Privacy Statement
Privacy Notice – Chronologies relating to domestic homicide review
This privacy notice covers how Pembrokeshire County Council (as a Data Controller) will collect, use and share your personal data for the purposes of managing a domestic homicide to 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.
Why we need your information (purpose of processing)
We collect and use your personal information so that we can
(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.
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 information that you provide will be processed according to the UK General Data Protection Regulation, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the Civil Contingencies Act 2004, Domestic Violence, Crime and Victims Act 2004
- Crime and Disorder Act 1998 (Preventing crime and disorder, Section 17 – Duty to consider crime and disorder implications, Section 115 – Disclosure of information)
- Children Act 2004 (Section 10 – Improve wellbeing of children, Section 11 – Safeguard and promote the welfare of children).
We will also make any disclosures required by law and we may also share this information with other bodies responsible for detecting/preventing fraud/crime or auditing/administering public funds to ensure money is targeted and spent in the most appropriate and cost effective way. In order to achieve this, information will be shared with our Audit Service within Pembrokeshire County Council and with The Auditor General for Wales (Audit Wales Privacy and Cookie Policy (opens in new tab)).
We will not make any disclosures to third parties for marketing purposes.
Your data will be secure and confidential at all times and we will only collect the personal information that is required to provide you with our service.
What personal data is being collected?
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.
What is our lawful basis for processing your personal data?
The UK General Data Protection Regulations (UK GDPR) requires specific conditions to be met to ensure that the processing of your personal data is lawful. These relevant conditions are below:
- Article 6 (1)(e) Public task: the processing is necessary for us to perform a task in the public interest or for our official functions, and the task or function has a clear basis in law
Some types of personal data are more sensitive than others, and need more protection. This is classed as ‘special category data’ and could include information about your racial or ethnic origin, political opinions, religious or philosophical beliefs or trade union membership and the processing of genetic or biometric data, health and sex life and sexual orientation.
We process this type of special category data as it is necessary for reasons of:
- 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).
Who will we share your information with?
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):
- Dyfed Powys Police
- Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Services
- Probation service
- Safer Pembrokeshire Community Safety Partnership
- Chair of Safer Pembrokeshire
- Advocacy After Fatal Domestic Abuse (AAFDA)
- HDUHB
- Adult and children’s 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.
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.
We use data processors (third parties) who provide services to us in terms of IT provision and disaster recovery. We have contracts in place with these data processors and they cannot do anything with your personal information unless we have instructed them to do it. They will hold your data securely and your personal information will only be shared in accordance with UK GDPR. When it is necessary for your personal information to be transferred outside of the UK as part of these contracts, this will only be done in accordance with the UK GDPR.
Pembrokeshire County Council has a duty to protect the public funds it manages. Therefore, the information that you have provided to us may be used for the prevention and detection of fraud and for auditing purposes both internally and externally.
The personal information we have collected from you will be shared with fraud prevention agencies who will use it to prevent fraud and money-laundering and to verify your identity. If fraud is detected, you could be refused certain services, finance, or employment. Further details of how your information will be used by us and these fraud prevention agencies, and your data protection rights, can be found by visiting CIFAS (opens in new tab).
How long do we keep hold of your information?
Pembrokeshire County Council will only keep your information for as long as is necessary, we will retain the information provided to us for
Chronologies relating to domestic homicide reviews - For period of review - process starts on notification of death and ends at Home Office sign off (could be 6 months to 2 years). Data is destroyed once completed and only final report and summary kept (which are available online in the public domain).
Your information will be securely disposed of once it is no longer required.
Your Rights
Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation and Data Protection Act 2018, you have rights as an individual including:
- The right to Rectification – you have the right to ask to have your information corrected.
- The right to Restrict processing may apply – you may request that we stop processing your personal data however, this may delay or prevent us delivering a service to you. We will seek to comply with your request but may be required to hold or process information to comply with our legal duties.
- The right to Object – this is not an absolute right and will depend on the reason for processing your personal information.
- The right to Erasure - you may request that we erase your personal data however, this may delay or prevent us delivering a service, or continuing to deliver a service. We will seek to comply with your request but may be required to hold or process information to comply with our legal duties.
- The right to not be subject to Automated decision making and profiling.
- The right of Access – you have the right to ask us for copies of your personal data. To make a request, please contact:
Access to Records
Pembrokeshire County Council
County Hall
Haverfordwest
SA61 1TP
Email: accesstorecords@pembrokeshire.gov.uk Telephone: 01437 764551
Complaints or Queries
Pembrokeshire County Council endeavours to meet the highest standards when collecting and using personal information. For this reason, we take any complaints we receive about this seriously. We encourage people to bring to our attention if they believe that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate.
This privacy notice does not provide exhaustive detail of all aspects of our collection and use of personal information. However, we are happy to provide any additional information or explanation needed. Any requests for this should be sent to the address below:
Data Protection Officer
Pembrokeshire County Council
County Hall
Haverfordwest
SA61 1TP
Email: dataprotection@pembrokeshire.gov.uk
Telephone: 01437 764551
If you want to make a complaint about the way we have processed your personal information, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office as the statutory body which oversees data protection law:
Information Commissioner’s Office – Wales
2nd Floor, Churchill House
Churchill Way
Cardiff
CF10 2HH
Email: wales@ico.org.uk
Telephone No: 0330 414 6421
Our Contact Details as Data Controller are:
Pembrokeshire County Council, County Hall, Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, SA61 1TP.
Telephone number: 01437 764551 or enquiries@pembrokeshire.gov.uk
Our Data Protection Officer’s information is detailed above in the Complaints and Queries section.
Changes to this privacy notice
We keep our privacy notice under regular review.