Who we are
We are a Local Authority established under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and have our Headquarters at Newtown St Boswells, Melrose, TD6 0SA. You can contact our Customer Advice and Support Service by:
- email: CustomerAdvice@scotborders.gov.uk
- phone: 0300 100 1800
Our Data Protection Officer can be contacted using the contact details above or by emailing dataprotection@scotborders.gov.uk
How we will use your information
The personal information we hold about you may be collected by:
- online form
- phone
- a member of our staff
We will use your personal information to investigate and respond to your complaint, and improve the provision of services we provide We are collecting and using this information for the performance of a task which is carried out in the public interest
Who we may share your information with
Your information will be processed by relevant staff who need to use it in order to provide the service described above.
If you choose to ask the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to review your complaint, we will share with them any information they request.
We will also share your information with partners, ALEO’s or contractors only where your complaint specifically relates to a service they have provided on our behalf, to enable investigation of your complaint or learning as a result of your complaint. This does not necessarily mean that your personal data will be shared with them. Sharing personal data, including special categories of personal data, will be determined on a case-by-case basis.
We are also obliged to use complaints information to produce analysis which is used for benchmarking and service improvement. We also have a duty to produce an annual report that includes a section on learning from complaints. Your complaint may be anonymised and published in the annual report.
We are legally obliged to share certain data with other public bodies such as HMRC, CSA, Police Scotland, Scottish Courts and the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman and will do so where the law requires this.
Your information may be shared and analysed internally in order to provide management information, inform service delivery reform and similar purposes to meet our duty to achieve best value and continuous service improvement. In addition, we also have an obligation to respond to requests for information under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act and Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004. This could mean that the general content of your complaint could be disclosed into the public domain.
Decision Making
We do not use automated decision making processes. Some processes are semi-automated (such as anti-fraud data matching) but a human decision maker will always be involved before any decision is reached in relation to you.
Information you have given us about other people
If you have provided anyone else's details on this form, please make sure that you have told them that you have given their information to us. We will only use this information to contact those people to investigate the complaint. If they want any more information on how we will use their data they can view our privacy statement or email dataprotection@scotborders.gov.uk
How long do we keep your information for?
The information you have provided will be retained for three years following the last action on your enquiry and will be destroyed in a secure manner. If you have requested the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman to review your complaint, the information will be retained for five years following the last action on the review and will be destroyed in a secure manner.
Your rights
You have the right to request access to any personal data held about you by us. You can also request that we restrict the use of your information or even object to any further processing. You can do this by contacting the Data Protection Officer. We will respond to your request within 30 calendar days.
For more information on your rights see our website or if you would like a hard copy of this information, contact us.
How to raise a complaint
We aim to directly resolve all complaints about how we handle personal information. If your complaint is about how we have handled your personal information, you can contact our Data Protection Officer by:
- email: dataprotection@scotborders.gov.uk
- phone: 0300 100 1800
You also have the right to lodge a complaint about data protection matters with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), who can be contacted by:
- post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
- phone: 0303 123 1113
- website
If your complaint is not about a data protection matter you can find details on how to make a complaint.