Coroners' Court Expenses privacy notice

We keep this privacy notice under regular review and was last updated on 14 September 2022.

Kent County Council (KCC) respects your privacy and is committed to protecting your personal data. This privacy notice will inform you as to how we look after your personal data and tell you about your privacy rights and how the law protects you.

Who we are

Kent County Council collects, uses and is responsible for certain personal information about you. When we do so we are regulated under the United Kingdom General Data Protection Regulation (‘UK GDPR’) and the Data Protection Act 2018. We are responsible as ‘controller’ of that personal information.

Kent County Council supports the Coroners in the execution of their statutory duties. Coroners are independent judicial officers who hold the statutory responsibility to make enquiries of any death that is reported to them and investigate the death if it appears that the cause of death is unknown, or the death was violent or unnatural, or the person died in prison, police custody, or other type of state detention.

The Coroners' Service will reimburse expenses, where appropriate, to individuals attending Coroners' Court as a witness or juror.

The KCC Data Protection Officer is Benjamin Watts.

Personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

In the course of processing your expenses as a witness or juror at Coroners' Court, we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

  • Name
  • Address and contact details.
  • Financial (bank account details to accommodate direct payment).

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information to process your expenses claim and reimburse you.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

We rely on Article 6(1)(c) as the lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal data ie ‘processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation’ namely The Coroners Allowances, Fees and Expenses Regulations 2013.

As we have a statutory basis for collecting your personal data, if you do not provide your name and address, we may be unable to reimburse your expenses.

How long your personal data will be kept

We will hold your personal information for seven years, in accordance with the legal obligation under which KCC operates with regards to financial processing.

Who we share your personal information with

The personal data provided is not routinely shared, and once the reimbursement of expenses has been completed, is kept for financial auditing purposes only. As part of this process, your personal information may be viewed by an Auditor, or as per the legislation, the Coroner Service may be requested to provide the expense records to the Chief Coroner.

We will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law or in connection with legal proceedings.

Your rights

Under the GDPR you have rights which you can exercise free of charge that allow you to:

  • know what we are doing with your information and why we are doing it
  • ask to see what information we hold about you (subject access request)
  • ask us to correct any mistakes in the information we hold about you
  • object to direct marketing
  • make a complaint to the Information Commissioner's Office
  • you can withdraw your consent at any time

Depending on our reason for using your information you may also be entitled to:

  • ask us to delete information we hold about you
  • have your information transferred electronically to yourself or to another organisation
  • object to decisions being made that significantly affect you
  • object to how we are using your information
  • stop us using your information in certain ways

We will always seek to comply with your request however we may be required to hold or use your information to comply with legal duties. Please note, your request may delay or prevent us delivering a service to you.

For further information about your rights, including the circumstances in which they apply, see the guidance from the UK Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) on individuals’ rights under GDPR.

If you would like to exercise a right, please contact the Information Resilience and Transparency Team at data.protection@kent.gov.uk.

Keeping your personal information secure

We have appropriate security measures in place to prevent personal information from being accidentally lost or used or accessed in an unauthorised way. We limit access to your personal information to those who have a genuine business need to know it. Those processing your information will do so only in an authorised manner and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.

We also have procedures in place to deal with any suspected data security breach. We will notify you and any applicable regulator of a suspected data security breach where we are legally required to do so.

Who to contact

Please contact the Information Resilience and Transparency Team at data.protection@kent.gov.uk to exercise any of your rights, or if you have a complaint about why your information has been collected, how it has been used or how long we have kept it for.

You can contact our Data Protection Officer, Benjamin Watts, at dpo@kent.gov.uk.

The UK GDPR also gives you right to lodge a complaint with Information Commissioner, who may be contacted via the Information Commissioner's website or call 03031 231113.

Read our corporate privacy statement.