Customer feedback privacy notice

Who is the data controller for the information I provide?

Liverpool City Council works under the legal obligations and conditions of both the Principles of the Data Protection Act 2018 (DPA) and the Articles of the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

As a result of the introduction of both the Data Protection Act 2018 and European General Data Protection Regulation there are some critical changes which affect both ourselves as an organisation and you as an individual. This Notice provides information and guidance as to what information we hold, how and why we process it and your rights as an individual.

What is the legal basis for collecting and processing this data?

Have Your Say is Liverpool City Council’s scheme for dealing with most complaints, comments and compliments, including representations from Members of Parliament and elected members of the Council.  Individuals using the scheme have a right to refer to the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO). Under the Local Government Act (1972), the LGSCO is the final stage for complaints about councils and some other organisations providing local public services.

We also deal with complaints about adult social care under the Local Authority Social Services and National Health Service complaints (England) Regulations (2009) and complaints, comments and compliments about children’s social care under the Children Act (1989). 

The legal basis that allows us to process your information under these schemes is ‘public task’ which means that we need to process your personal data for the specific purpose of dealing with feedback you send to us in order to comply with our statutory duties under the legislation detailed in this notice.

What information we may collect

In order to consider and respond to your feedback it is necessary for us to collect and hold personal information about you, a person you represent, or a child you have responsibility for. If you do not provide us with information, we will not be able to deal with your feedback. If you contact us on behalf of another person, we may ask that person if they are happy for you to contact us on their behalf.  If you contact us on behalf of a child, we may check that you have a legal right to contact us on the child’s behalf.

Why we collect your data

It is very important that Liverpool City Council is able to plan and realign its delivery of services to meet the needs of Liverpool’s residents, businesses and visitors, its children and young people.

To do this, we carefully use the information we collect about how services are delivered and who is using these services.

Who will your information be shared with?

Your information will only be passed to officers within the relevant departments who are responsible for handling, investigating and responding to customer feedback. They may contact you for further information.

We will normally share your information with internal departments and organisations that we are contracted with or who are currently working with you.

For example, if your complaint was about a service that is provided by a third-party organisation on behalf of the council, we may need to contact them to verify information during the course of an investigation.

These partners will also include organisations that we commission to provide services on behalf of the council, such as the organisations that deliver our waste services, education providers, care and support services, such as home care agencies or care homes. You will hear these called providers.

As they are delivering services on our behalf the council, they must keep your details safe and secure, and as the data controller we will make sure that they comply with our required information sharing standards and protocols.

For some children's social care complaints, we may outsource the complaint investigation to an external Investigating Officer (IO). In these cases, we will ask you to consent to us sharing your personal data with the IO.

We make every effort to keep all the personal data we hold secure, whether held electronically or as paper copies. We also ensure that only members of staff with a legitimate reason to access your information have permission to do so.

Even though we are required to share your information with authorised partner organisations, we will ensure this is done in a secure manner, and the information is proportionate in order for us to deal with your case.

How long will you keep this information for?

Your information will only be kept for six years after the date we close your complaint, comment or compliment. After this your information will be deleted from our records.

How will my information be stored?

Electronic records through our casework management system.

Will this information be used to take automated decisions about me? 

No.

Will my data be transferred abroad?  

No. 

What rights do I have when it comes to my data?

You have a number of rights that are set out on the How to access your data page of this section.

Where can I get advice?

View our Help and advice page for more information.