Who the data controller is for the information we collect
This Privacy Notice is provided to meet the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) to explain how we process your personal data in delivering the External Recruitment Service.
Leeds City Council is the data controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 2018 and other regulations, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation, which means it determines what your data is used for and why it is collected. The purpose of this privacy notice is to tell you about what information we collect about you when you use our service, how we use that information, and who we may share it with. The contact details of the data controller are Leeds City Council, Merrion House, 110 Merrion Way, Leeds, LS2 8BB.
The data we will collect
To deliver the Leeds Housing Options service, we may process data on:
- personal data
- name
- address (current and previous 5 years)
- date of birth
- NI number
- gender
- telephone numbers
- email address
- financial circumstances
- current tenure
- mental health
- physical health
- disabilities
- GP surgery
- support worker
- advocate details
- other personal circumstances
Special Category Data
- race
- ethnicity
- religion
- sexual orientation
- immigration status
- substance or alcohol misuse
Criminal Data
- previous convictions/activities
How do we collect information about you
We collect information about you from you directly (e.g., by asking you to complete one of our forms, via the telephone through our contact centre or face-to-face). We may also obtain your information from other sources such as:
- other persons acting on your behalf, inc. support workers or charities
- internal council departments
- other public authorities
- NHS trusts
- police
- employment benefit partners
- solicitors
- Home Office
- housing associations
Why we process your data
We use your information to:
- deliver Gypsy and Traveller assessments
- carry out homelessness assessments
- provide refugee rehousing
- service delivery
- service improvement
All the data collected will be treated in strict confidence and in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The data provided by you will only be used for the purpose(s) specified.
Lawful basis for processing
We will process your data in accordance with UK GDPR. The processing shall be lawful only if and to the extent that the following applies:
Article 6(1)(c) – processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject and
Article 6(1)(e) – processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.
This is supported by the following legal framework:
- Homelessness Reduction Act 2017
- The Housing Act 1988, 1996, 2002, 2004
- Localism Act 2011
- Homelessness Code of Guidance for Local Authorities 2018
The lawful basis for processing your special category data is in accordance with the following:
Article 9(2)(g) - Processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest.
The processing of Special Category Data under Article 9 is further supported by the following condition in Schedule 1, Part 2:
6. Statutory and government purposes
This condition requires an Appropriate Policy Document 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. Our Appropriate Policy Document provides further information about this processing and supplements this privacy notice.
Data retention, storage and destruction
Our data retention policies and procedures are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention. This means that your information will be kept for 6 years after we cease to provide a service to you unless the law says that we need to hold it for longer or if there is a business requirement to do so. After this, your information will be deleted or archived.
Who can we share your data with
We may share your data with agencies shown below as follows:
- contracted services
- other internal council services
- housing providers
- internal services. For example, Adults and Children’s Social Care
- legal services
- Migration Yorkshire
- support agencies
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government
- police
- NHS
- landlords
- probation
- solicitor
- Home Office
In addition, we will share your personal data:
- where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject
- in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person
- for the purposes of security and prevention of fraud and other criminal activity
- where such disclosure is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure.
Automated decision making
Your data will not be used for any automated decision making, including profiling.
Your rights
The following rights under data protection law are applicable for this processing:
- the right to access – you can ask for copies of your personal data
- the right to rectification – you can ask us to rectify inaccurate personal data and to complete incomplete personal data
- the right to erasure - where you can ask us to erase your personal data
- the right to restrict processing – you can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data
- the right to data portability (where you can ask that we transfer your personal data to another organisation or to you)
- the right to object to processing (where you can object to the processing of your personal data)
- the right to complain to a supervisory authority – you can complain about our processing of your personal data
- the right to withdraw consent (to the extent that the legal basis of our processing of your personal data is consent), you can withdraw that consent
Where we process your information under legal obligation, certain rights do not apply, such as erasure, data portability, objection to processing, and the right to withdraw consent.
Where we process your data under the public task basis, certain rights do not apply, such as erasure, data portability, and the right to withdraw consent.
These rights are subject to certain limitations and exceptions. You can learn more about your rights through the ‘Your individual rights and how to exercise them’ and the Information Commissioner's Office website.
You may exercise any of the above rights in relation to your personal data by writing to us, using the contact details provided below.
When your data gets sent to other countries
The information you provide will not be transferred to another country outside of the UK.
Contact us
Any queries in relation to this Privacy Notice should be forwarded to:
Email: LHO@leeds.gov.uk
Data Protection Officer
Aaron Linden
Head of Information Management and Governance - Data Protection Officer
Leeds City Council
Merrion House
110 Merrion Way
Leeds
LS2 8BB
The council privacy notice is available to view here.
Complaints
If you are unhappy with the way in which your information has been handled, you should speak with the specific service in the first instance.
Any data protection complaints about how the council has processed your personal data will be handled in accordance with the council’s Complaints Policy. You can find out how to submit a complaint by visiting this link.
You can refer to the Information Commissioner if you consider that there has been an infringement of data protection legislation. Further details can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website.
Changes to this notice
We keep our privacy notice under regular review. We will notify you of significant changes to this notice by email or other means as appropriate. This privacy notice was last updated 13 February 2025.
