Rough Sleeping Outreach Support Service - Privacy Notice

Who the council is and what the council does

Forest of Dean District Council is a data controller under the Data Protection Legislation as the council collects and processes personal information about you in order to provide services and meet their statutory and regulatory obligations.

This notice explains why the council asks for your personal information, how that information will be used and how you can access your records in relation to the Rough Sleeping Outreach Support Service, operated by Julian House on behalf of the council.

Any questions regarding our privacy practices should be sent to:

Data Protection Officer (DPO)
Forest of Dean District Council
Council Offices, Coleford, GL16 8HG
Email: [email protected]
Tel: 01993 861194

Why the council needs your information and how the council uses it

The information held and shared within the Rough Sleeping Outreach Support Service will be used to enable all relevant services to work together to ensure that the rough sleepers within the Forest of Dean district are being offered the appropriate support.

The outreach teams operate in the Forest of Dean district and throughout Gloucestershire working to connect rough sleepers with housing and support services.

We provide:

Rough sleeper outreach: Our teams actively seek out people sleeping rough, building trust and offering immediate assistance.
Accommodation: We provide tailored accommodation to help people rough sleeping off the streets.
Support services: We offer a range of support services, including help with finding employment, accessing healthcare, and addressing mental health and addiction issues.

The council does not sell your personal information to anyone else.

What is the legal process for collecting and processing this data

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018, the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are:

Legal Obligation (c) – processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject.
Public Task - Article 6 (e) – processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.
Substantial public interest - Article 9 (2) (g) - processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest, on the basis of Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the data subject.
Schedule 1, Part 2 Data Protection Act

Statutory and government purposes
Safeguarding of children and individuals at risk.

Extension of condition in Part 2 referring to substantial public interest - Article 10.

Schedule 1, Part 3 Data Protection Act- processing in met in Part 2 of this Schedule but for an express requirement for the processing to be necessary for reasons of substantial public interest.

What type of information is collected from you

Personal details, which may include:

Name
Address
Other contact details – email address and telephone number
Age and date of birth
NI number
Next of kin
Area of residence (including rough sleeping location) and accommodation history
Housing related support needs and support plans
Employment and income details
Marital status
Case notes.

Special categories of personal data:

Racial or ethnic origin
Religious or philosophical beliefs
Health data (including mental and physical health, disability status, and substance use history)
Sexual orientation
Offending history and related information including arson
Immigration status.

The above list is not exhaustive. The council will only ask for personal information that is appropriate to enable us to deliver our services. In some cases, you can refuse to provide your details if you deem a request to be inappropriate. However, you should note that, this may impact on our ability to provide some services to you.

We collect this information by:

We may receive the personal data from the following categories of individuals or organisations:

directly from you.
referrals from another council services or organisations/third parties, for example Social Worker, Housing Team/Provider, member of the Housing Outreach Service.

Who your information may be shared with (internally and externally)

Your data is shared internally only with the appropriate staff where it is necessary for the performance of their roles.

We may share the personal data with the following key organisations to provide you with support:

Health Services (NHS)
Gloucester City Council (as host authority for Gloucestershire Housing Partnership - Julian House
Cheltenham Borough Council
Cotswold District Council
Stroud District Council
Tewkesbury Borough Council.

When sharing the personal data, we only share the minimum amount necessary in relation to the purpose.

The council will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.

Anonymisation

Your personal information may be converted (“anonymised”) into statistical or aggregated data in such a way that ensures that you cannot be identified from it. Anonymised data cannot, by definition, be linked back to you as an individual and may be used to conduct research and analysis, including the preparation of statistics for use in our reports internally and to government bodies.

How long the council keep your information (retention period)

We will only retain your personal information for as long as we are required to do so by law and the purpose, we collected it for. Current year plus 9 years (10 yrs).

Once your data is no longer needed it will be securely and confidentially destroyed or disposed of the data in line with retention schedules.

How the council protects your Information

Your data is stored securely on our systems and accessed only by authorised officers using their own username and password created in line with pre-defined user credentials. Personal data is also held in electronic files on the council’s network drives. These are only accessible through personal logon credentials and access privileges to specific drives. Access to our council sites require a personal electronic pass to access staff only areas. The council has strict procedures for the way this is done. Any and all information about you is treated as confidential and with respect. There are also clear rules and guidance about storing, recording and sharing information which staff receive training on.

If you use your credit or debit card to make payments, the council passes your card details securely to our payment processing partner as part of the payment process. The council does this in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Security Standard and does not store the details on its website. The information you give to the council when using our online payment system will only be used for the recording of your payment.

The council will not transfer your personal data outside the EU without your consent.

The council have implemented generally accepted standards of technology and operational security in order to protect personal data from loss, misuse or unauthorised alteration or destruction.

Please note however that where you are transmitting information to us over the internet this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure.

The council will notify you promptly in the event of any breach of your personal data which might expose you to serious risk.

Your rights

You have the following rights under the Data Protection Legislations:

To access your personal data
To be provided with information about how your personal data is processed
To have your personal data corrected
To have your personal data erased in certain circumstances
To object to or restrict how your personal data is processed
To have your personal data transferred to yourself or to another business in certain circumstances
To be told if the council have made a mistake whilst processing your data and the council will self-report breaches to the Commissioner.

How you can access, update or correct your information

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 Data Protection Officer. 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.

The accuracy of your information is important to us to be able to provide relevant services more quickly. The council is working to make our record keeping more efficient. In the meantime, if you change your address or email address, or if any of your circumstances change or any of the other information the council holds is inaccurate or out of date, please email us or write to us at:

Housing Team
Forest of Dean District Council
Council Offices, Coleford, GL16 8HG
Email: [email protected]

Further information

If you would like to know more about how the council uses your information, or if for any reason you do not wish to have your information used in any of the ways described in this privacy notice, please contact the Data Protection Officer at [email protected]

For more information about data protection please visit: www.fdean.gov.uk/about-the-council/council-data-and-information/data-protection

If you are concerned about the way the council is handling your personal information you can contact the Information Commissioner (ICO): https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

The council reserve the right to update this privacy notice from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.