What this privacy notice is for

Our core data protection obligations and commitments are set out in the council’s primary privacy notice at:

• Data Protection - web page

This notice provides additional privacy information for:

• All individuals in respect of whom data is processed to enable the Council to carry out its statutory functions and services including regulatory and administrative functions in a lawful manner. These include the provision of education, child protection, care services, regulatory functions, housing/ homelessness and administration of welfare benefits.
• Council employees.
• Third parties who might be involved with complaints and/ or legal matters with the Council in respect of which the Council might require internal legal advice such as property and contract matters, civil or criminal litigation and claims.
• Carers/ guardians of/ and pupils who attend Oldham schools to whom Oldham Council provide legal advice and assistance.
• Members of the public attending public meetings of the council

Updating our privacy notices

We may update or revise our privacy notices at any time so please refer to the version published on our website for the most up to date details.

What we use your information for

We collect or obtain your personal information for the following purpose(s):

• In delivering all of the Council’s services and support to you to ensure that the Council is acting lawfully.
• The collection of taxes and debts due to the Council.
• In carrying out regulatory activities of the Council such as enforcement, planning, safeguarding of children, special educational needs and vulnerable adults.
• To act in the Council’s/ Council tax payers interests in Defending any complaints and/ or legal claims made against the Council.
• If you apply for a job or become employed in legal services or pursue an employment claim against the Council.
• To support the Council’s People Services team in relation to any employment queries, grievances and the like.
• To advise Oldham schools in relation to any legal issues which they might face.
• To advise in relation to school appeals.
• To ensure that requests for disclosure of data from enforcement agencies are dealt with lawfully.
• In providing assistance and support to Charities maintained, administered or supported by the Council.
• In providing legal support in relation to highways and transport matters.
• In supporting the Council’s companies and their staff.
• For ensuring the health and safety of our staff.
• To transact the Council’s legitimate business regarding land and property transactions, for the commissioning of services and contractual arrangements with third party organisations or individuals.
• To comply with the Council’s constitution and ensuring open and transparent governance and scrutiny, for example, by way of processing petitions to Council, questions to Council and information related to such governance.
• In responding to Freedom of Information requests and Appeals and ensuring any data is dealt with in a lawful manner.
• In providing administrative support to the Council, its committees and panels.
• Filming and live streaming of council meetings

What categories of personal information do we use?

Personal information can be anything that identifies and relates to a living person. This can include information that when linked with other information, allows a person to be uniquely identified. For example, this could be your name and contact details.

The law treats some types of personal information as ‘special’ because the information requires more protection due to its sensitivity. This information consists of:

• Racial or ethnic origin
• Sexuality and sexual life
• Religious or philosophical beliefs
• Trade union membership
• Political opinions
• Genetic and bio-metric data
• Physical or mental health
• Criminal convictions and offences

In order to carry out these purposes we collect and obtain the following personal information.

Category of personal data	Special/Sensitive
• personal details • family details • lifestyle and social circumstances • goods and services • financial details • employment and education details • housing needs • visual images, personal appearance and behaviour • licenses or permits held • student and pupil records • business activities • case file information
Sensitive/SCD data types: • physical or mental health details • racial or ethnic origin • trade union membership • political affiliation • political opinions • offences (including alleged offences) • religious or other beliefs of a similar nature • criminal proceedings, outcomes and sentences

Legal basis for processing

The legal basis for processing and or sharing your personal information is: 

• you, or your legal representative, have given consent
• you are proposing to or have entered into a contract with us
• it is required by law (such as where this is mandated by statute or under a court order)
• it is necessary to perform statutory functions (including law enforcement functions)
• it is necessary for employment related purposes
• it is necessary to deliver health or social care services
• it is necessary to protect you or others from harm (e.g.in an emergency or civil disaster)
• it is necessary to protect public health
• it is necessary for exercising or defending legal rights
• you have made your information publicly available
• it is necessary for archiving, research, or statistical purposes
• it is necessary in the substantial public interest for wider societal benefits and is authorised by law
• it is necessary for fraud prevention and the protection of public funds
• it is in our legitimate interests (or those of a third party) provided your interests and fundamental rights do not override this.

The primary legislation upon which we rely to ensure the Council complies with its legal obligations and functions includes (but is not limited to) the following legislation:

The Children Act 1989

Adoption & Children Act 2002

Family Law Act 1996

Female Genital Mutilation Act 2003

Miscellaneous Local Government Acts

Equality Act

Human Rights Act

Education Acts

Employment Acts

Highways Act 1980 and other highways legislation

Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 and other rights of way legislation

Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 and other road traffic legislation

Town & Country Planning Act 1990 and other planning legislation

Environmental Protection Act 1990 and other environmental health legislation

Consumer Protection Act 1987 and other trading standards legislation

Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 and other local authority licensing legislation

Licensing Act 2003 and other licensing legislation

Mental Capacity Act 2005

Housing Acts

Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014

Homelessness Reduction Act 2018

Charging Orders Act 1979

Law of Property Acts 1925, 2002

Landlord and Tenant Act 1954

Land Registration Act 2002

Landlord and Tenant Acts 1927, 1985, 1987, 1988

Landlord and Tenant Covenants Act 1995

Charities Acts

Law of Property Miscellaneous Provisions Acts 1989, 1994

Public Contracts Regulations 2015

Concession Contracts Regulations 2016

The Public Procurement (amendments, repeals and revocations) Regulations 2016

Local Government Act 1972

Town and Country Planning Act 1990

Agricultural Tenancies Act 1995

Agricultural Holdings Act 1986

Water Act 2014

Highways Act 1980

Compulsory Purchase Act 1965

Compulsory Purchase (Vesting Declarations) Act 1981

Acquisition of Land Act 1981

Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and ancillary legislation.

Electronic Communications Act 2000

Environmental Protection Act 1990

Housing Act 2004

Housing and Planning Act 2016

Party Wall Act 1996

If the information is not provided we would be unable to comply with the Council’s duties contained in the legislation and to ensure that services provided by the Council are done so in a lawful way.

If you fail to provide certain information when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have entered into with you, or we may be prevented from complying with our legal obligations, for example, by our being unable to provide a contract or legal agreement, by , for example, processing licensing matters or school appeals, complying with legislation to support vulnerable groups of people/ children and/ or Equality legislation, employment legislation, health and safety legislation and so forth.

Information sharing/recipients

We may share personal information about you with the following organisations /types of organisations:

• clients
• family, associates or representatives of the person whose personal data we are processing
• current past and prospective employers
• healthcare, social and welfare organisations
• educators and examining bodies
• providers of goods and services
• financial organisations
• debt collection and tracing agencies
• private investigators
• service providers
• local and central government
• ombudsman and regulatory authorities
• press and the media
• professional advisers and consultants
• courts and tribunals
• trade unions
• political organisations
• professional advisers
• professional bodies
• police forces
• housing associations and landlords
• voluntary and charitable organisations
• religious organisations
• students and pupils including their relatives, guardians, carers or representatives
• data processors
• other police forces, non-home office police forces
• regulatory bodies
• courts, prisons
• customs and excise
• international law enforcement agencies and bodies
• security companies
• partner agencies, approved organisations and individuals working with the police,
• licensing authorities
• service providers
• healthcare professionals
• current past and prospective employers and examining bodies
• law enforcement and prosecuting authorities
• legal representatives, defence solicitors
• police complaints authority
• the disclosure and barring service

As well as information collected directly from you, we also obtain or receive information from:

• Client departments of Legal Services and Constitutional Services such as social work professionals, special educational needs team, HR, surveyors etc
• Schools
• Other members of the public
• Your legal or other representatives
• If another organisation tells us that you or your wider family need help/support
• If there are safeguarding or child protection concerns for example a member of the public raises concerns that you, your child or another relative is at risk of harm 

Data Transfers beyond European Economic Area

On limited occasions, involving vulnerable families outside of the EEA, it is necessary for Legal Services to contact various Central Authorities providing names and dates of birth of children and parents and to request information in relation to persons residing in the relevant country. We also complete requests for co-operation to ICACU (Child Abduction Unit) in the various countries and the relevant form requires personal information to be submitted – all of which is provided in conjunction with and subject to the Hague Convention and Brussels II Regulation. This information is required to safeguard the rights and interest of those vulnerable individuals.

Automated Decisions

All the decisions we make about you involve human intervention.

How long we keep your data

We will only keep your personal information for as long as the law specifies or where the law does not specify this, for the length of time determined by our business requirements.

Legal Services have a retention schedule of case files and which can be accessed by contacting legal.services@oldham.gov.uk

Constitutional Services has a retention schedule which can be accessed by contacting the team at constitutional.servcies@oldham.gov.uk

Where can I get advice?

More information on how to seek advice in order to exercise your rights, raise a concern or complain about the handling of your personal information by the council can be found in the council’s privacy notice which can be found at:

• Data Protection - web page