Fair processing notices - Legal services

How we use your data

At Stoke-on-Trent City Council we have always taken your privacy seriously and, in line with existing (data protection) and recent legislation (the General Data Protection Regulation (‘GDPR’)), there are legal obligations upon us to ensure we do so.

The data is collected by Stoke-on-Trent City Council. We are a data controller for the personal information we hold about you in relation to legal services. In order to comply with data protection legislation we must be sure you understand how we use this information.

This might include basic information such as your name, address, other contact information, date of birth, or your health. We might also collect more detailed information such as why you contacted the council or why we hold information about you.

The way we legally process will partly depend on the reason why we are holding any information about you, but in all situations we will only process it legally and in accordance with what the current law permits.

Who, if anyone else, we share it with will depend on the reasons we are holding the data. There may be instances when we have to supply information to a care home or perhaps to a court.

The way we may use the data may depend upon the reason we hold it.

Data will be kept for as long as the law requires or allows us to.

Data protection law provides you with certain rights, however not all of these rights will be available to you in all situations. Where we are under a legal duty to use data for a particular purpose you will not have the right to prevent it being used in that way.

You can ask:

to see the information we hold about you
what is being done with the information we hold about you
to have some of the data we hold about you deleted
us to review a decision made about you by a computer, and ask for a new decision to be made by a person
us to stop processing the data we hold about you
us to make changes to data about you that you believe is inaccurate
us to restrict or limit what we do with your data, for example if you believe the data we hold is inaccurate, or if you believe the processing in unlawful
in some circumstances you can ask us to help you move your information to another organisation

There may be times when, for lawful reasons, we cannot release, amend or delete information.

The purposes for which the data will be used are to help the council to carry out its legal functions (such as in exercising its powers and duties).

We are able to do this because:

you, or your legal representative, have given consent
you have entered into a contract with us
it is necessary to perform our statutory duties
it is necessary to protect someone in an emergency
it is required by law
it is necessary for employment purposes
it is necessary to deliver health or social care services
you have made your information publicly available
it is necessary for legal cases
it is to the benefit of society as a whole
it is necessary to protect public health
it is necessary for archiving, research, or statistical purposes

We have a duty to protect public funds. We may therefore use the information we have for the prevention and detection of fraud. We may share this information with other bodies for these purposes.

We may share data with our internal audit team to evaluate the effectiveness of the organisation’s risk management, control and governance processes. We may also share your data with the council's fraud team to help to prevent and detect fraud.

Your personal data may be transferred to countries outside the EU for the purposes of fulfilling our legal duties.

Schedules
Legal services - children and education

Information collected

name
address
contact details
date of birth
health information
referral or assessment Information
relationships Information
financial Information
convictions, cautions and warnings
housing information
employment information
education information
information from other authorities where previously you previously lived
involvement with the voluntary sector
information from previous partners
references
immigration status
DNA
hair and blood analysis
other agencies involved

Agencies we might share the information with:

Department for Education
schools
youth offending service
alternative education providers
childrens’ social care
police
judicial agencies, such as courts
health
immigration authorities
probation
legal representatives of other parties
barristers' chambers
client departments
other local authorities
residential care providers
other agencies involved
experts instructed, such as independent social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, substance misuse testers
interpreters
transcribers
process servers

Purpose for processing: Service delivery

Legal services – corporate or commercial

Information collected:

name
address
contact details
contractual information
financial information
bid responses

Agencies we might share the information with:

Department for Education
Education Funding Agency
other public bodies
legal representatives of other parties
client departments

Purpose for processing: service delivery

Legal services - adult services

Information collected:

name
address
contact details
date of birth
health information
referral and assessment information
relationships information
financial information
convictions, cautions and warnings
housing information
employment information
education information
information from other authorities where you previously lived
involvement with the voluntary sector
information from previous partners
references
immigration status
DNA
hair and blood analysis
other agencies Involved

Agencies we might share the information with:

Department for Education
schools
youth offending service
alternative education providers
children's social care
police
judicial agencies, such as courts
health
immigration authorities
probation
legal representatives of other parties
barristers' chambers
client departments
other local authorities
residential care providers
other agencies involved
experts instructed, such as independent social workers, psychologists, psychiatrists, substance misuse testers
interpreters
transcribers
process servers

Purpose for processing: Service delivery

Legal services - property services

Information collected

name
address
contact details
identification information
property ownership information
other Information relevant to case

Agencies we might share the information with

Land Registry
other public bodies
legal representatives of other parties
client departments

Purpose for processing: service delivery

Legal services - regulatory and litigation service

Information collected:

name and date of birth
address
contact details
health information
financial information
social services records
human resources records
details of potential offence or other wrongdoing/infringement involving individuals (including standards investigations)
previous convictions or cautions and details of previous interactions with the police and law enforcement agencies
licensing records and regulatory records
DBS information.

Agencies we might share the information with:

DWP
police
judicial agencies, such as courts and tribunals
health agencies
legal representatives of other parties
other solicitors instructed by the council
expert witnesses
client departments
barristers and staff at their chambers
providers of social housing
other enforcement agencies
process servers or professional witnesses
lay witnesses to court proceedings involving the council
councillors
independent person for the standards committee

Purpose for processing: service delivery

Who to contact if you have questions

If you wish to contact us in relation to any of your information rights, email foi@stoke.gov.uk or Information Rights Team, Floor 2, Civic Centre, Glebe Street, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 1HH

Complete the online form

If you wish to complain about how your personal information has been handled by Stoke-on-Trent City Council, contact the Information Rights Team in the first instance using the details above. If you are not satisfied you can complain to Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF or call 0303 123 1113

Information Commissioner's Office website