Privacy Notices - Small business discretionary grant scheme Privacy Notice

Introduction

You need to be aware of this Privacy Notice if you are making an application under the Small Business Discretionary Grant Scheme.

What is a Privacy Notice?

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

Who is collecting and using your personal data?

Swindon Borough Council will act as a “Data Controller” for any personal data that you provide to us.  We will ensure that the data given to us is processed in line with our Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 18) and the EU General Data Protection Regulations. (GDPR)

To find out more about Swindon Borough Council’s data protection policies, contact our Data Protection Officer at dataprotection@swindon.gov.uk or in writing to Data Protection Officer, Civic Offices, Euclid Street, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 2JH.

Please note not providing your personal data may lead to you not being able to claim a grant.
 

Your personal data – what is it?

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. The processing of data is governed by the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 (the “GDPR”).

What personal data do we collect?

Swindon Borough Council will collect a range of data during the application phase for either the Small Business Discretionary Grant Scheme.

This will include:

  • the title of the applicant/ratepayer
  • the surname of the applicant/ratepayer
  • the forename of the applicant/ratepayer
  • the middle name or middle initial of the applicant/ratepayer  
  • the date of birth of the applicant/ratepayer
  • the business address
  • the business postcode
  • a copy of a photograph identification
  • a copy of the lease or mortgage, or a copy of the rental agreement or deed
  • bank statements for the period 1 February 2019 to 30 April 2019 and 1 February 2020 to 30 April 2020, or for the last 6 months, or from the date trading started if later
  • any other relevant documentation to evidence the financial loss to the business as a result of COVID-19
  • details of relatives who are Councillors or council employees
How do we process your personal data?

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.

Why do we need your personal information?

We may need to use some information about you to:

  • enable Swindon Borough Council to pay a grant that your business is entitled to
  • report payment of grants to Central Government
How the law allows us to use your information?

We are collecting your information to support applications for the Small Business Grant Scheme or the Retail and Hospitality Grant Scheme.

Who do we share your information with?

We will share your information with Central Government for reporting on what grants Swindon Borough Council has paid.

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.
 

How do we protect your information?

We will do what we can to make sure we hold records about you (on paper and electronically) in a secure way, and we will only make them available to those who have a right to see them.

Examples of our security include:

  • 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. This means that someone outside of the Council could work on your information for us without ever knowing it was yours.
  • controlling access to systems and networks allows us to stop people who are not allowed to view your personal information from getting access to it
  • training for our staff allows us to make them aware of how to handle information and how and when to report when something goes wrong
  • regular testing of our technology and ways of working including keeping up to date on the latest security updates (commonly called patches)
How long do we keep your personal information?

There is often a legal reason for keeping your personal information for a set period, so we try to include all of these in our corporate Retention & Disposal schedule and they are often explained within each service-related Privacy Notice.

For each service, the schedule lists how long your information may be kept for. This ranges from months for some records to decades for more sensitive records.
 

What you can do with your information?

We would normally expect to share what we record about you with you whenever we assess your needs or provide you with services.

However, you also have the right to ask for a copy of all the information we have about you and the services you receive from us. When we receive a request from you in writing, we must give you access to everything we have recorded about you, however, we cannot let you see any parts of your records that contain: 

  • confidential information about other people
  • data a professional thinks will cause serious harm to you or someone else’s physical or mental wellbeing
  • if we think that giving you the information may stop us from preventing or detecting a crime

This applies to personal information that is in both paper and electronic records. If you ask us, we will also let others see your record (except if one of the points above applies).

If you cannot ask for your records in writing, we will make sure there are other ways that you can.

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

Your right to complain

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.
 

What if you do not provide personal data?

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 Small Business Grant Scheme or the Retail and Hospitality Grant Scheme

How will we ensure compliance?

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

Main privacy notice

You are viewing the Privacy Notice for the Small Business Discretionary Grant Scheme.

Read the main Privacy Notice