What this privacy notice is for

Our core data protection obligations and commitments are set out in the council’s primary privacy notice at: 

• Data Protection

This notice provides additional privacy information for:

• Residents receiving support from staff within the Emerging Communities Team

Updating our privacy notices

We may update or revise our privacy notices at any time so please refer to the version published on our website for the most up to date details

What we use your information for

We collect or obtain your personal information for the following purpose(s):

• To identify residents who are eligible for support
• To understand and meet the needs of residents in Oldham who access our service
• To enable us to provide support and/or refer residents to the most appropriate services to meet their needs
• To provide monitoring information to GMCA in respect of service delivery through the Refugee Transitions Outcomes Fund (RTOF)

What categories of personal information we use

Personal information can be anything that identifies and relates to a living person. This can include information that when linked with other information, allows a person to be uniquely identified. For example, this could be your name and contact details.

The law treats some types of personal information as ‘special’ because the information requires more protection due to its sensitivity. This information consists of:

• Racial or ethnic origin
• Sexuality and sexual life
• Religious or philosophical beliefs
• Trade union membership
• Political opinions
• Genetic and bio-metric data
• Physical or mental health
• Criminal convictions and offences

In order to carry out these purposes we collect and obtain the following personal information.

Legal basis for processing

The legal basis for processing and or sharing your personal information is dependent on what we use your information for, these may include, but are not limited to where:

• You, or your legal representative, have given consent
• It is necessary to perform our statutory duties in relation to housing and homelessness. Examples of legislation that support this are listed below:
  • The Housing Act 1996
  • The Homelessness Reduction Act 2017
• It is necessary to protect you or others from harm
• It is required by law
• It is necessary to protect public health
• It is necessary to deliver health and social care services
• It is necessary for exercising or defending legal rights
• It is necessary for fraud prevention and the protection of public funds
• You consent to participate in consultation or research

If you do not provide some of this information to us we may be restricted in the support that we can provide to you. This may also impact on the services that we can assist you to access.

Information sharing/recipients

We may share personal information for the following purposes:

• When you have requested that we share your information
• When you have given us permission to share your information so that you can access services
• When it is necessary to prevent you or others from harm

We may share information about you with the following organisations/types of organisations:

• Housing agencies and housing providers
• Healthcare, social and welfare organisations
• Educators
• Voluntary and charitable organisations
• Oldham Council – Housing, Exchequer, Education and Employment services
• Breaking Barriers and The Entrepreneurial Refugee Network (TERN)

We may share personal aggregated data for statistical purposes with the following

• Other parts of Oldham Council
• Healthcare, Social and Welfare organisations
• Providers of goods and services
• Service providers
• Survey and research organisations
• Local and central government

Identifiable Personal Information could be shared under the following circumstances:

• Safeguarding, if something you tell us raises a safeguarding concern
• You raise a specific personal issue or concern that requires addressing
• You ask us to share your personal details

As well as information collected directly from you, we also obtain or receive information from:

• Serco
• The Home Office
• Housing agencies and housing providers
• Healthcare, social and welfare organisations
• Educators
• Voluntary and charitable organisations
• Oldham Council – Housing, Exchequer, Education and Employment
• Oldham residents (friends/neighbours) if they tell us that you or your wider family need support

Data Transfers beyond European Economic Area

We do not transfer any of your personal information outside the European Economic Area (‘EEA’).

Automated Decisions

All the decisions we make about you involve human intervention.

Our Guide to Exercising Your Rights outlines the procedure to ask us for an automated decision to be reviewed by an appropriate officer. This can be found at: 

• Your Data Rights

How long we keep your data

We will only keep your personal information for as long as it is required by us or other regulatory bodies to comply with legal and regulatory requirements. In most cases this will be a minimum of six years.

Where can I get advice

More information on how to seek advice in order to exercise your rights, raise a concern or complain about the handling of your personal information by the council can be found in the council’s privacy notice which can be found at: 

• Data Protection