Terms and disclaimer

While every care has been taken in the compilation of this information, Telford & Wrekin Council will not be held responsible for any loss, damage or inconvenience caused as a result of inaccuracy or error within these pages. We reserve the right to change any data or format of any page of the website without notice.

Information on this website is provided without any representation or endorsement made and without warranty of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of satisfactory quality, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement, compatibility, security and accuracy.

Telford & Wrekin Council does not endorse any external linked websites and is not responsible for their content. Telford & Wrekin Council does not provide quality control of external links; the inclusion of any company's name within the pages should not be construed as a recommendation of that company's products and/or services.

We cannot guarantee that these links will work all of the time and have no control over the availability of the linked pages.

Telford & Wrekin Council is committed to the highest standards of quality in respect to information.

If you are aware that there are any errors in the information provided please notify us using our online form.

Our privacy notice covers Telford & Wrekin Council and its website. Should you have any queries about the website, you can contact us using our online form.

You can access our website home page and browse our website without disclosing your personal data to obtain information about Telford & Wrekin Council services and activities.

In order that we can improve our online services we will collect information about your visits to www.telford.gov.uk. These statistics do not contain personal data and cannot be traced back to an individual.

The Council uses cookies on this website. A cookie is a small piece of information stored by your web browser (Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox) on your computer (or laptop, phone, etc.) when you use our website. Cookies are used to provide customised content, access to the full functionality of the website and information on the use of the website. By using our website, you agree that we can place cookies on your computer.

The cookies our website uses do not store any personal information about you and cannot be used to identify any particular user. All information about how you used our website is collected anonymously.

You can view more information about the purpose of cookies on this website, including a full list of the cookies used, on our cookies page.

You can modify your cookie settings to either accept all cookies, to be notified when a cookie is set or to reject all cookies. However, you should be aware that if cookies are rejected you will not be able to use some of the online services provided by this website.

All the personal data stored on this website is recorded in a secure database.

All our employees and data processors, who have access to, and areas associated with the processing of personal data, are obliged to respect the confidentiality of our visitors' personal data.

We ensure that your personal data will not be disclosed to government institutions and authorities except if required by law or other regulation.

All material on this website, including text and graphics, is copyright to Telford & Wrekin Council unless otherwise stated.

The text and graphic content of this website may be used, printed and distributed only under the following conditions:

• the content of the website is used for non-commercial purposes only,
• copyright information is displayed (©Telford & Wrekin Council), and
• the content is not modified.

You should only use this website for lawful purposes, and in a manner that does not infringe the rights of, or restrict or inhibit the use and enjoyment of, this website by any third party. Such restriction or inhibition includes, without limitation, conduct which is unlawful or which may harass or cause distress or inconvenience to any person, or the transmission of obscene or offensive content within this website.

You should not post or include any harmful or illegal material when using this website. If you misuse this website we may take action to prevent misuse.

We make every effort to check and test material at all stages of production, however you must take your own precautions to ensure that the process which you employ for accessing this website does not expose you to the risk of viruses, malicious computer code or other forms of interference which may damage your own computer system.

We do not accept any responsibility for any loss, disruption or damage to your data or your computer system which may occur whilst using material derived from this website.

Our website must not be misused by knowingly introducing viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful. Attempts should not be made to gain unauthorised access to our website, the server on which our website is stored or any server, computer or database connected to our website. Our website must not be attacked via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack.

By acting contrary to the above, you would commit a criminal offence under the Computer Misuse Act 1990. We will report any such breach to the relevant law enforcement authorities and we will co-operate with those authorities by disclosing your identity to them.

Any disputes relating to or arising from the Telford & Wrekin Council website shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of England and Wales and shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of England and Wales.

The Council Advertising Network (CAN) is responsible for delivering advertising on the Telford & Wrekin Council website. Please take a moment to read their privacy policy which includes cookie information and details on how to opt out.

We love hearing from you across all our social media channels. We love to hear your feedback (the good and the bad), we love when you share your favourite things about Telford and Wrekin, and we love it when you engage with our posts. To make sure our channels are a positive, informative and safe place for everyone, we have a few house rules. Here’s what you can expect from us, and in exchange, what we expect from you.

What you can expect from us

Our social media channels will feature a variety of information, about the services we, and our trusted partners, offer and events and news from around the borough.

Our working hours are 9am – 5pm, Monday to Friday.

During working hours, we’ll do our best to respond to your messages within a few hours, however this isn’t always possible. If not possible, we will aim to send a holding note and offer a full reply as quickly as we can. We will always try to help you, or direct you to people, departments or other organisations who can help.

We will deal with enquiries sent outside of this time as soon as possible when working hours resume.

During events, or crises, we may have members of the team working to respond more quickly.

If you have an emergency and need assistance out-of-hours, contact our services using the emergency contact numbers.

What we expect in return

We want our social media channels to be safe spaces and a place for healthy, open and insightful discussion, and we need your help to make this happen.

Be kind; please remember to be kind, members of our team are working hard to deal with your enquiries and will respond when they have an answer for you. Anyone who is repeatedly rude and/or aggressive will be banned from commenting and posting on our channels.

House rules:

• All users must comply with the social media platform's Terms of Use.
• Posts that we feel are inappropriate, or discriminatory against any individual or group will be removed.
• You are wholly responsible for any content you post including content that you choose to share.
• We will remove messages and/or disable comments (where function allows) including reporting and/or blocking users on our social media channels who post messages at us which we believe are:
  • Abusive or obscene.
  • Deceptive or misleading.
  • In violation of any intellectual property rights, including copyright.
  • In violation of any law or regulation.
  • Spam and off-topic content (persistent negative and/or abusive posts in which the aim is to provoke a response)
  • Promotional material, including links to external websites and promotions. This includes the advertising of anything (tickets, goods, etc) for sale, or otherwise.
  • Anyone repeatedly engaging with us using content or language which falls into the above categories will be blocked and/or reported to the associated social media platform. We will not tolerate or respond to abusive messages.

We must remain politically neutral at all times on social media which is why council officers are unable to reply to, endorse or engage with, any content that is of a party political nature. If you wish to discuss political issues, please contact your local councillor.

When deciding what personal data to collect and process the Council will ensure that it will:

• only collect personal information that is necessary
• securely hold personal information
• securely delete personal information when it is no longer required or we are required to do so by law
• consider privacy issues when processing
• be open with individuals about the use of their information
• provide training to Council staff who handle personal information.

The Council uses your personal information in compliance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) or equivalent UK legislation. We will process your personal information for the following purposes:

• for the purpose to which you provided the information, e.g. processing information given on a benefit claim for the purpose of processing your benefit claim
• to allow the Council to be able to communicate and provide services appropriate to your needs, e.g. providing access arrangements if a customer has mobility issues
• to ensure the Council meets its legal requirements
• where necessary to protect individuals from harm or injury
• where necessary for the Council’s enforcement functions, e.g. licencing, planning enforcement, etc
• financial transactions including grants, payments and benefits
• to obtain your opinion and feedback about the services we provide.

The Council has a Corporate Information Retention Schedule which details how long certain pieces of information are kept for before they are securely destroyed.

Telford & Wrekin Council complies with the legal requirements of the GDPR (or equivalent UK legislation) in relation to the processing of personal information.

Please contact the Council’s Data Protection Officer IG@telford.gov.uk or telephone 01952 382537 if you have any concerns about how your personal information is being processed.

Under the GDPR you are legally entitled to request access to any records held by the Council about you or your children. Telford & Wrekin Council will endeavour to comply with your request but there may be some reasons where we will not be able to comply in full, e.g. to comply with the law.

Please visit our Data Protection page for more information on this or alternatively visit the Information Commissioners Office website for information or to make a complaint.

Telford & Wrekin Council will not pass your personal information to any third parties without your consent unless it is required/allowed to do so by law. You have the right to revoke this consent at any point in the future. When the Council collects your consent it will inform you how this can also be revoked at any time.

GDPR (or equivalent UK legislation) provides individuals with a number of rights. For more information on these rights please access the ICO website.

Telford & Wrekin Council may use information about your gender, ethnic background, first language, sexual orientation and age to:

• compile statistical data about the population of Telford and Wrekin
• assess the take up of Council services by various groups
• assist in complying with its legal obligations
• assist the council in planning the provision of future services
• allow the Council to provide sufficient assistance where required, e.g. to provide translation services, use of induction hearing loop, etc.

Statistical use of this equalities data will not identify a specific individual or have any negative impact on an individual’s entitlement to Council services.

While providing services to customers, Telford & Wrekin Council is also required by law to:

• make adequate provisions for safeguarding
• protect the public purse and/or minimise waste
• prevent and/or detect potential, fraud, bribery and crime
• make adequate provision for auditing
• carry out emergency response planning.

We may share information internally, but we may also share information with other parties in order to fulfil our legal obligations such as HM Revenues and Customs, Police, Cabinet Office, etc. This information could include the following:

• Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)
• Blue Badges
• Council Employee Payroll
• Council Tax
• Electoral Register
• Enforcement, Trading Standards and Environmental Health
• Housing Benefit and Council Tax Support
• Insurance
• Investigations into fraud/abuse
• Leisure
• Libraries
• Licencing
• Property, Planning, Building Regulations and Business Rates
• Other Council records held in respect to one or more of the above.

The Council has a legal obligation to participate in the Cabinet Office National Fraud Initiative which requires us to pass data to the Cabinet Office to allow them to undertake data matching for fraud prevention/detection purposes. For more on this please access our Data Matching page.

There are occasions where the Council is required to share sensitive personal information to third parties. We will only do this with your explicit consent or where we are required to do so by law. Specific areas where sensitive personal information could be shared are detailed below.

The Council has a legal responsibility to provide Public Health Services. In order to provide these services the Council may need to process and share personal sensitive information. This will be processed in accordance with GDPR (or equivalent UK legislation).

Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin now have access to a shared care record. This is to ensure that the people who care for you have the information that they need to do their best for you. The shared care record is called “One Health and Care”. Information held in One Health and Care includes many organisations providing care from across the County and wider. Information will only be shared for your direct care and will only be accessible by professionals providing your care.

Your information will only be shared securely and accessed on a need to know basis.

Your information will be processed in accordance with the requirements of data protection legislation. The legal basis under the UK Data Protection Act 2018 used to process your information are:

• Article 6(1)(e) – performance of a task carried out in the public interest
• Article 9(2)(h) – medical diagnosis, the provision of health or social care or treatment or management of health or social care systems.

There are also additional lawful basis that we may rely on in specific circumstances. 

Emergency situations where the data subject is incapable of giving consent to treat:

• Article 6(1)(d) – processing is necessary in order to protect the vital interests of the Data Subject or of another Natural Person. 
• Article 9(2)(c) - processing is necessary to protect the vital interests of the Data Subject or of another Natural Person where the Data Subject is physically or legally incapable of giving consent.

Safeguarding of vulnerable adults and children:

• Article 6(1)(c) – processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the Controller is subject.
• Article 9(2)(g) - processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interests, on the basis of Union or Member State law which shall be proportionate to the aim pursued, respect the essence of the right to data protection and provide for suitable and specific measures to safeguard the fundamental rights and the interests of the Data Subject. 

For more information in One Health and Care please access the following information by visiting the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin Integrated Care System website.

This is Department of Health policy which looks to improve services for the protection of children who have previously been identified as vulnerable.

CP-IS provides health professionals with prompt access to key social care information that can help assess whether a child is at risk.

The project will link the IT systems of NHS unscheduled care to those used by Council Safeguarding teams, so that information can be shared about three specific categories of child:

• those with a child protection plan
• those classed as looked after, i.e. children with full/interim care orders or voluntary agreements
• any pregnant woman whose unborn child has a pre-birth protection plan.

Further details can be found by visiting the Health & Social Care Information Centre website.

Visit the Digital NHS website for more information.

Telford & Wrekin Council and its partners, including Health and the Police Service, have developed a solution to improve safeguarding of children within the borough. Visit the Family Connect Service Directory for more information on Family Connect services.

Partners, as part of Family Connect, will share information to improve services aimed at preventing, detecting and managing situations where children maybe at harm.

Telford & Wrekin Council is committed to supporting the Governments Troubled Families Programme, for more information see the related Privacy Notice.

How Adults Social Services use your personal information.

What this document is for

This privacy notice provides information on how Telford & Wrekin Council Adult Social Care uses your personal information. By ‘use’ we mean the various ways it may be processed, including storing and sharing the information.

Further details

We also provide further details regarding:

• who we are
• how long we use your information for
• your rights under the General Data Protection Regulation (the GDPR) and
• how to exercise them.

What we use your information for

We use personal information primarily to provide advice and guidance, assessments, services, support, and safeguarding for eligible adults over the age of 18 and their families.

This includes:

• Assessments and reviews of current needs at home and in hospital because of age, illness and vulnerability and how best to meet them.
• Deprivation of liberty assessments.
• Carers’ assessments.
• Assessments of migrants, refugees and other people who have arrived in the UK from abroad.
• Eligibility for continuing health care assessments.
• Assessments and reviews under the Mental Health Act 1983.
• Assessments and reviews for after care services under the Mental Health Act 1983.
• Mental capacity assessments.
• The provision and commissioning of services arising out of these assessments including:
  • Residential care.
  • Supported living.
  • Housing with care.
  • Respite care.
  • Self-directed support.
  • Domiciliary care.
  • Day care.
  • Housing.
  • Adaptations and equipment.
  • Occupational therapy.
  • Transport.
• Financial assessments for the services.
• The protection and safeguarding of vulnerable adults.
• Assessing the quality of our services and evaluating and improving our policies and procedures.
• The completion of statutory government returns.

In situations where the emergency services need immediate access to your property (to protect the lives of householders) we may provide them with key safe numbers to ensure there is no delay in accessing the property.

We may also use information in other ways compatible with the above. This will include supporting the work of other public bodies providing services to members of the public. We may share data for the prevention and detection of crime, more information can be found on our Data matching and fraud prevention webpage.

You do not have to provide information to us but, if you do not provide information, we may not be able to, or it may inhibit our ability to provide services to you.

The National Data Opt-Out: Confidential patient information is used to provide you with support and care and to organise the services you need. It may also be used for wider planning or research in health and social care. To find out more or to stop your confidential patient information being used for this, see our national data opt-out privacy notice.

The kind of information we collect and use about you

The information we collect and use may include:

• Basic details about you such as name, address, telephone number, email address and date of birth
• Key safe numbers (where applicable)
• National Insurance number
• NHS number (if appropriate) as it helps to uniquely identify you when sharing information between health and social care
• Communication needs
• Social care services and support including social care assessments, mental health assessments, reviews and care and support plans
• Personal history including educational and employment history
• Family history and social relationships generally including relationship information such as next of kin, agent, attorney and other information as necessary
• Accommodation and housing needs
• Financial details if necessary including income and details of property ownership

We may also collect information about the following which is classed as “special category data” under the GDPR:

• Physical or mental health including details of your disability/medical conditions and mental health and wellbeing
• Religious beliefs
• Sexual life or sexual orientation
• Race or ethnic origin 

We may also collect information about criminal convictions and offences.

Who provides this information

The information we hold includes information you have provided to us.

We also receive information from:

• Your family, carers, personal assistants and friends
• Relevant teams within the County Council
• District councils as housing authorities and administering housing benefits and council support benefits
• Housing associations and housing support providers
• Education providers including schools, 6th form colleges, higher education colleges and other post 16 educational providers
• The voluntary sector
• Government departments (eg Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health, Home Office)
• Health bodies and providers including local GPs, hospitals, mental health trust, community health and care trust, and ambulance service
• Courts and other judicial agencies including Office of the Public Guardian and the Court of Protection
• Immigration advisers
• Substance misuse teams
• Police
• Probation service
• Organisations providing care and support, such as home care agencies, care homes, nursing homes

How the law protects you and the legal basis for processing your information

We have legal grounds to process this information because it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest.

The tasks we carry out in the public interest are under the:

• Care Act 2014
• Mental Health Acts 1983 and 2007
• Mental Capacity Act 2005
• Housing Grants Construction and Regeneration Act 1996
• Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002
• Criminal Justice Act 2003

We have legal grounds to process (including share) special category data and criminal convictions data where it is in the exercise of a statutory function and it is in the necessary for reasons in the substantial public interest. The statutory functions are the same as the tasks in the public interest set out above.

We may also seek specific consent to use your information in certain ways. This will normally be where the use of the data is not necessary for the above purposes but may be very useful or helpful to us to provide services and you have a free and genuine choice about the way in which your data is used (for example where it is not necessary for services you need to maintain your health or well-being, but we think it may be helpful to you or others).

Who we share your information with

We may also share personal information with families and other organisations, in particular:

• Teams within the Council where necessary
• Housing associations and housing support providers
• Voluntary sector
• Government departments (eg Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health, Home Office)
• Health bodies and providers including local GPs, hospitals, mental health trust and community health and care trust
• Education providers including schools, sixth form colleges, higher education colleges and other post 16 educational providers
• Police
• Substance misuse agencies
• Advocacy services
• Courts and other judicial agencies including Office of the Public Guardian and the Court of Protection
• Equipment providers and suppliers
• Approved building contractors
• Organisations commissioned to provide care and support, such as home care agencies or care homes
• Adult safeguarding board.

We share this information without your specific consent as it is reasonable and necessary to do so to fulfil our public tasks or in respect of special category data it is in the substantial public interest to do so. The law imposes safeguards to protect your privacy in these circumstances.

We will also share your information, subject to contractual and other legal safeguards, with organisations contracted by us to provide a service to us or directly to you. These service providers are known as data processors and have a legal obligation under GDPR and to us to look after your personal information and only use it for providing that service.

How we keep your information

The information is stored electronically, on the Council’s records management system, known as Liquid Logic. Information is also securely stored in other mediums, including email accounts and in paper files.

We do not process your information outside of the European Economic Area.

Automated decision making

We do not make automated decisions in respect of these services but if we do we will let you know.

Please note, that we may use profiling to help us more accurately identify those who require additional support. This means that a computer algorithm helps us to identify at risk individuals by analysing your information. This is always reviewed by a human before any action is taken.

How can I apply to see information held about me? 

You can complete the online Subject Access Request Form or alternatively request an application form by calling 01952 382537. The application form asks for basic details in order to help us find your record – we can assist you with filling this in. You will be asked to sign the form and provide photographic proof of your identity, for example, passport, driving licence – this is to be sure that we do not give your personal information to anyone who does not have a right to see it. 

Can other people apply to see information about me? 

No one else is entitled to see information about you, unless you give your permission or we are required and/or permitted to disclose it by law. You may authorise someone else to make an application on your behalf but you will need to sign to agree to this. 

How long will it take once I have applied? 

The Data Protection Act 2018 says that we should make the information available to you within 1 calendar month of receiving your request – we will usually do this. However, there are some circumstances, which may mean it takes us longer, for example, if: 

• we need more information to identify you or to help us find the information you want to see; 
• there is information from other organisations, we need to ask their permission before you can see it; and 
• the request is complex, as we need to decide whether we are allowed to release it (see above about what information you cannot see). Complex requests can be extended by a further 2 calendar months.

We will always tell you if there is a delay and why. We will release the fullest possible information we do have as soon as we are able. 

How do I apply to access my mental health record? 

Mental health records are held by the Midlands Partnership Foundation Trust, so you will need to contact them to request a copy of their application form from the Patient Service Manager – telephone 01785 257888. If you currently receive Adult Social Care Services from the Council, your Social Worker can get an application form for you and help you to fill in the application form. 

What if I am refused access to my information? 

You can appeal against a decision to refuse you access to your information by contacting the Information Governance team on 01952 382537. 

Date of notice

This notice was updated on 10 September 2024.