Coventry City Council complies with the Data Protection Act and the UK General Data Protection Regulations and is registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) as a Data Controller.

This Privacy Notice explains how Coventry City Council’s Regulatory Services will use your personal information and who it will be shared with and why.

Regulatory Services covers the following teams; Licensing and Business Compliance (Trading Standards), Food and Safety, Property Licensing and Housing EnforcementBuilding ControlTaxi Licensing and Emergency Service Unit Privacy Notices are available separately. 

What personal information we collect

We collect and hold information about those:

  • Making an application
  • Contributing to applications and consultations
  • Licence holders and variations
  • Making enquiries and requests
  • Reporting alleged breaches
  • Making a complaint
  • Following regulatory inspections
  • Investigating cases of infectious disease

When we process an application or inspection, receive comments or enquiries they contain a variety of personal information. The types of personal information supplied can include:

  • Contact information – your name, address, email address, telephone or mobile numbers, signatures;
  • your occupation;
  • information about your health, finances and lifestyle;
  • information relating to expressed opinions in respect of an application or request for advice/information or an alleged breach of condition(s)/authorisation. 

The personal data we process may include sensitive or other special categories of personal data such as racial or ethnic origin, mental and physical health, details of injuries and medication/treatment received. Criminal data may also be processed. Sensitive, special category and criminal data will only be processed if this is relevant to the application or investigation.

Why we collect and use personal data about you

We will collect information about you so that we can:

  • Deliver public services including understanding your needs to provide the services that you request and to understand what we can do for you and inform you of other relevant services
  • To confirm your identity to provide some services
  • To prevent and detect crime including fraud
  • To enable us to meet all legal and statutory obligations and powers including any delegated functions
  • To inform you of the outcome of an investigation, application, enquiry or request
  • To seek your views, opinions or comments
  • To notify you of changes to our facilities, services, events and staff, and other roles/responsibilities
  • To allow the statistical analysis of data so we can plan the provision of services

This information is collected and stored so that we can administer the services and statutory obligations that fall within the remit of Regulatory Services.

There are a number of Acts of Parliament (legislation) that require us to capture, save and use your data. The information is collected, used and stored in order to carry out our statutory functions and powers See a list of the legislation which embodies these statutory functions and powers.

Bodycam use

Personal data can be collected via bodycam footage in order to safeguard our officers and members of the public during inspections/enforcement operations and to provide good evidence for all parties in the event of complaints or investigations lodged with the Council or any other investigation into incidents, accidents or alleged assaults.

Who we share data with

To comply with statutory requirements, data may be disclosed to other services within Coventry City Council, external agencies such as (but not exclusively) Police/DVLA/DVSA, Government agencies and other Local Authorities.

The information you provide in connection with a licence application or statutory notice will be, where required made publicly available on a statutory public register for any member of the public to view.

This information may be more widely published on the internet in relation to public licensing committee meetings within minutes and agendas relating to your licence application, changes to your licence, or licence reviews. The minutes containing licensing information, including comments and other 'background papers' do not have an expiry date.

How long will we keep your information?

All applications, comments, enquiries and requests are entered onto our 'back-office system'; as much as possible is stored electronically. This system is only available to employees of Coventry City Council with the correct level of training and access to view this data.

We will keep some records permanently if we are legally required to do so.  Others we will keep in accordance with the principles of the Data Protection Act 2018.

Your rights

You have the right to:

  1. Ask us for all the information we hold about you (also known as a Subject Access Request)
  2. Ask us to change information we hold about you if it is wrong
  3. Complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (information below)

To exercise any of these rights please contact: placebusinesssupport@coventry.gov.uk 

Withdrawal of consent

Where personal data is processed on the basis of consent, you will have the right to withdraw that consent. However, Coventry City Council process personal data that it is necessary to do so in order to comply with our legal obligations and to enable us to perform tasks carried out in the public interest.

Complaints

You have the right to submit a complaint if you are unhappy with the way your request is handled or disagree with a decision made by the council regarding your data. In these circumstances, you can contact the Data Protection Team (DPO) and request a review of the decision. DPOTeam@coventry.gov.uk.

If you are not satisfied with any outcome from the DPO you may wish to apply to the Information Commissioner's Office at:

The Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF.

Date of last review: October 2023