Privacy Notice - Business Rates

The Council will only process your information where is it lawful to do so. The purpose for processing your information is to enable us to deal with Business Rates collection in accordance with the Local Government Finance Act 1988 and (where a Business Improvement District (BID) Levy is due from your property) administration of the BID Levy under the Local Government Act 2003.

The legal basis for processing your data is that it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest and there is a clear basis in law for us doing so.

The categories of information the Council shall process include the following: your name, postal address, email address, telephone number, financial and banking information (for direct debit payments), and details of third parties authorised to act on your behalf. Further information may be requested to assess your eligibility if you apply for a relief or exemption.

Where the processing of information includes information about ethnicity, race, political opinion, health, religious or philosophical beliefs, trade union membership or sexual orientation (‘special categories’ of personal data), the Council is processing the information based on substantial public interest.

The Council will only process your information for the purposes for which the information was collected. 

Where the processing of information is on the basis of a statutory requirement and you fail to provide personal information or refuse to provide information to the Council, you may be committing a criminal offence and the Council may be unable to provide you with the services or assistance you require. The Council may use automated decision making when processing your data. This may occur in circumstances where set criteria are met from within the information you have provided when using our online service e.g. setting up a direct debit arrangement or notifying a change of address. 

The information the Council holds about you may be shared with third parties with responsibility for auditing or administering public funds. This may also include organisations employed by the Council to assist in the undertaking and fulfilment of its duties. For example, credit agencies and software suppliers who will assist in the review of exemptions and discounts or with enforcement agents employed to recover outstanding debts. The information on the Business Rates database about you may also be shared with other departments of the Council for the purposes that the Council is required to fulfil by law.  The Council also has contracts with a number of third party service providers that support the day to day operation of our services.

Information held for administration of the BID Levy will be shared with the BID body insofar as this is necessary for that body’s legitimate interests.

The personal information shall be stored for a period of 7 years following the later of:

  • the final transaction on your account after your period of liability has ended
  • the resolution of all appeals to the Valuation Office in respect of your hereditament for the period that your account was active

You have a legal right to request from the Council access to and rectification of personal data and the right to object to the Council processing your data. The Council will not transfer your personal information outside of the European Economic Area (EEA). 

Data is held securely on both our live and duplicate database; this allows us to fix, upgrade and test on our duplicate database without risk of damage to data on our live database. Both databases are subject to identical security controls.

Test Valley Borough Council is the Data Controller for the purposes of data protection legislation. The Data Protection Officer is Mrs Karen Dunn. In the event that you wish to complain or contact the Council regarding any aspects of how your information is handled or exercise any rights in respect of your data please direct your complaints or queries to: The Data Protection Officer by email at DPO@testvalley.gov.uk, or by post at Beech Hurst, Weyhill Road, Andover, Hampshire, SP10 3AJ. You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner. https://ico.org.uk/