Business Rates - privacy notice

What personal information is being processed and what for

• name of the liable party
• address
• telephone number
• email address
• owners of premises
• bank details for customers paying by direct debit
• national insurance number
• date of birth

We use this information to:

• charge and collect business rates under the provisions of the Local Government Finance Act 1988
• resolve any complaints made against the service
• detection of fraud, including the use of data-matching initiatives to protect public funds
• to ensure safe systems of work for visiting staff who meet ratepayers

• charge and collect Business Improvement District (BID) Levy under The Business Improvement Districts (England) Regulations 2004

Why we are allowed to use your information

To charge and collect business rates under the Local Government Finance Act 1988.  The processing of your personal information is necessary for the compliance with the legal obligations within this act.

All processing is carried out in accordance with Article 6 of the UK GDPR.

Who we will share your information with

Your personal data is shared securely with the following organisations, where it is necessary and appropriate to do so:

• representatives of the person whose personal data we are processing
• local and central government
• other council departments
• ombudsman and regulatory authorities
• courts and tribunals
• enforcement agents
• debt collection and tracing agencies
• police forces
• data processors
• regulatory bodies
• HMRC
• law enforcement and prosecuting authorities
• BID  proposer
• grant approval portal - privacy notice

Where we get your information from

We collect this information from the individual or third parties as listed below:

• online forms 
• web enquiries from the council’s website
• incoming correspondence such as letters, forms and/or applications for discounts, reviews and exemptions from customers, landlords, developers, outgoing tenants, and property agents
• information received from council property inspectors 
• other council departments
• information given to staff within customer service centres 
• to our telephone contact team
• HMRC – Valuation Office
• Land registry
• Companies House

How long we will keep your personal information

We will keep your information for as long as it is required by the Council in order to comply with legal and regulatory requirements.

Our retention period for Business Rates is 7 years. 

How your information is stored

We retain information on our Northgate billing system indefinitely with regard to business rates liability, transactions, recovery action taken and notepads of conversations with our call team. Access to this system is controlled and all staff submit an annual declaration of interest in any business rates account. When an employee leaves the section access to this system is deleted.

We also retain data, forms and correspondence from customers as well as outgoing letters and forms generated by our electronic document management system ‘Information at Work’ – this data is held on the system for 7 years before being deleted.

What happens if you don’t provide us with your information

If you fail to provide this information to us it may result in delays to your bill being issued which means that you will have a reduced period of time to pay your bill or claim a relief or discount that you may be entitled to.

Will your information be used to make automated decisions

No

Your rights

You have a number of rights regarding your personal data, including withdrawing your consent where we have asked for it. 

You can also ask for a copy of the information we hold about you and ask us to correct anything that is wrong.

For detailed information about your rights please see the Cheshire East privacy notice.

Contact Business Rates

Page last reviewed: 08 August 2022