How we use your information
Aberdeen City Council’s Housing and Support Service receive support referrals from a range of sources for individuals who may benefit from housing support. We receive referrals internally from Council colleagues and professionals from other organisations. The information requested on our housing support referral form is used to determine the appropriateness of a housing support assessment.
If you are assessed by us
As part of the assessment process we’ll ask you for information about yourself so that we can identify your support needs. As part of the process we may also request information about you from other Council services or organisations, such as NHS or voluntary organisations whom you have been involved with. We will carry out a risk assessment and housing needs assessment. We will agree a support action plan with you and the information recorded on the assessment documents is used to identify any areas that you may require support with.
As part of our integrated working arrangements the Council also shares limited relevant information with the Scottish Government and NHS for the purposes of planning, delivering and monitoring services, and to inform the strategic design of integrated services.
Your information will be treated confidentially, and will not normally be shared, though you should be aware that there are some other limited circumstances where information from your case file may be shared with others, particularly to prevent risk of harm to you or others.
After you’ve been assessed
Your Housing and Support Officer will explain the outcome of the assessment to you. If your needs have been assessed as being compulsory your information will be shared with prospective landlords and our Tenancy Support Panel who will decide what type of tenancy is suitable for you.
Depending on what your support needs are you may receive a support service directly from us, or from an external provider. If we need to commission a service from an external provider we will discuss your needs and share relevant information with the appropriate provider. Your assessment documents will be shared with the provider to ensure they have all the information required to enable them to meet your support needs.
Reviewing your housing support needs
The information we record as part of your assessment is updated to reflect your current support needs and we will review your support needs at regular intervals.
If you do not want to be assessed
If you don’t want to have your support needs assessed by us, we will retain a record of your referral and your decision not to have an assessment for 1 year.
How long we keep your information for
Your records will be kept securely and regularly updated during your tenancy. We will retain your information for 7 years from the end of your tenancy, the last acknowledgement of debt or the most recent contact with housing services, whichever is later.
Your rights
You have rights to your data, including the right to ask for a copy of it. See more information on all the rights you have, and how they work in practice at www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/your-data. You can contact the Council’s Data Protection Officer by email on DataProtectionOfficer@aberdeencity.gov.uk or write to: Data Protection Officer, Aberdeen City Council, Business Hub 6, Level 1 South, Marischal College, Aberdeen, AB10 1AB.
You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ico.org.uk). They are the body responsible for making sure organisations like the Council handle your data lawfully.
Our legal basis
Aberdeen City Council is the Data Controller for this information about you. Wherever the Council processes personal data, we need to make sure we have a legal basis for doing so in data protection law. We understand our legal basis for processing personal information required to take referrals, to undertake assessments and to put in place and review Housing Support Plans as part of our public task. This is because, under Part 2 Housing (Scotland) Act 1987; Section 29 Children (Scotland) Act 1995; Part 2 of the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968; Chapter 2 of the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 and Sections 1 & 2 Housing (Scotland) Act 2001. Our services are registered with the Care Inspectorate and in accordance with the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001, we are required to keep and maintain records of anyone who uses our services.
In providing this service, the Council is also likely to process special categories of personal data. The Council understands our legal basis for doing so as being necessary for reasons of substantial public interest.