Privacy notice - Accessing Change Together Middlesbrough

Middlesbrough Council works with people in need of specialist support to Access Change Together. 

We collect ‘personal data’ including names, photographs, contacts, date of birth, National Insurance Number, NHS Patient Number, gender, spoken languages, family and friends information including names and dates of birth of children, details about vulnerabilities including identity of victims and perpetrators, housing or tenancy issues, income, debts, and other financial details, veteran status, education and employment details, immigration or asylum status, details of involvements with other agencies or services and names of professionals involved.

We collect ‘special category data’ including racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs, sexual orientation, sex life, and health and we also collect ‘criminal convictions and offences’ information.

We collect this information directly from people that we work with and sometimes from other organisations. 

We use personal data and criminal convictions and offences data to comply with our ‘legal obligations’ or to deliver our ‘public tasks’.

We use special category data to comply with ‘social security and protection law’, to ‘provide health or social care or treatment’, or where there is a ‘substantial public interest’ based in law.

Some of the laws that require or allow us to use this data include the Care Act 2010, Children Act 1989, National Health Service Act 2006, Mental Health Act 1983, Housing Act 1996, Homelessness Reduction Act 2017, Domestic Abuse Act 2021, Crime and Disorder Act 1989, Health and Safety Act 1974, and the Equality Act 2010.

We use personal data to provide:

• Protection and safe support and/or accommodation for victims and children of domestic abuse;
• Voluntary programmes to change behaviour and attitudes of domestic abuse perpetrators;
• Homelessness assessments and provide temporary accommodation where approved;
• Substance use treatment and support services;
• Protection for our staff and those of our partner organisations;
• Safeguarding services for adults and children; and
• Accessible services.

Some of the information that we gather can be used to detect or prevent fraud.

Although we gather a lot of different data, we only use what is necessary for the services that you receive.

We only share personal data necessary to provide services you need or would benefit from. This can include services that Middlesbrough Council has asked other organisations to provide on our behalf. Where you have a choice about what services to receive or which organisations we refer you to, we will always listen to your preferences. Some of those organisations are affected by data protection law in different ways and may ask for your consent to use or share your data. However, at Middlesbrough Council, we do not require consent and share information to help us to meet our legal obligations or provide our public tasks.

Some of the organisations that we share information with include Police, Courts,  Prison or Probation Services; Health bodies including those that provide Public Health, Hospitals, Mental Health, Ambulance, Substance Treatment, or GP services; Landlords, Housing and Specialist Support providers; Domestic Abuse Support providers; and Voluntary and Community Sector organisations. We also share some information with other Middlesbrough Council teams including Adult Social Care, Children’s Social Care, Community Safety, and Welfare Rights.

Again, although we gather a lot of different data, we only share what is necessary for the services that you receive or where required by law.

If an adult or a child could be at risk of harm, we may need to share information with other Council services such as adult or children’s safeguarding, community safety, or the Police.

We are currently taking part in several projects with the UK Government including the Homelessness Data Project, Rough Sleeping Accommodation Scheme and the Changing Futures Project (where we are acting as a ‘data processor’) with the Department for Levelling Up Housing and Communities and the Early Legal Advice Pilot with the Ministry of Justice. We will share data with them but only where you have agreed to engage with these projects.

We use the following measures to ensure that your personal data is secure: data protection and security policies, information security incident reporting, data and device encryption, system and data access controls, user accounts and passwords, physical and environmental security, staff vetting practices, staff training and awareness, data back-ups, ICT network penetration testing, and business continuity and disaster recovery plans.

We only keep your data for as long as the Law requires it and this is set out in our ‘Records Management Retention Schedules’.

No, your personal data is processed and stored only in the United Kingdom.

We will not use this personal data for any direct marketing purposes.

Your Information Rights are set out in law and, subject to some exceptions, you have the:

• Right to rectification - to ask for information to be corrected
• Right to erasure - to have your personal data deleted
• Right to object - to how you data is used
• Right to restriction - to request limits on how your data is used
• Right to portability - to request that we move your data to another organisation
• Right of subject access - to request a copy of data the Council holds about you

If you have a concerns about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, you should raise your concern with us in the first instance or directly to the Information Commissioner's Office. Visit the website of the Information Commissioner's Office.

If you would like to discuss anything in this privacy notice or your information rights, please contact:

The Data Protection Officer
Middlesbrough Council
PO Box 500, Middlesbrough, TS1 9FT
Phone: 01642 245432
Email: dataprotection@middlesbrough.gov.uk