PN026 - Resettlement Programme Privacy Notice

Torfaen County Borough Council is committed to protecting your privacy when you use our services. This Privacy Notice is designed to give you information about the data we hold about you, how we use it, your rights in relation to it and the safeguards in place to protect it.

TCBC Service Area: Adults & Communities
Work Area: PSSU - Cohesion & Community Safety
Contact Details: Christopher.hunt@torfaen.gov.uk
Privacy Notice Name: Resettlement Programme

Data Controller: Torfaen County Borough Council, c/o Civic Centre, Pontypool, NP4 6YB

If you wish to raise a concern about the handling of your personal data, please contact the Data Protection Officer on 01495 762200 or email dpa@torfaen.gov.uk

The information collected under the Resettlement Programme is utilised to provide the appropriate level of support for each family relocated into the borough. This includes, but is not limited to, developing holistic post arrival support plans involving services such as health and education and the commissioned support provider.

Who provides your data to the Council?

As a participating local authority in refugee resettlement, we receive information from the Home Office and Welsh Government on each case that is welcomed into the borough. This information is captured when a person registers their interest to be resettled, either by the UNHCR - an intermediary agency (in the case of Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme, UK Resettlement Scheme, Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy Scheme, The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme) or via UKVI and Welsh Government (in the case where individuals have applied for a visa as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme). We may also receive information from other agencies supporting refugees.

How does the Council collect this information?

The Council does not collect this information directly, this information is shared by WG and the Home Office. This is uploaded onto a secure online portal which is then accessed by the council. We may also receive information via:

Verbal conversations
Email
Face to face meetings

What information does the Council collect about you?

Name
Date of Birth / Age
Address
Gender
Ethnicity
Religion
Nationality
Personal background
Medical
DBS checks for sponsors/hosts (Homes for Ukraine scheme)
Bank details for hosts (Homes for Ukraine scheme)

Why does the Council process your personal data?

Under Article 6 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful basis we rely on for processing this information is:

(e) We need it to perform a public task.

Special categories of personal data

We collect the following special category data:

personal data revealing racial or ethnic origin
personal data revealing religious or philosophical beliefs
data concerning health

We collect this under Article 9 of the UK GDPR.

Where we collect criminal data, for the purposes of checks carried out on sponsors and hosts for the Homes for Ukraine scheme, this is processed within the Council under Article 10 of the UK GDPR.

Who has access to your data?

Your data is shared internally only with the appropriate staff where it is necessary for the performance of their roles.

Your data may also be shared externally with service providers commissioned to deliver aspects of support. These may include, but not be limited to:

The case worker support provider
ESOL home tuition provider
Health
Police
DWP
Welsh/UK Government

Apart from where previously stated, we do not pass your details to third parties unless we are lawfully required do so.

Is the Data transferred out of the UK?

How does the Council keep your data secure?

The Council has internal policies in place to ensure the data it processes is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed. Access to this data is restricted in accordance with the Council’s internal policies and in compliance with the UK GDPR.

Data will be stored securely in:

a secure IT database which is provided by Civica, which has ISO 27001 certification
secure records management system

Where the Council engages third parties to process personal data on its behalf, they do so on the basis of written instructions. These third parties are also under a duty of confidentiality and are obliged to implement appropriate measures to ensure the security of data.

How long does the Council keep your data?

The Council will hold your personal data only for the period that is necessary and will follow organisational and Local Authority standards in this area. At the end of the retention period the Council will securely destroy or dispose of the data in line with retention schedules.

Up to 6 years post settlement

Are we making automated decisions/profiling with your data?

Your rights

You have a number of Rights you can exercise:

Access - to obtain a copy of your data on request
Rectification – to require the Council to change incorrect or incomplete data
Object, Restrict or Delete - under certain circumstances you can require the Council to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing
Data portability – to receive and/or transmit data provided to the Council to other organisations (this applies in limited circumstances)
Withdraw your consent at any time (where consent has been given)
To know the consequences of failing to provide data to the Council
To know the existence of any Automated Decision-making, including profiling, and the consequences of this for you
To lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (Information Commissioners Office)

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact: Chris Hunt, Community Cohesion Coordinator, christopher.hunt@torfaen.gov.uk , 01495 766097 or 07961558470

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office (Wales), 2^nd Floor, Churchill House, Churchill Way, Cardiff, CF10 2HH. Telephone 0330 414 6421 or e-mail Wales@ico.org.uk.

Last Modified: 08/12/2023 Back to top