Non-domestic rates - privacy notice

In order to administer non-domestic rates bills and determine, for instance, eligibility for non-domestic rates reliefs, we may require personal information relevant to your non-domestic property.

We may also use your information, as required, to verify your identity, contact you by post, email or telephone and to maintain our records. 

In order to increase transparency around the use of public funds for non-domestic rates relief awards, information associated with the awarding of the non-domestic rates reliefs will be published on the East Renfrewshire Council website. This information may include the liability holder (company or sole trader name), non-domestic property information (including relevant property reference numbers), the date of the relief award, type of relief award, gross bill and net bill. 

This information may also be analysed internally to help us improve our services.

This data sharing is in accordance with our privacy policy which can be found on our website. It also forms part of our requirements in line with our Records Management Plan approved in terms of the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011.

Processing your personal information may be necessary for the awarding of the relief and in terms of legal basis these services are provided as part of our statutory functions. Processing your personal data is necessary for the;

• performance of a task carried out in the public interest by the Council;
• compliance with our legal obligations under any non-domestic rating legislation applicable to a Scottish Local authority now or in the future. For more information, visit the Scottish Government website (opens new window).

Where the processing relates to more sensitive data we will process this information for reasons of substantial public interest as set out in the Data Protection Act 2018.

Processing your personal information may be necessary for the awarding of the relief. If you do not provide us with the information we have asked for then we may not be able to provide this service to you. We will not collect any personal data from you that isn't needed for delivery of those services.

Unless specifically agreed with you, we will only collect personal data about you which does not include any special categories of personal information about you. The information will however include details such as your name, addresses, telephone number, email address, bank account details, National Insurance number, copies of correspondence between you and our service, non-domestic rates liability.

Renfrewshire Council administer the delivery of non-domestic rates and it is necessary for them have access to your data to process on our behalf.

We are legally obliged to safeguard public funds so we are required to verify and check your details internally for fraud prevention. We may share this information with other public bodies (and also receive information from these other bodies) for fraud-checking purposes. We are also legally obliged to share certain data with other public bodies, such as other local authorities or Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs and will do so where the law requires this. In order to meet our legal obligations and to promote openness and transparency around the use of public funds and the awarding of non-domestic rates reliefs, relief recipients should be aware that the details of all relief awards will be published on the our website.

We will also generally comply with requests for specific information from other regulatory and law enforcement bodies where this is necessary and appropriate.  Your information is also analysed internally to help us improve our services. 

Your information will be shared with the Scottish Government for the purposes of analysis.

We only keep your personal information for the minimum period amount of time necessary.  Sometimes this time period is set out in the law, but in most cases it is based on the business need.  We maintain a records retention and disposal schedule which sets out how long we hold different types of information for. You can view this on Renfrewshire Council's website (opens new window).

Read more information about how we manage our records.

Do you require this statement in a different format or seek further information?

Please email customerservices@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk

This notice will be kept under regular review and was last updated on the 28 June 2021.

Depending on why we need to process your information you will have rights to how your information is used.  Further information about your rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, can be found within our main privacy policy published on our website.

If you have concerns about the processing of your personal data, by the council, you can contact the Data Protection Officer at dpo@eastrenfrewshire.gov.uk.

For independent advice about data protection, privacy and data sharing, visit the Information Commissioner's website (opens new window).