We take your privacy seriously and will only keep and use your personal information for reasons law requires or allows. The Council is the data controller for the personal information we hold about you in relation to Grounds Maintenance. In order to comply with data protection legislation we want to be sure you understand how we use this information.

The purposes for which the data will be used are:

• To allow us to administer and complete your request for the service you have defined regarding Grounds Maintenance activities.
• To facilitate payment and refunds of monies linked to Stafford Borough Council services* which require a fee for an “agreement of service”

On a lawful basis we will process your information in accordance with service requirements i.e. Witness statements for fly tipping prosecutions and personal details for invoice purposes. 

*The following services of; general complaints and enquiries (including fly tipping where gathering evidence via visits/photographic information is required), nursery services, hanging baskets, formally approved advertising opportunities on traffic islands, shrub beds and other areas maintained by Streetscene, formal floral displays, presentation and school visits, horticulture, arboriculture services, grass cutting, weed control, soft landscaping and playground equipment maintenance, pitch hiring, leisure activities will require you to disclose personal information in order for us to carry out the operation of completing service requests, self-monitoring and planning in relation to the Council’s grounds maintenance services. We will collect and store this information in order to carry out the relevant service. If you are disclosing personal information on behalf of another person, you must obtain their consent in order for us to carry out this service.

The information you provide will only be used for the above services but will include contact details being held for verification purposes. We will not supply your personal information to any third party other than for the purpose it is intended:

1. We will collect and store your name and address to complete your request for the service you have defined
2. We will process the information you provide when registering and requesting for the service you have defined including your email address.  This email address will be used to send notifications of the service you have utilised.  This will also enable you to gain access to some of the services on our website
3. This information will be used in accordance with enabling us to carry out the requested service by you
4. To comply with data protection legislation SBC want you to be clear and understand, so far as is practicable, in how we use your information
5. We may disclose your personal information to the extent we are required to do so by law
6. We will not keep your personal information any longer than is necessary other than for the purpose set out in point one
7. We will take reasonable technical and organisational precautions to prevent the loss, misuse or alteration of your personal information
8. We will store all the personal information on secure servers within the confines of the European area only
9. All electronic financial transactions (if any) entered into through our website will be protected by encryption technology
10. Please be aware that the transmission of information over the internet is inherently insecure
11. Please be aware you have chosen to use the above services and as such given consent to use your personal data
12. We may disclose to some employees your personal information for the purpose of ensuring the service you have requested is the correct one
13. You have the right to object to us processing your information.  Should you wish to object please contact us on email dpo@staffordbc.gov.uk or write to us at Stafford Borough Council, Civic Centre, Riverside, Stafford, ST16 3AQ
14. We may contact you from time to time to update you on this notice
15. You may instruct us to provide you with any personal information we hold about you subject to the extent permitted by law

Dependent upon the service carried out, our lawful basis for processing your information will be that it is in the public interest to do so or because you wish to enter into a contract with us which we can’t fulfil without doing this.

The legislation which covers this service includes:

• Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
• Local Government Act 1988
• Highways Act 1980

You should be aware that we have a duty to protect public funds.  We may therefore use the information we have for the prevention and detection of fraud.  We may share this information with other bodies for these purposes. We may also share this information with other parts of the council or other relevant organisations for purposes which may include enforcement.

How long will we keep your information?

We will only keep this data for the time specified in our retention schedule or as required by law.

Data protection law provides you with certain rights, however not all of these rights will be available to you in all situations, particularly where we process your information as part of one of our statutory duties. Where we are under a legal duty to use data for a particular purpose you will not have the right to prevent it being used in that way.

A full list of the rights you may have, under data protection law, is given in the 'Your Rights' section on Data Protection - Privacy Notices.

For specific enquiries regarding personal data which we process, you can contact the Data Protection Officer on dpo@staffordbc.gov.uk or at Civic Centre, Riverside, Stafford ST16 3AQ.

If you wish to complain about how your personal information has been handled by Stafford Borough Council then please contact the Data Protection Officer in the first instance using the details above. If you are not satisfied you can submit a formal complaint to the Council.

Finally you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, Tel: 0303 123 1113 or you can visit their website at ico.org.uk.

You can also find details of how we handle your personal information by visiting www.staffordbc.gov.uk/PrivacyNotice.