Nature of work
The Financial Operations Division is responsible for providing a range of financial support services to both the Council and the wider community. Services provided to the Council include budgeting and financial forecasting, the completion of statutory accounts and financial advisory services. Examples of services to the public include the processing of invoices and payments to businesses and individuals (including direct payments to the recipients of adult social care), the administration of Appointee and Court of Protection Deputyships and the processing of Civil Liability claims against the Council, Solihull Community Housing Ltd, UK Central (Solihull) Ltd and Mell Square Ltd.
Why we need your information
We need your information:
- to enable us to communicate with you and provide the services you need or are entitled to
- to process financial transactions including grants, payments and benefits directly involving us or where we are acting on behalf of other government bodies such as Department for Works and Pensions
- to enable the processing of an insurance claim, investigate the circumstances of a claim and make a response to the claim
- to provide a variety of insurance services to residential and commercial tenants for the protection of property
- for the prevention and/or detection of crime including fraud
- for general processing where you have given your consent for us to do so
For the purpose of making payments to our customers and suppliers, we will collect the following information:
- Personal information – such as your name, address, email address, bank details and payment details.
- Supplier information – such as your name, trading name, address, e-mail addresses for orders and remittances, bank details, VAT Registration Number, Company Registration Number, Unique Taxpayer Reference (UTR) Number, National Insurance Number, invoice details and payment details.
- Purchase and pay for goods and services.
Type/Classes of information processed
Where relevant we process a variety of information relating to individuals including:
- personal details
- family details
- lifestyle and social circumstances
- financial details
- employment details
- medical details such as GP, hospital and occupational therapy records
Who information is processed about
We process information about:
- Appointee and Court of Protection Deputyships
- Adult Social Care clients
- Insurance claimants, litigation friends and representatives, legal guardians, or advocates
- Witnesses to incidents
- Residential and commercial tenants
Who information may be shared with
Where necessary or required we share information with:
- The Council's insurance providers including insurance brokers and insurance companies
- Claims handlers, claim investigators and other parties employed to assist with the validation and investigation of a claim
- Solicitors, Barristers and Legal experts
- National Fraud Initiative.
- Audit.
- Government Agencies such as DWP.
- HMRC.
- Construction Industry (CIS).
- Employers, and previous employers regarding pensions.
- Financial Institutions such as banks and building societies.
- Benefits Tribunals.
- Courts and those involved in legal proceedings including solicitors and barristers.
- Other third party organisations such as Citizens Advice, care agencies, care home providers and other professional carers.
How long we will keep your information
We will keep your information for different periods of time, depending on what we are using it for. We only keep your information for as long as we need to, after which we will securely delete it.
- Payments - 7 years
- Appointeeships and Court of Protection Deputyships – 7 years following last contact
- A payment for a Solihull Community Housing (SCH) invoice or bulky waste collection - payment data will be retained for 6 months
- Insurance – 7 years following settlement of claim and 6 following the expiry of an insurance policy provided to residential or commercial tenants.
Transfers Overseas
Personal information is occasionally transferred overseas in connection with the Council's Deputyship function.
Personal information is occasionally transferred overseas in connection with providing insurance services to residential and commercial tenants.
Changes to this privacy notice
This notice is kept under regular review to make sure it is up to date and accurate.
Data Protection
Solihull Council is committed to respecting your privacy. We use and share your personal information to enable us to identify, plan, deliver and monitor services that we provide to you and the community as a whole.
Data Protection legislation defines how the Council must collect, record, process store or dispose of your personal information. It must be:
- Processed lawfully, fairly and in a clear, transparent manner
- Collected for specified, explicit and legitimate purposes and not processed in a way that is incompatible with those purposes
- Adequate, relevant and not excessive for those stated purposes
- Accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date;
- Kept in a format which allows identification of individuals for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which it is processed;
- Kept secure by taking appropriate technical and organisational measures
Your Rights
Data Protection legislation gives you a number of rights, which include:
- The right of access - to request access to your personal information and information about how we process it
- The right to rectification if information is inaccurate or incomplete
- The right to erasure also known as ‘the right to be forgotten’. This will enable deletion or removal of personal information where there is not a legal or compelling reason to continue processing it
- The right to restrict processing of your personal information This will block or suppress processing of personal information but will allow us to store it but not further use it
- The right to data portability - to electronically move, copy or transfer your personal information in a standard form for your own purposes; for example, if switching energy providers
- The right to object to processing of your personal information, including direct marketing and processing for the purposes of scientific/historical research and assistance
- Rights related to automated decision making including profiling. This is where decisions are made solely by automated means without any human involvement
The Council’s Corporate Information Governance Team can be contacted by email at infogov@solihull.gov.uk