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Domestic Homicide Review - Privacy Notice

Who the Council is and what the Council does

Cotswold District Council is a data controller under the Data Protection Legislation as the Council collects and processes personal information about you in order to provide services and meet their statutory and regulatory obligations.

We have a statutory duty to manage a domestic homicide review into the circumstances in which the death of a person aged 16 or over has, or appears to have, resulted from violence, abuse or neglect by:

  • A person to whom they were related or with whom they were or had been in an intimate personal relationship
  • A member of the same household as themselves.

This notice explains why the Council asks for your personal information, how that information will be used and how you can access your records.

Any questions regarding our privacy practices should be sent to:

Data Protection Officer (DPO)
Cotswold District Council
Council Offices, Cirencester, GL7 1PX
Email: data.protection@cotswold.gov.uk
Tel: 01993 861194

Why the Council needs your information and how the Council uses it

We use your personal information to:

(a) establish what lessons can be learned from the domestic homicide/domestic abuse related death regarding the way in which local professionals and organisations work individually and together to safeguard victims

(b) identify clearly what those lessons are both within and between agencies, how and within what timescales they will be acted on, and what is expected to change as a result

(c) apply these lessons to service responses including changes to inform national and local policies and procedures as appropriate

(d) prevent domestic abuse and homicide and improve service responses for all domestic violence and abuse victims and their children by developing a co-ordinated multi-agency approach to ensure that domestic abuse is identified and responded to effectively at the earliest opportunity

(e) contribute to a better understanding of the nature of domestic violence and abuse

(f) highlight good practice.

We are required by the Home Office to collect data as outlined in this data collection template.

This data is used locally and nationally to understand trends from demographic information relating to victims and perpetrators of domestic abuse. This pseudonymised data may be kept for statistical research/analysis across DHRs to enhance the ability to achieve the aims (a) to (e) stated above.

The Council does not sell your personal information to anyone else.

What is the legal process for collecting and processing this data

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018, the lawful bases we rely on for processing this information are:

  • Article 6(1)(c) – processing that is necessary for Cotswold District Council to fulfil a statutory obligation, namely those placed upon Cotswold District Council by the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004
  • Article 6(1)(e) – processing that is necessary for the purposes of delivering a public task carried out in the public interest

We rely on the following lawful bases on which we collect and use your special categories of personal data:

  • Article 9(2)(g) – processing is necessary for substantial public interest (for statutory purposes and for the purpose of safeguarding children and individuals at risk).
  • Article 9(2)(j) – processing for research purposes.

The legislation underpinning these legal obligations and tasks includes:

What type of information is collected from you

In the course of conducting a domestic homicide review we collect the following personal information about the deceased and others associated with them from statutory and voluntary bodies who have been directly involved in the case.

Personal information:

  • Relationship to deceased.
  • Contact details.
  • Minutes from meetings and interviews.
  • Criminal record information supplied by crime prevention services such as the police or youth justice service.

We also collect the following ‘special category data’ (personal data which is more sensitive and is treated with extra care and protection) from medical records, social care records and information from specialist providers (such as providers of domestic abuse services or provider of substance misuse services):

  • Racial or ethnic origin.
  • Religious or philosophical beliefs.
  • Sexual orientation.

Information that we collect from you will be obtained via face-to-face discussions and interviews, through email and telephone communications, via review of medical and social care records and via discussions with professionals who have been involved with the victims and their families.

Collection and sharing of this information may be via Microsoft 365 tools such as Outlook, Forms and Teams. MS Teams meetings may also be recorded to assist with accuracy.

Who your information may be shared with (internally and externally)

When the decision to initiate a DHR is taken an Independent Chair is appointed and a multi-agency Review Panel is convened. The review panel is made of representatives from a range of organisations who are best placed to contribute to the review and take forward any recommendations that come out of the process. This includes members of Cotswold District Council as well as external specialists where required.

Section 9 of the Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act (2004) lists the statutory agencies required to participate in DHRs.

We will securely share information relevant to the review with those organisations participating in the review process. This may include organisations such as (the list is not exhaustive):

  • Gloucestershire Constabulary
  • Probation Service
  • Councils within the Gloucestershire county
  • Chair of Safer Gloucestershire
  • Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse (AAFDA)
  • NHS Gloucestershire Integrated Care Board
  • Gloucestershire Health and Care NHS Trust
  • Adult and Childrens’ Social Care
  • Specialist providers (such as providers of domestic abuse services or provider of substance misuse services)

We will securely share information relevant to the review with those organisations participating in the review process as described within the Statutory Guidance for the Conduct of Domestic Homicide Reviews.

Collection and sharing of this information is via Microsoft 365 tools such as Outlook, Forms and Teams.

Review panel members are signatories to the Gloucestershire Information Sharing Partnership Agreement and a record of processing is kept for this sharing.

We are required by the Home Office to collect data as outlined in this data collection template.

We will share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law or in connection with legal proceedings.

We will share personal information with our legal and professional advisers in the event of a dispute, complaint or claim.

The Council will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes. 

How long the Council keeps your information (retention period)

We will hold your personal information for 6 years following the closure of the domestic homicide review and then we will securely destroy your information. An exception to this is the recordings of meetings which will be deleted once minutes have been finalised.

Once your data is no longer needed it will be securely and confidentially destroyed or disposed of the data in line with retention schedules.

How the Council protects your Information

Your data is stored securely on our systems and accessed only by authorised officers using their own username and password created in line with pre-defined user credentials. Personal data is also held in electronic files on the council’s network drives. These are only accessible through personal logon credentials and access privileges to specific drives. Access to our council sites require a personal electronic pass to access staff only areas. The Council has strict procedures for the way this is done. Any and all information about you is treated as confidential and with respect. There are also clear rules and guidance about storing, recording and sharing information which staff receive training on.

The Council will not transfer your personal data outside the EU without your consent.

The Council have implemented generally accepted standards of technology and operational security in order to protect personal data from loss, misuse or unauthorised alteration or destruction.  

Please note however that where you are transmitting information to us over the internet this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure.  

The Council will notify you promptly in the event of any breach of your personal data which might expose you to serious risk.

Your rights

You have the following rights under the Data Protection Legislations:

  • To access your personal data
  • To be provided with information about how your personal data is processed
  • To have your personal data corrected
  • To have your personal data erased in certain circumstances
  • To object to or restrict how your personal data is processed
  • To have your personal data transferred to yourself or to another business in certain circumstances
  • To be told if the Council have made a mistake whilst processing your data and the Council will self-report breaches to the Commissioner.

How you can access, update or correct your information

The Data Protection law gives you the right to apply for a copy of information about yourself. This is called a ‘Subject Access Request'.

If you wish to see a copy of your records you should contact the Data Protection Officer. You are entitled to receive a copy of your records free of charge, within a month.

In certain circumstances access to your records may be limited, for example, if the records you have asked for contain information relating to another person.

The accuracy of your information is important to us to be able to provide relevant services more quickly. The Council is working to make our record keeping more efficient. In the meantime, if you change your address or email address, or if any of your circumstances change or any of the other information the Council holds is inaccurate or out of date, please email us or write to us at:

Community Wellbeing
Cotswold District Council
Council Offices, Cirencester, GL7 1PX
Email: community.support@cotswold.gov.uk 

Further information

If you would like to know more about how the Council uses your information, or if for any reason you do not wish to have your information used in any of the ways described in this privacy notice, please contact the Data Protection Officer at data.protection@cotswold.gov.uk.

Domestic Homicide Reviews are further explained on the GOV.UK website.

For more information about data protection please visit: www.cotswold.gov.uk/about-the-council/council-data-and-access-to-information/data-protection/

If you are concerned about the way the Council is handling your personal information you can contact the Information Commissioner (ICO): https://ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint/

The Council reserve the right to update this privacy notice from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.

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© Cotswold District Council 2024