Privacy Notice - Business Rates

Data protection - fair processing note
Chorley Borough Council Privacy Notice for Business Rates (including BIDs)

Chorley Borough Council complies with Data Protection Law and is registered with the Information Commissioners 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.

If you have any concerns about how we are handling your personal data, these can be raised with the Council's Data Protection Officer by writing to:

Chorley Council
Town Hall
Market Street
Chorley
Lancashire
PR7 1DP
Email: contact@chorley.gov.uk

We keep our privacy notice under regular review and we will publish any updates on this page. This will help ensure that you are always aware of what information we collect and how we use it.

Why we collect personal information about you?

We need to collect and hold personal information about you because the law says we have to.

Information collected includes:

• your name
• your address
• your email address
• your phone number
• financial information
• bank details
• rateable value
• liability periods
• rates payable
• instalment plan
• recovery records
• correspondence, notes of telephone calls and e-mails that is received by the Council in relation to your Business Rates account

"Special" category information collected

• health
• details of vulnerability

Purpose collected

We use your personal information in the administration of Business Rates in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1988 to ensure Business Rate charges are correct, ensure you receive any reductions or support that you are entitled to and in issuing Business Rate bills. We will also use your information to collect and receipt payment and to action non-payment, including the issue of recovery documents and notices, referring cases to courts as deemed necessary and appointing enforcement agencies to recover unpaid Business Rates.

We will use your personal information to process appeals received against Business Rate liabilities including attendance at tribunals as necessary.

We pass information on to the Valuation Office Agency to enable them to maintain the Valuation List.

We will use your information for the prevention and detection of fraud under Digital Economy Act 2017 (Part 5), to ensure the electoral register is accurately maintained in accordance with Section 9A of the Representation of the People Act, to assist with debt management and the collection of money owing to the council such as rent or other sundry debts and to identify empty homes across the borough in accordance with Local Government Finance Act 1992

Legal purpose

We will only use your personal information when the law allows us to. Most commonly we will use your personal information under Legal Obligation as the processing is necessary for us to comply with the law namely:

• Local Government Finance Act 1988
• Rating (Empty Properties) Act 2007
• The Non-Domestic Rating (Unoccupied Property) Regulations 1989
•  Local Government Act 2003
•  Local Government Finance and rating Act 1997
• Tribunals Courts and Enforcement Act 2007

The list is not intended to be exhaustive.

We also process your information under Public Task as the processing is necessary for our official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law namely administering, recovery and enforcement of non-domestic rates in accordance with the above legislation.

Some of your information may also be used:

• to assist with debt management and the collection of money owing to the council such as rent, Council Tax, or other sundry debts
• to notify relevant council officers if the circumstances relating to a property changes

How we use your information

We use your information to:

• manage and collect Council Tax, Business Rates, BIDS and other monies owing to the council
• provide you with necessary and appropriate services
• help us to develop and improve our services
• complete and send reports to government department
• do the things that the law says we have to do
• prevent and detect crime

Who we share your information with

We will share your information 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 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. View more information on the National Fraud Initiative
• Chorley Business Improvement District Limited
• elected members, Members of Parliament and advice agencies when acting on your behalf
• We may share your data with South Ribble Borough Council as part of the shared services arrangements.

Where feasible, we will apply the same principles to a company or organisations' data as we would to an individual. Legislation, in particular (the Freedom of Information Act 2000) requires the authority to disclose information it holds. In particular, we are required to disclose the following information in respect of Business rates:

• name of liable party
• amounts of rates payable
• property info (such as address, property reference, rateable value etc)
• any relief's awarded
• whether the property is occupied or vacant.
• any accounts which have been overpaid.

Personal data pertaining to ratepayers who are individuals is redacted.

How long will we keep your information?

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 6 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:

• the right to be informed
• the right of access to your personal data - this is called a Subject Access Request
• the right of rectification (to have any inaccuracies corrected)
• the right of erasure (to have your records deleted)
• the right to restrict processing
• the right to data portability
• the right to object
• rights in relation to automated decision making and profiling
• complain to the Information Commissioner's Office

All rights may not be available to you in all circumstance. Further information about your rights can be found on the Information Commissioners Office website.

To exercise any of these rights please contact Business Rates (including BIDS) by emailing contact@chorley.gov.uk
 

Complaints

You have the right to complain if you are unhappy with the way your request is handled or disagree with a decision made by the council about your data. If you want to make a complaint you can contact contact@chorley.gov.uk

If you are still not satisfied you can contact the Information Commissioners Office at:
The Information Commissioners Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Updated: July 2018