The council provides services for local communities and the people who live in them. Undertaking this work means that we must collect and use information about the people we provide services to and keep a record of those services. Because we collect and use personal information about individuals we must make sure that they know what we intend to do with their information and who it may be shared with.

We have summarised in this privacy notice some of the key ways in which we use your personal information for sundry debts purposes. This information should be read in conjunction with the Milton Keynes Council corporate privacy notice.

Who we are, what we do

Some of the goods and services that the council provides to you may incur a charge. For example, if you hire a musical instrument from us or use our care services.

Where services incur a charge we have a legal duty to recover these costs from you. These are known as ‘sundry debts’.

The council has a central team that is responsible for recovering these fees on behalf of other services within the council. Further information about how the council uses personal information to recover the costs can be found in this notice.

What and whose personal information we hold

We hold information about past and present customers who have received a chargeable service by the council.

The types of information we hold and process will typically include:

• Contact details, including name, address, telephone numbers and email address.
• Financial details such as bank account number if you pay by direct debit.
• Details of the service you have been provided with i.e. dates of service, location of service.
• Household expenditure if you have arrears and have made special payment arrangements with the council.

Details about your employer and earnings if you have arrears, in order that the debt can be recovered directly from your salary.

Where does the service get my information from?

The personal information we collect about you can come from a variety of different sources as listed below:

• information provided directly by you, for example, when you register for a rechargeable service
• information generated by us when we raise the invoice and recover the money
• information from other council services – in order that the invoice can be raised and money recovered

Information provided by trusted third party organisations who we work closely with or provide services on our behalf e.g. Department of Work and Pensions, bailiff, courts.

What we will do with your personal information?

We will use this personal information to administer and collect sundry debts. This may include any of the following:

• raising the invoice
• sending you reminders and taking recovery action in the event of non-payment
• undertaking a means assessment if you are experiencing difficulty in paying
• recovering any monies owed in line with our legal powers, for example take you to court, refer the debt to the bailiffs for collection
• deducting payments direct from your employer or social security benefit where we have a court order that enables us to do so
• dealing with complaints or concerns
• recovering money owed from other council services where you are due a payment

What is the legal basis for the use of this information?

Data Protection law says that we are allowed to use and share personal information only where we have a proper and lawful reason for doing so.

Our lawful basis for processing this information for the above purpose is:

we have a legal obligation under Local Government Act 1972 and Social Security and Administration Act 1992 to process your personal information for the purposes of collecting sundry debts and housing benefit overpayments

Does the service share my personal information with any other organisation?

From time to time, we will share your personal information with advisers and service providers so that they can help us carry out our duties, rights and discretions in relation to sundry debts. These may include:

• internal council services so that we can raise the invoice for the rechargeable service and recover the debt.
• government agencies and organisations such as:
  • Her Majesties Court Services – to recover unpaid debts / invoices.
  • The Department for Work and Pensions – to recover overpayment of housing benefits / direct deduction form social security benefits.
  • The Cabinet Office – for the purposes of the National Fraud Initiative.
• payment processing providers:
  • Banking Automated Clearing Service (BACS) – to administer direct debit instructions and payments.
• trusted third party suppliers and organisations who provide services on our behalf:
  • enforcement agents – to enforce court orders in relation to unpaid debts.
• others:
  • your employer – to recover monies owed directly from your employer where there is a Court Order.

How long will my information be kept?

You have the right to request we cease processing your personal data in relation to any council service. Where possible, we will seek to comply with your request but there may be some situations where we will not be able to do this (e.g. where Milton Keynes council is required to hold or process information to comply with a legal requirement).

The accuracy of your information is important to us to be able to provide relevant services more quickly. We are working to make our record keeping more efficient. In the meantime, if you change your address or email address, or if any of your circumstances change or any of the other information we hold is inaccurate or out of date, please email us or write to us.

Your information, your rights

You have the right to request we cease processing your personal data in relation to any council service. Where possible, we will seek to comply with your request but there may be some situations where we will not be able to do this (e.g. where Milton Keynes council is required to hold or process information to comply with a legal requirement).

You are also legally entitled to request access to any records held by the council about yourself, this is called a Subject Access Request (SAR). Find out more on how to make a Subject Action Request.

The accuracy of your information is important to us to be able to provide relevant services more quickly. We are working to make our record keeping more efficient. In the meantime, if you change your address or email address, or if any of your circumstances change or any of the other information we hold is inaccurate or out of date, please email us or write to us.

General Enquiries

For general enquiries please contact the sundry debt team on 01908 253860 or you can email sundrydebts@milton-keynes.gov.uk