Please note the Test and Trace Payment Support service is no longer available. This privacy notice is here for information purposes only.
Our core data protection obligations and commitments are set out in the council's privacy notice.
This notice provides additional privacy information for services provided by Bury Council when an applicant applies for a Test and Trace Support Payment.
How do we use your data
We collect your personal information for the following purpose(s):
- to assess whether you are eligible to receive financial support, and if so, to provide a payment to you.
We will carry out checks with the NHS Test and Trace Service and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), for verification purposes, Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC), for tax and National Insurance purposes, and potentially with your employer in validating your application.
Information relating to your application will also be sent to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) to help understand public health implications, allow us to carry out anti-fraud checks and determine how well the scheme is performing.
We will not share this data with other organisations or individuals outside of Bury Council for any other purpose.
We will provide information to HMRC in relation to any payments we make because Self-Isolation Payments are subject to tax and National Insurance contributions. If you are self-employed, you will need to declare the payment on your self-assessment tax return.
Categories of personal data
In order to carry out these purposes we collect and obtain the following types of information:
- full name
- full residential address
- date of birth
- email address
- mobile telephone number
- home telephone number
- proxy applicant details (as above where you may nominate someone else to complete this application on your behalf)
- employer name and address
- NHS notification number (the unique reference you will be given by NHS Test and Trace Service to self-isolate)
- bank account details
- National Insurance number
- proof of self-employment, such as a recent business bank statement (within the last two months), most recent set of accounts or evidence of self-assessment
Legal basis for processing
Where we use personal information to confirm that someone is eligible for a self-isolation payment, the sections of the law that apply are:
- UK GDPR 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
- UK GDPR Article 9(2)(i) - processing is necessary for reasons of public interest in the area of public health, such as protecting against serious cross-border threats to health or ensuring high standards of quality and safety of healthcare;
- Data Protection Act 2018 Schedule 1 Part 1 (2) - health or social care purposes
Separately, we have special permission from the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to use confidential patient information without people's consent for the purposes of diagnosing, recognising trends, controlling and preventing, and monitoring and managing communicable diseases and other risks to public health.
This is known as a 'section 251' approval and includes, for example, using your test results if you test positive for Covid-19 to start the contact-tracing process.
The part of the law that applies here is section 251 of the National Health Service Act 2006 and Regulation 3 of the associated Health Service (Control of Patient Information) Regulations 2002.
Marketing purposes: where we have asked and you have consented to receive electronic marketing information about our services (you may withdraw your consent at any time)
Consequences if information is not provided
If you fail to provide certain information when requested, we may not be able to perform the contract we have entered into with you (for example paying you a Test and Trace Support Payment), or we may be prevented from complying with our legal obligations.
Information sharing
We have a duty to protect the public funds we administer, to prevent fraud and to ensure the information we hold is accurate. To carry out this duty we may share the information we hold about you, where the law allows it, with other sections of the Council, other local authorities, the government and other agencies.
These are the recipients with which your personal data is shared:
- Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) for tax and National insurance purposes
- your employer for verification checks purposes
Where we get our information
As well as information collected directly from you, we also obtain or receive information from:
- the NHS Test and Trace Service to confirm that you have either tested positive for Covid-19 or you have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19. As this data is related to your health it is referred to as 'special category data'.
You or your nominated representative will also provide us with additional personal data in relation to your application for a Self-Isolation Payment.
Automated decisions
No decision will be made about you solely on the basis of automated decision making (where a decision is taken about you using an electronic system without human involvement) which has a significant impact on you.
Data retention
We will only keep your personal data for as long as it is needed for the purposes of the Covid-19 emergency, and for audit and payment purposes.
Rights of individuals
Information about the following is accessible in our guide to exercising your rights:
- exercising your rights
- contacting our Data Protection Officer
- raising a concern with us, or
- making a complaint to the Information Commissioner.