Who are we

The Council is a local authority providing a broad range of local government services, including Council Tax billing, social services, processing planning applications, waste collection etc. 

The Council is a registered data controller with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), registration number Z7517364.

The following information informs you about what we do with your information when you are in contact with Adult’s Care and Support.

How we use your personal information

Under the Care Act 2014 local authorities have a statutory obligation to provide relevant social care services for:

• service delivery
• service planning/improvement

We need this information to do things like:

• help us decide if you need any ongoing social care services
• use this information to meet and manage any ongoing social care needs
• check the quality of the services you receive
• investigate if we have concerns about your safety or you are reporting concerns about another person’s safety
• look into complaints you have about your services
• keep track of the spending on your services
• detect and prevent fraud or crime
• help with service delivery and planning, for example training of staff.

We may also use your data for the prevention or detection of fraud/crime or research. When it is for research purposes it will be anonymised data only.  This means that no one will be able to identify you from the anonymised data.

In order to provide you with support the Council has to process certain personal about you. The processing of your information includes the collection, use, sharing (if appropriate), retention and destruction of your information.

The information we collect includes:

• name​
• address​
• date of birth​
• contact details (phone/email)​
• details of disability/ impairment/ vulnerability​
• GP details​
• information about your care and support needs​
• information about your mental capacity​
• next of kin details​
• benefits details​
• financial details​

We may also ask you to provide further information to allow us to provide a more suitable or appropriate service to meet your needs. This information may include:

• marital status​
• gender​
• ethnicity​
• sexual orientation​
• religious beliefs​
• details of your accommodation​
• National Insurance number​
• safeguarding enquires that have been completed
• adaptations or equipment you have​
• informal carers information​
• whether someone holds POA/LPOA/deputyship or appointeeship for you​
• housing status​
• bank or building society details​
• professionals involved in your care

Use of your NHS Number in Adult Social Care

If you are receiving support from adult social care then the NHS may share your NHS number with us. In this way we are able to work together to improve your care and support.  Your NHS Number will be used across a number of support services, including GPs, hospitals, community matrons, district nurses and social care practitioners.

Lawful basis for processing your personal information

The Council has to have a lawful reason to process your information.  As such the Council will process your application as follows: 

Article	Process
Article 6.1 (c) Legal Obligation	Processing is necessary for the performance with a legal obligation to which the Council is subject.
Article 6.1(e) Public Task​	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.
Article 9 (h) Health or Social Care & (i) Public Health	Processing is necessary for the purposes of preventive or occupational medicine, for the assessment of the working capacity of the employee, medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or the management of health or social care systems and services on the basis of Union or Member State law or pursuant to contract with a health professional and subject to the conditions and safeguards referred to in paragraph
Article 9 (c) – Vital Interests	Processing is necessary to protect vital interests of the data subject or of another natural person where the data subject is physically or legally incapable of giving consent.

Data Protection Act 2018

Safeguarding of children and of individuals at risk (Sch 1, para 18): “Processing is necessary for the purposes of protecting a child or vulnerable adult from neglect or physical, mental or emotional harm + processing is necessary in substantial public interest + the data subject does not consent because:

• Processing conditions for special category data - Safeguarding the economic wellbeing of vulnerable adults (Sch 1, para 19): “Processing is necessary for the purposes of protecting the economic well-being of an individual at economic risk who is aged 18 or over + the data concerns health + is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest and consent cannot be obtained (same reasons as para 18).”

These legal bases are underpinned by acts of legislation that dictate what actions can and should be taken by local authorities, including:

• the Health and Social Care Act, 2015
• the Children’s Act, 1989
• the Localism Act, 2011
• the Data Protection Act, 2018
• the Human Rights Act, 1998
• the Mental Health Act, 1983 (Amended 2007)
• the Mental Capacity Act, 2005
• the Homelessness Reduction Act, 2017

Protecting your personal information

The Council endeavours to ensure that the services we provide comply with all data protection legislation, for example, the UK General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR), and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018). 

The Council has appropriate security and controls in place to prevent data loss, for example, hacking attempts, however, we cannot guarantee that the personal information you submit will not be intercepted.

Sharing your personal information

We may share your information with:​

• advocates, deputies, legal power of attorney
• borough councils, housing associations and landlords
• Solicitors
• Cabinet Members
• Central Government
• DWP
• family members and carers
• external providers
• health agencies​
• Police​ or Fire brigade​
• care providers and care homes​
• drug and alcohol services​
• probation and courts​
• specialist contractors​
• schools/education providers

We may also share your information with internal departments including:​

• legal services​
• financial service​
• fraud prevention​
• Children Social Care

The Council has a statutory obligation to collect your personal data, which means we do not need to ask for your permission to collect and share it. However, we will only share the minimum amount of your data on a basis of need, in line with legislation and will work transparently with you at all times.

If you do not provide your data, it will limit the effectiveness of the services and support that we are able to offer you.

Retaining your personal information

The Council will only keep your information for as long as is necessary, for the minimum amount of time, for the purpose it was collected, and in line with statutory and/or business requirements.

Service	Retention Period
Accommodation support	6 years after no longer in receipt of service
Case management	6 years after no longer in receipt of service
Community living and disability support	6 years after no longer in receipt of service
Mental health support	20 years after end of treatment or service provision or 8 years after death
Safeguarding and vulnerable adult protections support	6 years after no longer in receipt of service

International Transfer of personal information

Information will not be transferred internationally.

Automated decision-making/profiling

Automated decision making and use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Adult Care and Support does not use automated systems to make decisions about you.

This means we do not use Artificial Intelligence (AI), bots, or other automated tools to decide:

• whether you are eligible for adult social care support
• what support you should receive
• outcomes of assessments, reviews, or care decisions

All decisions that affect you are made by trained staff.

How we do use automation, AI and digital tools

To improve the quality, speed and consistency of our services, we may use digital tools, including AI and automation, to support staff, not replace professional judgement.

These tools may be used to:

• help sort and route emails or online enquiries so they reach the right team more quickly
• provide general information and guidance through website chatbots
• assist staff with drafting notes or summaries (for example during assessments), which are always reviewed and completed by a professional
• support administrative tasks, such as generating standard reports or moving information between systems

These uses help reduce delays, improve response times and free up staff time to focus on direct work with residents.

Human oversight and safeguards

All automated or AI supported activity:

• operates under human oversight
• is used in line with data protection law, council policies and information governance approvals
• does not replace professional decision making
• is regularly reviewed for accuracy, fairness and safety

Staff remain responsible for checking information and making decisions.

Data analytics and service improvement

We also use data analytics to help us understand demand, plan services and improve outcomes for residents. This may include bringing together information from different council services and, where appropriate, partner organisations.

This type of analysis supports service planning and improvement—it is not used to make decisions about individual residents.

For more information about how we use information for analytics and service improvement, please visit our general privacy notice page.

Cookies

To learn more about cookies, please visit our general privacy notice page.

Your Individual Rights

To learn more about your Individual Rights, or how to raise a concern, please visit our general privacy notice page.

Last Reviewed   

9 April 2026