Council Tax (Administration and Enforcement) Regulations 1992
We use your collected data for the purposes of administering Council Tax, setting up your account for billing purposes, processing any discounts, exemptions, reliefs etc.
What type of information is collected from you
You will usually have to pay Council Tax if you’re 18 or over and own or rent a home. The data that we collect and process for administering Council Tax is; name, current and previous addresses, household make up in order to accurately apply relevant discounts, exemptions and reliefs. We will also collect your bank details should you pay by direct debit.
Who your information may be shared with (internally and externally)
Your bank details remain strictly confidential and will not be shared. Other information may be shared with departments within Allerdale Borough Council. It may also be shared with other agencies when we have to in line with current Data Protection rules for the detection and prevention of fraud and crime.
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 & Customs.
We are required by law to join in National Fraud Initiative (NFI) data matching exercises. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction information may be provided to the Cabinet Office for NFI purposes and will be used for cross-system and cross-authority comparison for the prevention and detection of fraud.
We will also use the information to perform any of our legal enforcement duties. We will make any disclosures required by law and may also share this information with other bodies responsible for detecting/preventing fraud or auditing/ administering public funds. We may share the details with other organisations that handle public funds and assist in the processing of other benefits.
We can share information collected with other departments in the council, other local authorities and the Department for Work and Pensions. We will also share information with the Office for National Statistics.
How long we keep your information
We keep data for current taxpayers back to the start of Council Tax in 1993 because there has yet to be a revaluation of current bands. Therefore it is possible for an adjustment to be required back to the start of the tax.
How you can access, update or correct your information
As far as Taxation is concerned you will find us approaching you to review the data we hold. There is no set pattern but typically every year or so we will review aspects of the data we hold.
The Data Protection law gives you the right to apply for a copy of information about yourself. This is called a ‘Subject Access Request'. If you wish to see a copy of your records you should contact the Councils Data Protection officer. There is a standard form that you can complete and submit to us electronically on the Individuals’ Rights page on the website. You are entitled to receive a copy of your records free of charge, within a month.
In certain circumstances access to your records may be limited, for example, if the records you have asked for contain information relating to another person.
Do I have Other Rights?
The Data Protection Act 2018 allows you other rights; for example, if there is an error in your records you have the right to make sure it is rectified or in certain circumstances, erased.
You have the right to be told if we have made a mistake whilst processing your data and we will report breaches to the Information Commissioner.
Please see the Individuals’ Rights page for more information.
The accuracy of your information is important to us to be able to provide relevant services more quickly. We are working to make our record keeping more efficient. If you change your address or email address, or if any of your circumstances change or any of the other information we hold is inaccurate or out of date, please use the standard form on the Individuals’ Rights page or:
Email us at: revenues@allerdale.gov.uk
Telephone us on: 0300 373 3730
Postal address is: Customer Accounts Department, Cumberland Council, Allerdale House, Workington, Cumbria, CA14 3YJ
