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Gypsy Roma Traveller Resident Service - application for a pitch privacy notice

This notice explains what personal data (information) we hold about you, how we collect, how we use and may share information about you.  We are required to give you this information under data protection law.

Who we are

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

KCC Gypsy Roma Traveller Resident Service provides a safe environment for Gypsy and Traveller communities to live and thrive in Kent. In doing so, KCC have in place an application process, supported by an allocation policy which ensures that pitches are allocated fairly and where there is most need.

Personal information we collect and use

Information collected by us

During processing your application for a pitch on a KCC owned Gypsy and Traveller site, we collect the following personal information when you provide it to us:

  • name
  • current address
  • date of birth
  • National Insurance number
  • contact details (telephone number/email address)
  • immigration control status
  • names and dates of birth for all family members residing with you
  • existence of any benefits claimed and supporting evidence
  • existence of any medical conditions and supporting evidence (special category data)
  • existence of any criminal convictions

We recognise that personal information concerning criminal convictions and offences is not special category personal data but is a very sensitive type of personal information which can only be shared in narrow circumstances.

How we use your personal information

We use your personal information to assess your application and carry out a range of checks that you consent to as part of the application process, in accordance with the KCC Gypsy and Traveller Pitch Application Policy 2012 and any relevant updates due to changes in legislation, which is available on the KCC website.

Once we have assessed your application, you will be placed on our waiting list. When a pitch becomes available on your chosen site, your application will be considered as per the KCC Gypsy and Traveller Pitch Application Policy.

If you are successful in your application for a pitch licence agreement, the complete application form will be used as the basis for your pitch licence agreement. At the initial application stage, you are asked to confirm if any criminal convictions exist and consent to further checks being carried out. At the point you reach the top of the waiting list checks will be carried out with Kent Police and your personal information will be used to facilitate these checks.  Information about this process can be found in the KCC Gypsy and Traveller Pitch Application Policy 2012.

How long your personal data will be kept

Your details will be held on the ‘waiting list’ and we will write to you once a year, on or near the anniversary of the date you first applied to ask you whether you wish to remain on the waiting list for another year. We will also remind you to tell us about any changes in your circumstances, so we can update our records accordingly.   If your circumstances change and you no longer need or wish to remain on our waiting list you must inform us, so we can permanently remove your details from our waiting list, files and database systems as they will be destroyed after 12 months.

If you are successful in your application for a pitch agreement with KCC, your completed application including all personal details will be used as the basis for your pitch licence agreement and will be stored securely by the KCC Gypsy Roma Traveller Resident Service for the duration of your pitch licence agreement and for 3 years after the end date in accordance with the Council’s data retention policy. After this time, all documents and information will be securely destroyed.

If you are unsuccessful in your application for a pitch, in most cases your application will be returned to the waiting list. However, if the results of the mandatory checks show that you are not suitable for a pitch or if a pitch is not accepted by you, your personal details will be destroyed after 12 months. In this case, you will be written to explaining this.

If your application has been determined as invalid, your application will be rejected and not be processed. You will not be added to the waiting list and your details will be destroyed after 12 months.

Reasons we can collect and use your personal information

The lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal data is that ‘processing is necessary for carrying out a public task in the public interest’ as a local authority, under statutory guidance and following the National Planning Framework KCC are encouraged to provide sites for travellers. Additionally, the processing of your personal data at the application stage is ‘necessary for the performance of a contract’, which in this case, is the pitch licence agreement.

We also rely upon your explicit consent to collect and use your sensitive personal data such as medical and criminal records information (if applicable). This data is used to conduct the necessary checks to support and process your licence application. If consent is not given, then we may be unable to progress your application.

Who we share your personal information with

We do not routinely share any of your personal information.  However, for us to allocate pitches responsibly and in the best interests of both applicants and existing site residents, checks will be completed with Kent Police with your consent and in doing so, we will share your name and date of birth with them.

We will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities including Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) if required to do so by applicable law.

Your rights

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

  • Withdraw your consent at any time, which will halt the application process
  • 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

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 the GDPR.

Keeping your 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, or write to: Data Protection Officer, Sessions House, Maidstone, Kent ME14 1XQ.

GDPR also gives you right to lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority. The supervisory authority in the UK is the Information Commissioner who may be contacted on 03031 231113.

Read our corporate privacy statement.