Privacy Notices - Energy payments – alternative funding and alternative fuels payments Privacy Notice

You need to be aware of this Privacy Notice if you are making an application from the Government for the £400 or £200 energy payments.

A Privacy Notice is a statement issued by an organisation which explains how personal and confidential data about individuals is collected, used and shared.

Swindon Borough Council will act as a “Data Controller” for any personal data that provided to us via the government portal. 

Personal data relates to a living individual who can be identified from that data. Identification can be by the information alone or in conjunction with any other information in the data controller’s possession or likely to come into such possession.

We will collect a range of data during the application phase for these payments.

This can include:

• title of applicant 
• surname of applicant
• forename of applicant
• middle name or middle initial of applicant
• date of birth of applicant
• address
• post code
• tenancy Information (and copies of leases)
• energy suppliers and copies of energy bills
• details of employment or self-employment or benefits in payment (including those of partners) and documents
• bank details and confirmation of these *

*Verification for these may be obtained using Government approved systems known as Spotlight and Searchlight, which can validate if the bank account matches the name of the person applying.
 

The Government portal provides Swindon Borough Council with this data following customer applications. Swindon Borough Council complies with its obligations under the GDPR by keeping personal data up to date; by storing and destroying it securely; by not collecting or retaining excessive amounts of data; by protecting personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure and by ensuring that appropriate technical measures are in place to protect personal data.

We need to use this information, as requested by Central Government:

• To check you are a Council Taxpayer and share information with the Central Government Department to confirm that you are a Council Taxpayer, including details or your Council Tax account. Confirming that you reside at the address and that it is not an empty property or a second home. By making application to the Government portal you are providing consent to this for us to enable payment to you.
• To check and verify your eligibility for the payments
• To check and confirm your bank details to enable us to process bank payments
• To report information on payments to Central Government

We are collecting your information to support and make energy payments as requested by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

We will utilise Council Tax records and the Government Spotlight and Searchlight to validate data. Information may also be shared with Central Government and Auditors for the prevention of Fraud and also for reporting on what payments Swindon Borough Council has made.

We may also share your personal information when we feel there is a good reason that is more important than protecting your privacy. This does not happen often, but we may share your information in order to find and stop crime and fraud; or if there are serious risks to the public, our staff or to other professionals.

We protect your personal information in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018 (The Act). The Act requires us to have appropriate technical and organisational measures in place to secure your personal information from unauthorised access and misuse.

• Encryption, meaning that information is hidden so that it cannot be read without special knowledge (such as a password). This is done with a secret code, or what is called a 'cypher'. The hidden information is said to then be 'encrypted'.
• Pseudonymisation, meaning that we will use a different name so we can hide parts of your personal information from view.
• Controlling access to systems and networks allows us to stop people viewing your personal information.
• Training for our staff allows us to make them aware of how to handle information safely.

• Regular testing of our technology keeping it up to date on the latest security updates (commonly called patches).

As payments are involved financial information may be retained for up to 7 financial years. Central government have also made this recommendation.

The Data protection Act 2018 allows you to request access to the personal information we hold about you. You also have the right to request any inaccurate information be correct and in limited circumstances erased.

If you have any queries about access to your information contact DataProtection@Swindon.gov.uk.

For a full list of your rights as a data subject visit the information commissioners website at Your right of access | ICO

In the event that you wish to complain about the way that your personal data has been handled by Swindon Borough Council, you should write to the Data Protection Officer and clearly outline your case. Your complaint will then be investigated in accordance with our customer complaint procedure.

If you remain dissatisfied with the way your personal data has been handled, you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at www.ICO.org.uk. You may refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office whose contact details are below:

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

Email: casework@ico.org.uk

This website also contains information on data protection and your rights and remedies.

You are under no statutory obligation to provide personal data to Swindon Borough Council, if you do not provide the data, we may not be able to process your request for an energy payment.

A yearly audit will take place on personal data to ensure that we remain legally compliant in accordance with current data protection legislation.

You are viewing the Privacy Notice for energy payments -  alternative funding and alternative fuels payments.

Read the main Privacy Notice