Asylum seekers privacy notice

The data controller for the information we collect

This Privacy Notice is provided to meet the requirements of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) to explain how we process your personal data in delivering the Refugees (Resettlement) Programme.

Leeds City Council is the data controller for the purposes of the Data Protection Act 2018 and other regulations, including the UK General Data Protection Regulation, which means it determines what your data is used for and why it is collected. The purpose of this privacy notice is to tell you about what information we collect about you when you use our service, how we use that information, and who we may share it with. The contact details of the data controller are Leeds City Council, Merrion House, 110 Merrion Way, Leeds, LS2 8BB.

The data we will collect

To deliver the service, we will process the following data:

  • full name
  • date of birth
  • age
  • gender
  • current address  
  • Home Office reference number
  • contact telephone number
  • contact email address
  • tenancy start date
  • tenancy end date
  • actual start date of scheme
  • actual leave date of scheme
  • NHS numbers
  • National Insurance numbers
  • bank account details or ASPEN Card
  • families receiving Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment, Child Benefits, or Pension Credit

And the following special category data:

  • nationality
  • ethnicity
  • languages spoken
  • disability
  • vulnerability
  • safeguarding note
  • religion
  • health
  • biometric residence permits or e-Visa
  • sexual orientation
  • criminal offence data
  • details of offences (alleged or committed)
  • convictions
  • related security measures

How we collect information about you

We collect information about you from you directly. We may also obtain your information from other sources, such as:

  • government departments (for example, Home office, Ministry of Defence) 
  • Mears Group
  • internal council services
  • other local authorities
  • Migration Yorkshire
  • NHS trusts
  • police
  • health
  • Department for Work and Pensions

Why we process your data

We use your information:

  • to ensure you receive the services that are relevant for you
  • to meet statutory requirements
  • for planning and service improvement
  • for equality monitoring

All the data collected will be treated in strict confidence and in accordance with the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2018 and the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The data provided by you will only be used for the purposes specified.

Lawful basis for processing

We will process your data in accordance with the following:

Article 6(1)(b): – processing is necessary for the performance of a contract to which the data subject is party. 

We have a contractual obligation with Migration Yorkshire who are the Strategic Migration Partnership (SMP) and who hold the contract with the Home Office and local authorities.

Article 6(1)(e): processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.

Additionally, we process some of your special category data under Article 9(2)(g), which states the processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest. This legal basis is underpinned by acts of legislation listed below which set out functions and duties of local authorities relevant to this processing:

• Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
• Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016
• Children and Families Act 2014
• Children and Social Work Act 2017
• Children Act 1989
• Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups Act 2006
• Health and Social Care Act 2012 

The processing of special category data under Article 9 and criminal offence data under Article 10 is further supported by the following conditions in Schedule 1, Parts 1, 2, and 3:

1. Employment, social security and social protection

6. Statutory and government purposes
10. Preventing or detecting unlawful acts
11. Protecting the public

Some of the Schedule 1 conditions for processing special category and criminal offence data require an Appropriate Policy Document (APD) to be in place, which sets out and explains the procedures for securing compliance with the principles in Article 5 and policies regarding the retention and erasure of such personal data. This document explains this processing, satisfies the requirements of Schedule 1, Part 4 of the DPA 2018, and supplements this privacy notice.

Data retention, storage and destruction

Our data retention policies and procedures are designed to help ensure that we comply with our legal obligations in relation to the retention. This means that your information will be kept for 3 years after you have left the Resettlement Scheme, unless the law says that we need to hold it for longer or if there is a business requirement to do so. After this, your information will be deleted or archived. 

Who we share your data with

We will share your data with individuals and agencies, some of which are shown below:

We will only share the minimum information required for that purpose and only when the law allows us to do so:

  • contractors providing services
  • education providers
  • elected members
  • judicial agencies, courts, tribunals part
  • government departments (for example, HMRC, Department for Work and Pensions, Home Office, Ministry of Defence, Mears and Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government)
  • schools
  • health/NHS trust
  • other local authorities
  • internal council departments (for example, social care, environmental health, housing, and education)

Additionally, in certain cases, we will also share your information with other individuals and organisations where we are required to do so by law, such as:

  • where such disclosure is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which we are subject
  • in order to protect your vital interests or the vital interests of another natural person
  • for the purposes of security and prevention of fraud and other criminal activity
  • where such disclosure is necessary for the establishment, exercise, or defence of legal claims, whether in court proceedings or in an administrative or out-of-court procedure

Automated decision making

Your data will not be used for any automated decision-making, including profiling.

Your rights

The following rights under data protection law are available under the UK GDPR:

  • the right to access (where you can ask for copies of your personal data)
  • the right to rectification (where you can ask us to rectify inaccurate personal data and to complete incomplete personal data)
  • the right to erasure (where you can ask us to erase your personal data)
  • the right to restrict processing (where you can ask us to restrict the processing of your personal data)
  • the right to data portability (where you can ask that we transfer your personal data to another organisation or to you)
  • the right to object to processing (where you can object to the processing of your personal data)
  • the right to complain to a supervisory authority (where you can complain about our processing of your personal data)
  • withdraw consent (to the extent that the legal basis of our processing of your personal data is consent, you can withdraw that consent)

Where we process your data under the performance of a contract basis, the right to object to processing does not apply. You can object to the processing of your personal data by withdrawing your consent.

Where we process your data under the public task basis, the following data rights do not apply:

  • the right to erasure
  • the right to portability
  • the right to withdraw consent

These rights are subject to certain limitations and exceptions. You can learn more about your rights and how to exercise them, with further details on the Information Commissioner’s Office website. You may exercise any of the above rights in relation to your personal data by writing to us using the contact details provided below.

When your data gets sent to other countries

The information you provide will not be transferred to another country outside of the UK.

Contact us

Any queries in relation to this privacy notice should be forwarded to:

Email: Resettlementservice@leeds.gov.uk 

Data Protection Officer

Aaron Linden
Head of Information Management and Governance - Data Protection Officer
Leeds City Council
Merrion House
110 Merrion Way
Leeds
LS2 8BB

DPO@leeds.gov.uk 

The Council privacy notice is available online

Complaints

If you are unhappy with the way in which your information has been handled, you should speak with the specific service in the first instance. 
Any data protection complaints about how the council has processed your personal data will be handled in accordance with the council’s complaints policy.

You can find out how to submit a complaint.

If we cannot resolve your complaint, you can refer to the Information Commissioner if you consider that there has been an infringement of data protection legislation. Further details can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website.

Changes to this notice

We keep our privacy notice under regular review. We will notify you of significant changes to this notice by email or other means as appropriate. This privacy notice was last updated November 2024.