Privacy Notice for Business Rates (updated March 2020 to include payments to eligible small businesses in connection with the 2020 coronavirus lockdown)

Data Controller:

Mole Valley District Council (“MVDC”) is the body exercising control over the purpose for which and the manner in which your personal data is processed.

Data Controller’s contact details:

MVDC Pippbrook, Dorking RH4 1SJ. Telephone: 01306 885 001.

Data Protection Officer:

Mr Tom Penlington (Solicitor): Telephone: 01306 879 354

The legal basis for and the purposes of the processing:

We are required by legislation to levy and collect Business Rates from those that are liable. The relevant legislation is as follows:

• The Non-Domestic Rating (Collection and Enforcement) (Local Lists) Regulations 1989
• The Local Government Finance Act 1998 and 1992 subsequent amending legislation (for premises within the BID area this includes obligations under the Local Government Act 2003 and the Business Improvement Districts (England) Regulations 2004)
• 2020 Government initiatives to provide grant funding to certain types of small business (please refer to the guidance from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Guidance “Covid-19: support for businesses” for further details) (Covid-19 Grant Funding)

We use your information for administering Business Rates and Covid-19 Grant Funding, to set up an account for billing and collection purposes and for processing any discounts, reliefs, grants and exemptions you may be entitled to (and to contact and respond to individuals in connection with businesses eligible for Covid-19 Grant Funding). We also use your information to undertake enforcement action where payment is not made.

We use your information for administering Business Rates to set up an account for billing and collection purposes and for processing any discounts, reliefs and exemptions you may be entitled to. We also use your information to undertake enforcement action where payment is not made.

• We will use your information for the purpose of performing any of our statutory enforcement duties. We will make any disclosures required by law and may also share this information with other bodies responsible for detecting/preventing fraud or auditing/administering public funds
• We will share information with a third party where you have given us written permission to do so or this is otherwise permitted by law
• We have a policy document in place (which sets out how we will comply with the data protection principles and which clarifies our policies regarding the retention and erasure of relevant personal data)

The source of the personal data:

You will usually have to pay business rates if you own or lease a property contained within the Non domestic rating list. You will usually have to pay a Business Improvement Levy if you own or lease a property contained in the non domestic rating list and the property is within a Business Improvement District The data that we collect and process for administering Business Rates and in connection with any Business Improvement District is; name, current and previous addresses, and other elevant information in order to accurately apply relevant discounts, exemptions and reliefs. We will also collect your bank details should you pay by direct debit. The data we collect and process for administering Covid-19 Grant Funding is set out in Annex B (Data Collection) of the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy document “Grant Funding Schemes: Small Business Grant Fund and Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund Guidance”. Your bank details will be required for the purposes of MVDC paying the grant funding and will be retained for the purposes of enabling payments to be collected and made by way of bank transfer

Recipients and categories of recipients of the personal data:

• Public agencies, government departments and other organisations as required, to support the collection and recovery of Business Rates or the Business Improvement District Levy . This may include:-

1. Courts and Tribunals including the Magistrates Courts and the Valuation Office Agency;
2. Ombudsman and regulatory authorities;
3. Debt collection, enforcement and tracing agents working on behalf of the council;
4. Law enforcement and prosecuting authorities

• Other Council departments for the purposes of delivering other council activities – to ensure our records are accurate and up-to-date, to improve the standard of the services we deliver, and to perform any of our statutory duties, including enforcement duties
• Other bodies, where the law allows this, for the purposes of preventing or detecting fraud.  The Council participates in fraud initiatives, including the National Fraud Initiative, and may verify the data we hold with other organisations, including other local authorities and credit reference agencies
• Other people, or organisations/agencies, you have given us consent to share information with. This may include appointees, Members of Parliament and local Councillors.

Bid Levy account Information will be shared with any BID company we are collecting the BID levy on behalf of.

The Covid-19 Grant Funding Information will be shared with central government for the purposes of post-event award assurance on grants, and for monitoring and reporting purposes.

Further information on onward transfers:

MVDC will not transfer the personal data you have provided outside of the UK or European Union unless this is permitted in accordance with the Data Protection Act 2018.

How long the personal data will be kept for:

Business Rates liability and collection information is retained for financial and audit purposes from April 1990. Application forms and other information that you provide in respect of Business Rates liability and Covid-19 Grant Funding will be retained for up to seven years.  We only hold information as long as it is needed or required by law and then dispose of it securely. This is accordance with MVDC’s Business Rates’s Records Retention and Disposal Schedule.

Statutory Obligations to provide the personal data:

• You are required to provide the information that we need to administer, collect and recover Business Rates under the Non-Domestic Rating (Collection and Enforcement) (Local Lists) Regulations 1989

Automated Decision Making:

The personal data provided by you will not be used for any automated decisions.

Data Subject Rights:

From 25 May 2018 you will have some specific rights in respect of your personal data. These may include some or all of the following rights to:

• see what personal data about you MVDC holds at any time (subject to certain caveats, for example where third parties are identified);
• have MVDC correct any errors (if any) in the personal data it holds about you;
• request your personal data is erased (though this right will not apply where MVDC is processing your personal data because it is necessary to comply with a legal obligation);
• request processing of your personal data is restricted (this will only apply in certain situations, for example where its accuracy is contested, where the processing is unlawful and the you oppose its proposed erasure by MVDC, or where MVDC no longer needs to process the personal data, but it is required by you in connection with legal claims);
• object to the processing where the processing is necessary for a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the data controller (though MVDC will still be able to continue with the processing in certain circumstances, such as if there are compelling grounds for the processing which over ride your interests).

Will the personal data be processed for a different purpose?

No. If MVDC needs to inform recipients about any action it has taken under the Data Protection Act then it will do so by placing a Notice on MVDC’s website informing the public of any relevant changes.

If you are dissatisfied with how your personal data is processed by MVDC then you have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner who can be contacted at: Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow SK9 5AF.

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The cookies MVDC uses for this purpose are:

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