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Housing

Refugee Resettlement Service Privacy Notice

City of York Council (CYC) current data protection notification is registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – reference Z5809563. We created this privacy notice in October 2024 and regularly review it.

CYC is committed to ensuring that personal data is handled in accordance with the principles set out in data protection legislation and guidance from the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

This privacy notice tells you what to expect when we process your information and it applies to Refugee resettlement service.

CYC is the controller for this information unless we specifically state otherwise in this privacy notice.

You can contact the council’s Data Protection Officer at:

West Offices
Station Rise
York
YO1 6GA

Telephone: 01904 554145.

Email: information.governance@york.gov.uk.

This privacy notice should be read in conjunction with other relevant CYC privacy notices and/or policies and procedures.

When appropriate we will provide a ‘just in time’ notice to cover any additional processing activities not mentioned in this document.

How we collect your information

We get information about you from the following sources:

  • directly from you as a tenant or landlord
  • from third parties such as:
    • housing benefits
    • your previous landlords
    • the police
    • health and social welfare agencies
    • enquiries that are received from councillors, MPs or someone acting on your behalf
    • Migration Yorkshire
    • Refugee council
    • Refugee Action York
    • York City Sanctuary
    • York Learning and Education Services

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What personal data we process and why

We process your personal data and special categories of personal data such as:

  • name
  • date of birth
  • contact details
  • ethnicity
  • language needs
  • medical and health information
  • DBS checks
  • housing standards checks

We process your information to enable us to deliver efficient and effective specialist housing support to find suitable private rented accommodation to accommodate refugees in York. When refugees arrive in York via one of the resettlement schemes, they are supported by a Refugee Worker who assists them in all aspects of housing support this includes:

  • administering waiting lists
  • carrying out surveys and consultation
  • providing associated welfare services, advice, and support
  • promoting equal opportunities
  • debt and benefit advice
  • employment and training support services
  • dealing with complaints and any feedback from you
  • your opinions, comments and feedback when you take part in our surveys and consultations

Where we process data relating to criminal convictions and offences, this includes details of any past criminal convictions or offences.

We may use Zoom Pro or Business version of Zoom (version 5) to host some public facing meetings, training sessions etc across different services in the council. Where these meetings are recorded, recordings will be kept locally on our server and will not be retained by Zoom.

From time to time, we may conduct or ask you to take part in a survey to get your feedback, comments and opinions to help us improve our services. We will only do this where we have your consent.

If you take part in our surveys or consultation you can withdraw your consent at any time by email: refugeeresettlement@york.gov.uk.

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Automated decision-making

We do not carry out any automated decision-making in Refugee Resettlement Services.

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Collecting information automatically

Please see our Cookies Policy for further information about the information we collect automatically when you use our website.

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Children’s information

Where we provide services directly to children or young people, the information in the relevant parts of this notice applies to children and young people, as well as adults.

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Lawful basis for processing your personal data

Any personal data including special category data and criminal offence data that we process about individuals is done so in accordance with one or more of the following Articles 6, 9 and 10 of the UK GDPR and Schedule 1 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA 2018).

  • Article 6(1)
    • (a) Consent: the individual has given clear consent for the council to process their personal data for a specific purpose
    • (b) Contract: the processing is necessary for a contract the council has with the individual, or because they have asked the council to take specific steps before entering into a contract
    • (c) Legal obligation: the processing is necessary for the council to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations)
    • (e) Public task: the processing is necessary for the council to perform a task in the public interest or for our official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law
    • (f) Legitimate interests: the processing is necessary for the council’s legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party, unless there is a good reason to protect the individual’s personal data which overrides those legitimate interests (this cannot apply if you are a public authority processing data to perform your official tasks)
  • Article 9(2)
    • (a) Explicit consent
    • (b) Employment, social security and social protection (if authorised by law)
    • (g) Reasons of substantial public interest (with a basis in law)
    • (h) Health or social care (with a basis in law)

This is supported by Schedule1, Part 2 (6) of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the following legal framework:

  • The Equality Act 2010
  • The Housing Acts 1985, 1988, 1996, 2002, 2004
  • Housing Grants, Construction and Regeneration Act 1996
  • Landlord and Tenant Act 1987
  • Localism Act 2011
  • Homelessness Reduction Act
  • Legal Migration Act 2023

Where we process personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences, this is also under Article 10 UK GDPR that covers processing in relation to criminal convictions and offences or related security measures. In addition, section 11(2) of the DPA 2018 specifically confirms that this includes personal data relating to the alleged commission of offences, or proceedings for an offence committed or alleged to have been committed, including sentencing.

Some of the Schedule 1 conditions for processing special category and criminal offence data require an Appropriate Policy Document (APD) to be in place, which sets out and explains the procedures for securing compliance with the principles in Article 5 and policies regarding the retention and erasure of such personal data. This document explains this processing and satisfies the requirements of Schedule 1, Part 4 of the DPA 2018 and supplements this privacy notice

Our Appropriate Policy Document provides further information about this processing.

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How long we keep your personal data

We will only keep your information for as long as it is needed then it will be securely and confidentially deleted or disposed of.

You can find more details about how long the council keeps records in the council retention schedule.

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Data sharing

We will only share your information with other council services and with other organisations, agencies, partners such as contractors who undertake work on our behalf, government departments, etc where it is appropriate to such as:

  • third parties we use to help deliver our services to you
  • credit reference agencies
  • DWP - Personal information charter
  • HMRC - HMRC Privacy Notice
  • DLUHC - Personal information charter
  • Deposit Protection Service
  • Safeguarding Adults Board eg multi agency risk assessment conferences (MARAC)
  • Police
  • Charities, Voluntary and Third Sector organisations we work with to help deliver our services to you such as
    • Refugee Action York
    • City Of Sanctuary
    • York City Church
    • Mears
    • Migration Yorkshire
    • Refugee Council
    • AMEY 
    • Pinnacle

In some circumstances, such as under a court order or safeguarding, we are legally obliged to share information.

In some circumstances, such as under a court order or safeguarding, we are legally obliged to share information. We may also share information about you with third parties including our data processors, government agencies and external auditors.

We will always satisfy ourselves that we have a lawful basis on which to share the information and document our decision-making.

Additionally, we are required under the Public Records Act 1958 (as amended) to transfer records to the City or National Archives (TNA) for permanent preservation. Full consideration will be given to Data Protection and Freedom of Information legislation when making decisions about whether such records should be open to the public.

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Data processors and/or third parties

When we have third parties providing parts or all of our services for us, we have contracts or agreements in place with them. These include:

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Transfers of personal data

We do not routinely transfer personal data outside of the UK but when this is necessary, we ensure that we have appropriate safeguards in place and that is done in accordance with the UK data protection and privacy legislation.

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How we protect your information

We're committed to keeping your information safe and secure. There are several ways we do this, such as:

  • IT security safeguards such as firewalls, encryption, and anti-virus software
  • on-site security safeguards to protect physical files and electronic equipment
  • training for all staff and elected councillors
  • policies and procedures

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Your rights in relation to this processing

To find out about your rights under data protection law, you can go to the Information Commissioner's Office website.

You can also find information about your rights in our Privacy Notice.

If you have any questions about this privacy notice, want to exercise your rights, or if you have a complaint about how your information has been used, please contact us on email: information.governance@york.gov.uk, or on telephone: 01904 554145, or write to:

Data Protection Officer
City of York Council
West Offices
Station Rise
York YO1 6GA

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Also see

Data Protection Officer

West Offices, Station Rise, York, YO1 6GA

Telephone: 01904 554145

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