Privacy notice – Housing benefit and council tax reduction

Information about how and when the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction Team processes personal information about you.

This Benefit Service and Lewisham Council are committed to complying with the General Data Protection Regulation. Looking after the personal information you share with us is very important, and we want you to be confident that your personal data is kept safely and securely and to understand how we use it to offer you a better and more personalised experience.

We have published this notice to help you understand:

how and why the Customer Service Centre collect information from you
who we share your information with, why and on what basis

What information we collect

When you request services from us, in order for us to deliver this service, we will ask you to provide some personal information such as:

name
address
date of birth
national insurance number
income and capital/savings
contact details
nationality
household/relationships information
relevant case information
landlord details
other agencies directly involved

Agencies we might share the information with

Customer information held by the Benefit Service may be shared internally and for some services externally including:

electoral services or other council departments
Police
Department for Work and Pensions
HMRC
other local authorities
the Home Office
enforcement agencies
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

We will share information in the course of carrying out our functions, or to enable others to perform theirs and for the prevention of fraud.

Why we process your information

statutory awarding of housing benefit and council tax reduction
statutory managing accounts and processing of claims
prevention and detection of fraud and criminal activity
service delivery
service planning

Customer feedback

During the process delivery, based on the circumstances of the enquiry if an activity is raised which generates a confirmation e-mail to a customer, an invitation will be included to participate in a customer feedback survey.

The process is carried out internally using data capture software and this type of feedback allows us to enhance and develop services based on the general consensus. All customer feedback captured remains anonymous therefore no personal details are retained.

Published on: 10/03/2023