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Privacy Policy

Whether you are visiting our website, contacting us by email, by phone or visiting a council office or council-managed location, we may collect some personal information about you. Whenever we collect your personal information, we want you to be reassured that we will handle it responsibly and legally.

Our policies and procedures on managing personal information are designed to satisfy legal requirements and meet the standards residents, service users, employees, customers, partners and other public authorities expect from us.

Why we collect your personal information?

Some of the reasons why the council needs to collect your personal information are:

  • Maintaining of the electoral register.
  • Protecting you or others by helping to detect, investigate, enforce and prevent crime and fraud.
  • Providing a service you or others have requested for.
  • Maintaining of the electoral register.
  • Protecting you or others by helping to detect, investigate, enforce and prevent crime and fraud.
  • Providing a service you or others have requested for.
  • Processing job applications, school places, housing applications and other requests you or others might make to us in our role as a local authority and employer.
  • Processing payments made to the council for council tax, debts, fines, rent and other services we offer.
  • Sometimes we are bound by law to collect personal information or support its collection because of legal reasons.
  • To provide healthcare services and safeguard the health and wellbeing, and environment of our residents.
  • Making payments to you and others for various welfare benefits, other benefits, salaries and compensation.
  • Investigating matters that concern or involve our residents.
  • Helping us plan to improve services.
  • Ensuring that planning and building regulations are being followed.
  • When we act in a statutory role to issue licences, parking notices, provide education, social services and other statutory functions.
  • Studying trend and contributing to research that will benefit your health and wellbeing.
  • Improving your browsing experience when you use our website. Although we never use this information to identify you, it is still your personal information.

Whatever the reason is for collecting your personal information, we ensure there is an appropriate lawful basis in the General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act, for doing so.

Lawful basis are legal paths in data protection law that regulate our approach and conduct when we collect your information.

Depending on the purpose for collecting your information, our lawful basis might be; consent, contract, where you have made the information public, when the law says we must, to protect you or others when you or others are not in a position to provide consent, if the information is important for the public good and this reason is supported by specific law, because of our role as a Local Authority responsible for employment, provision of health and social care, investigating your capacity to work, social security and protection, for reasons of public health, preventative or occupational medicine, preserving the record for the future, and to study patterns that will help us provide better services.

Personal information we collect

Here is a list of personal information we may collect:

  • Name, title and address
  • Gender, date of birth, place of birth and age
  • Ethnicity and country of origin and sexuality
  • Immigration status and Asylum Seeker number
  • Sexuality and marital status
  • Physical, mental and other health records
  • Criminal convictions and other law enforcement records
  • Education, academic and home school records
  • Membership of trade unions
  • Religious, political and philosophical beliefs
  • Location information
  • Genetic and biometric information
  • Financial account information
  • Employment information
  • Vehicle registration
  • Mobile number, telephone number, fax number and email
  • National Insurance, and NHS numbers
  • Unique personal and pupil reference numbers
  • Family relationships, next of kin, parents and children information
  • Audio recording, CCTV and other photographic images

Some of the information we collect is classified as sensitive, such as medical records. Some personal information will be processed by automated means; for example information collected by Council owned traffic enforcement systems.

Whether the information is personal or sensitive we will treat it with care, and ensure it is processed lawfully and responsibly.

How we collect your personal information?

The council collects your personal information in the following ways:

  • Face to face meetings with council officers
  • Through electronic or paper forms
  • When you talk to one of our officers by phone
  • Emails
  • Fax messages
  • When you visit any of our offices, buildings or council-managed locations.
  • Documents you give to us.
  • On CCTV

We might also collect your personal information indirectly from:

  • Other public authorities
  • Employment agencies
  • Educational institutions
  • Council residents
  • Legal representatives
  • Charitable organisations
  • Housing Associations
  • Private landlords

The laws that allow us to use your personal information

To be able to collect, process, share and retain your personal information, we rely on different laws that tell us what information we are allowed to collect, how we process this personal information, who we can share this information with and how long we can keep it for. Some of these laws tell us how to make sure people are safe, some of them tell us what information we are allowed to share with you. Here is a list of important legislation we rely on:

  • The Care Act 2014
  • The Public Records Act 1958
  • Children Act 2004
  • Children and Adoption Act 2006
  • Local Authority Social Services Act 1970
  • Care planning, placement and case review and fostering services (miscellaneous amendments) regulations 2013
  • Education Act 2011
  • Children and Families Act 2014
  • Children and Social Work Act 2017
  • Children and Young Persons Act 2008
  • Foster Service Regulations 2011
  • Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
  • The Births and Deaths Registration Act 1953
  • The Marriage Act 1949
  • The Civil Partnership Act 2004
  • Population Statistics Act 1938
  • Local Authorities Cemeteries Order 1977
  • Cremation (England and Wales) Regulations 2008
  • Immigration Act 2016
  • Registration Service Act 1953
  • Council Tax (administration and enforcement) Regulations 1992
  • Local Government Finance Act 1992
  • National Health Service Act 2006
  • The Health and Social Care Act
  • The Public Records Act 1967
  • The Local Government Act 1972
  • The School Governance Regulations 2012
  • The General Data Protection Regulation 2016
  • The Data Protection Act 2018
  • The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations 2003
  • Employment Rights Act 1996
  • The Race Relations Act 1976
  • The Disability Discrimination Act 1995
  • The Employment Relations Act 1999
  • The Mental Health Act 1983
  • The Police Act 1996
  • Environmental Information Regulations 2004
  • The Human Rights Act 1998
  • The Road Traffic Act 1991

Some laws we rely on are not listed here, but are connected with these laws and might contain directives not mentioned in these. We use relevant legislation to guide our conduct across the services and areas we are responsible for.

Who we may share your personal information?

When we process your personal information, we may share it with other organisations or individuals. The third parties we share your personal information with are determined by the service we are working to deliver to you or on your behalf, what the law says we must do and in some cases, fulfilling a request received from you to share your personal information. Below are the categories of third parties we may share your personal information with:

Public Authorities

  • Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs and the Department for Work and Pensions
  • Law enforcement and the Courts
  • Some educational institutions
  • The National Health Service
  • Other Local Authorities and Public Authorities
  • Disclosure checking services
  • Members of Parliament and other elected representatives
  • Across Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council’s services (on a need to know basis only)

Non-Public Authorities

  • Charitable organisations
  • Health care providers
  • Housing providers and Private Landlords
  • Adoption and fostering agencies
  • Employment agencies
  • Some educational institutions
  • Private Service Delivery organisations
  • Legal Counsel representing you or the Council
  • Utility providers

Before we share your personal information, we make sure that those receiving this information understand their legal responsibility, we ensure your information is shared in a secure way, and we only share what is necessary. Sometimes, before we share your personal information we decide whether the decision to share it is appropriate. We also make sure there is a written agreement between the council and the third party.

How long we keep your personal information?

Sandwell Council’s Retention Policy sets out the information held by the Council, and how long the associated records should to be held for. Sandwell MBC’s retention schedule has been developed and aligned with the recommendation and best practice of the Records Management Society of Great Britain, legislative recommendation, other local authorities, relevant code of practise and in certain instances record weighting against the statute of limitation in England and Wales.

Download the councils retention policy for more information.

Your rights under the law

Here are the rights you have and what they mean when we are in possession of your personal information.

Right to be Informed

We must tell you what information we need from you, why we need your information, the law that allows us process your information, how we will process your information, if we share your information and with who we share, the rights the law has allowed you to exercise, how long we intend to keep your information, how you can access your information with us, how to contact our Data Protection Officer, and how to contact the Information Commissioners Office.

Right of Access

You can request to see your personal information we hold. When you exercise this right, it is called a Subject Access Request. The law mandates us to respond within one month of receiving your request.

Right to Rectification

If you discover that the information we hold about you is incomplete or wrong, depending on the reason for collecting that information, we can correct the information without delay.

Right to Erasure

There may be occasions when we no longer need your information for the particular reason it was collected, or where you had to give us permission to use your information and you would like to withdraw that permission, and where we may be holding that information against the law. If this should ever happen, you are allowed to request that the council should securely remove this information from our systems.

Right to Restriction of Processing

Instead of asking us to remove your personal information from our systems, in cases where you have concerns that the information is incorrect, or no longer needed by us, or you question the lawful reason we gave for holding your information, you can ask us to limit the use of the information. It might also be that you want us to hold on to the information because you might need it for a legal purpose.
When you make any request, we will investigate whether you are entitled to have your request granted. Even if we find out that you are not entitled to this right in a particular circumstance, we will still let you know before we continue to use your information.

Right to Data Portability

If you had to give us permission to use your personal information (consent), or we collected your personal information to process an employment contract and this personal information is processed automatically by our computers, you can ask for a copy of this information in digital format (that is, in a format that another computer can read) and/or transferred to another local authority or organisation.
It is important that we let you know this right will not always apply, because we provide most of our services as a public authority and the law allows us to be exempt from this right most of the time.

Right to Object

You have a right to ask us to stop processing information that refers to your particular circumstance. We will sometimes use this information because we are a public authority. But the law still allows you to request that we not continue to use the particular information. Where we refuse your request, we will respectfully give you our reasons.

Right to Reject Automated Decisions

The law allows you to refuse or reject the results from the automated processing of your personal information regarding health, economic status, personal preferences, interests, performance at work, reliability, behaviour, location, movements and anything that affects you legally. You also have the right in such a case, to ask that a human processes the information instead.
However, this right will not apply in many of the functions we perform in our role as a public authority and if the processing involves entering into a contract with you.

How to access your personal information with us?

We realise on occasion, you might want to see information we have collected about you, along with an explanation of the lawful basis we used to obtain and process it.

Such a request is called a Subject Access Request. You can do this by telling us verbally or in writing. Here is useful guidance to follow when you do this:

  • Decide what personal information you want us to look for. For example, an application you made for a school place
  • Then, tell us what you want, in person, by phone or in writing
  • Fill out any forms we ask for
  • Provide any form of identification we ask for

You can make a request to access your information by using our Subject Access Request Form or write to the address below:

Information Management Unit
Sandwell Metropolitan Borough Council
Oldbury Council House
Freeth Street
Oldbury
West Midlands
B69 3DE

Filming and photographs

During council events, we may use video and photographs to record these.  At these events, we will display signage to tell you what we are doing. If you prefer not to be filmed or photographed at such events, you should tell the council officers at the event.

How to contact the Data Protection Officer & Information Commissioner’s Office?

The council has a dedicated officer to make sure we respect your rights – this is the Data Protection Officer.

You can contact the Data Protection Officer in writing, by email or phone.

Office of the DPO
Sandwell Council
Oldbury
West Midlands
B69 3DE

Email: dp_officer@sandwell.gov.uk

If for any reason you are not happy with how we have handled your personal information or the response from our Data Protection Officer, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

They have powers to ask us for information and we must cooperate with them.

You can contact the ICO in writing, by email or phone.

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

Email: casework@ico.org.uk

Telephone: Calling from within the UK 0303 123 1113 (local rate) or 01625 545 745 if you prefer to use a national rate. Calling from outside the UK +44 1625 545 745.

Our service areas

From collecting rubbish to providing school places, council staff in our services are working hard every day to help our residents.

Here is a list of Sandwell Council service areas:

  • Property services
  • Highways
  • Planning and Development
  • Housing Management
  • Asset Management and Maintenance
  • Commercial Services
  • Community and Partnerships
  • Electoral Services
  • Legal Services
  • Registration & Bereavement Services
  • Revenue & Benefits
  • Human Resources
  • Finance
  • Public Health
  • Inclusion Services
  • Education Support Services
  • Learning Improvement
  • Youth Services
  • Safeguarding
  • Social Work and Re-enablement
  • Prevention and Protection
  • Business Strategy Unit
  • Commissioning Support Unit
  • Prevention

Some of these services are umbrella services with several services within them.