This privacy policy will explain how The Benefit Section uses the personal data we collect from you when you use our website or apply for Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Free School Meals and School Essential Grants.
The Benefit Section is part of Cardiff Council, who is the Data Controller for the purposes of the data collected. All personal data is processed in accordance with the UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018.
What data do we collect?
The Benefits section collects the following data:
- Contact details, including name, address, telephone numbers and email address.
- Identifying information, including date of birth, national insurance number, personal refence numbers relating to your Housing Records.
- Information about your personal circumstances, where required by a relevant service.
- Financial, employment and benefit information
- Demographic data, which can include information about family members and area lived in, where required by a relevant service
- Caring Responsibilities
- Child Care access arrangements
- Dependant details
- Armed Forces Details
- Property Ownership
- Tenancy Related Information
This is collected for the purpose of assessing entitlement to Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Free School Meals and School Essential grant.
Data Protection law describes the legal basis for our processing your data as necessary for the performance of: (e) Public task: the processing is necessary for you to perform a task in the public interest or for your official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.
Legislations:
- Housing benefit regulations 2006 & The Council Tax Reduction Schemes (Default Scheme) (Wales) Regulations 2013
- Education Act 1996, Welfare Reform Act 2012, Children and Families Act 2014
How do we collect your data?
You directly provide the Benefit section with most of the data we collect. We collect data and process data when you:
- Apply online for Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Free School Meals, School Essential grant.
The data is input onto NEC by either the customer during an online application form or a Benefit assessor.
The Benefit section may also receive your data indirectly from the following sources:
- The Department for Work & Pensions.
How will we use your data?
The Benefit Section collects your data so that we can:
- Assess your entitlement to Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Free School Meals, School Essential grant.
When the Benefit section assesses your claim, it may send your data to, and also use the resulting information from, credit reference agencies to prevent fraud and error.
Cardiff Council use third party Blue Prism to check your eligibility for free school meals and/or schools essential grant benefits. Further information on how Blue Prism process your data .
Cardiff Council process your payments through NEC database then into SAP. Further information on how NEC process your data . For further information on how SAP process your data .
How do we store your data?
Your personal data will be safely and securely store on our secure case management system.
Housing Benefit records will be retained for 6 years after the end of the financial year in which the claim was made.
Financial data will be kept for 6 after your benefit entitlement has ended.
What are your data protection rights?
The Benefit section would like to make sure you are fully aware of all of your data protection rights. Every user is entitled to the following:
- Your right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information.
- Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to rectify personal information you think is inaccurate. You also have the right to ask us to complete information you think is incomplete.
- Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to erase your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to restrict the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Your right to object to processing - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information in certain circumstances.
- Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you, in certain circumstances.
You are not required to pay any charge for exercising your rights. If you make a request, we have one month to respond to you.
Please contact us at [email protected] if you wish to make a request.
Cookies
Cookies are text files placed on your computer to collect standard Internet log information and visitor behaviour information. When you visit our websites, we may collect information from you automatically through cookies or similar technology
Find out more on the All About Cookies website.
How do we use cookies?
Our Company uses cookies in a range of ways to improve your experience on our website, including:
- Keeping you signed in
- Understanding how you use our website
How to manage cookies
You can set your browser not to accept cookies, and the above website tells you how to remove cookies from your browser. However, in a few cases, some of our website features may not function as a result.
Privacy policies of other websites
The Cardiff Council website contains links to other websites. Our privacy policy applies only to our website, so if you click on a link to another website, you should read their privacy policy.
Changes to our privacy policy
Our company keeps its privacy policy under regular review and places any updates on this web page. This privacy policy was last updated on 05 February 2025.
How to contact us
If you have any questions about The Benefit section's privacy policy, the data we hold on you, or you would like to exercise one of your data protection rights, please do not hesitate to contact us via email at [email protected] or by post:
Data Protection Officer
Information Governance Team
County Hall
Atlantic Wharf
Cardiff
CF10 4UW
How to contact the appropriate authority
Should you wish to report a complaint or if you feel that Cardiff Council has not addressed your concern in a satisfactory manner, you may contact the Information Commissioner's Office via their website or by calling 0303 123 1113.
