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Benefits

Housing benefit and council tax support Privacy Notice

City of York Council (CYC) complies with the UK General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018, and is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), reference: Z5809563.

We regularly review this privacy notice, and it was last updated in June 2025.

CYC is committed to ensuring that information is handled in accordance with the principles set out in data protection legislation and guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

This Privacy Notice explains how and why we process your information, under Part 3 of the Data Protection Act 2018 for law enforcement purposes and the steps we take to keep your information safe.

However, the information we will process about you will vary dependent on the service you are accessing or the actions we are carrying out, such as:

CYC is the controller for the personal data we process, unless otherwise stated. You can contact the council’s Data Protection Officer at:

West Offices
Station Rise
York
YO1 6GA

Telephone: 01904 554145.

Email: information.governance@york.gov.uk.

You can find more information about the role of the Data Protection Officer in our Data Protection Policy Statement.

This privacy notice should be read in conjunction with other relevant specific privacy notices that are available in our Privacy Notice.

When appropriate we will provide a ‘just in time’ notice to cover any additional processing activities not mentioned in this privacy notice.

How we collect your information

We get information about you from the following sources:

  • directly from you
  • from third parties acting on your behalf such as family members, advocates, etc
  • from our commissioned partners or contractors who undertake work on our behalf

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What personal data we process and why

We will only process your personal data and special category data that is needed to provide housing benefit and council tax support services, such as:

  • name
  • address
  • contact details
  • financial information
  • NI number
  • date of birth
  • disability
  • race
  • religion or belief

When we process information relating to criminal convictions and offences, this includes details of any past criminal convictions or offences.

If you choose to take part in our surveys, consultation etc, we will also process your comments, feedback and opinions. You can withdraw your consent to these at any time by contacting benefits@york.gov.uk.

When you complete an online form on the council’s website and you have provided your email address, we will send you a copy of your completed online form.

If you use our online payment system, you can find out more about how we use your information at Online Payments Privacy Notice.

If you use it, find out more about our online benefit calculator.

We may use your information to create reports and statistics that are anonymous and cannot be linked back to you, your family, or individuals such as:

  • statistical analysis
  • statutory returns
  • audit framework
  • see how the council and its partners are supporting individuals
  • help design better services
  • inform funding decisions

We will inform you if your call is being recorded and you can find more details about our call recording at Call Recording Privacy Notice.

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Automated decision-making

We do not carry out any automated decision making in housing benefit and council tax support services, without any human intervention.

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Collecting information automatically

Please see our Cookies Policy for further information about the information we collect automatically when you use our website.

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Children’s information

Where we provide services directly to children or young people, the information in the relevant parts of this notice applies to children and young people, as well as adults.

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Lawful basis for processing your personal data

Any personal data, special category data and criminal offence data that we process about individuals is done so in accordance with one or more of the following Articles 6 and 9 and 10 of the UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

Article 6(1)

  • (a) Consent: the individual has given clear consent for the council to process their personal data for a specific purpose.
  • (c) Legal obligation: the processing is necessary for the council to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations).
  • (e) Public task: the processing is necessary for the council to perform a task in the public interest or for our official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.
  • (f) Legitimate interests: the processing is necessary for the council’s legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party, unless there is a good reason to protect the individual’s personal data which overrides those legitimate interests. (This cannot apply if you are a public authority processing data to perform your official tasks.)

Article 9(2)

  • (a) Explicit consent
  • (b) Employment, social security and social protection (if authorised by law)
  • (g) Reasons of substantial public interest (with a basis in law)

This is supported by Schedule1, Part 2 (6) of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the following legal framework:

Where we process information relating to criminal convictions and offences, this is under Article 10 UK GDPR that covers processing in relation to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures. In addition, section 11(2) of the DPA 2018 specifically confirms that this includes personal data relating to the alleged commission of offences, or proceedings for an offence committed or alleged to have been committed, including sentencing.

Some of the Schedule 1 conditions for processing special category and criminal offence data require an Appropriate Policy Document (APD) to be in place, which sets out and explains the procedures for securing compliance with the principles in Article 5 and policies regarding the retention and erasure of such personal data. This document explains this processing and satisfies the requirements of Schedule 1, Part 4 of the DPA 2018 and supplements this privacy notice

Our Appropriate Policy Document ;provides further information about this processing.

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How long we keep your personal data

We will only share your information where it is appropriate to, with:

  • other CYC services
  • other councils, government departments and agencies
  • other organisations such as NHS
  • third parties including our data processors, partners etc. who undertake work on our behalf
  • internal and external auditors

In some circumstances, such as under a court order or safeguarding, we are legally obliged to share your information.

We will always satisfy ourselves that we have a lawful basis on which to share the information and document our decision making.

Additionally, we are required under the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended) to transfer records to the City or National Archives (TNA) for permanent preservation. Full consideration will be given to Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation when making decisions about whether such records should be open to the public.

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Data sharing

We will only share your information where it is appropriate to, with:

  • other CYC services
  • other councils, government departments and agencies
  • other organisations such as NHS
  • third parties including our data processors, partners etc. who undertake work on our behalf
  • internal and external auditors

In some circumstances, such as under a court order or safeguarding, we are legally obliged to share your information.

We will always satisfy ourselves that we have a lawful basis on which to share the information and document our decision making.

Additionally, we are required under the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended) to transfer records to the City or National Archives (TNA) for permanent preservation. Full consideration will be given to Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation when making decisions about whether such records should be open to the public.

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Data processors and/or third parties

When we have third parties providing parts or all of our services, systems, software, platforms, applications (apps) etc for us, we have contracts or agreements in place with them. These include

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Transfers of personal data

We do not routinely transfer personal data, special categories of personal data or criminal offence data, outside of the UK but when this is necessary, we ensure that we have appropriate safeguards in place and that it is done in accordance with the UK data protection and privacy legislation.

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How we protect your information

We are committed to keeping your information safe and secure. There are several ways we do this, such as:

  • IT security safeguards such as firewalls, encryption, and anti-virus software
  • on-site security safeguards to protect physical files and electronic equipment
  • training for all staff and elected councillors
  • policies and procedures

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Your rights in relation to this processing

To find out about your rights under data protection law, you can go to the Information Commissioner's Office website.

You can also find information about your rights in our Privacy Notice.

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, want to exercise your rights, or if you have a complaint about how your information has been used, please contact us on email: information.governance@york.gov.uk, or on telephone: 01904 554145, or write to:

Data Protection Officer
City of York Council
West Offices
Station Rise
York YO1 6GA

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Also see

Data Protection Officer

West Offices, Station Rise, York, YO1 6GA

Telephone: 01904 554145

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