Privacy notices - Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding

The Energy Bills Support Scheme Alternative Funding, part of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is intended to facilitate the £400 payment of support for domestic energy consumers in Great Britain that would otherwise not receive that support through the Energy Bills Support Scheme due to the absence of a domestic electricity supply. Once domestic energy consumers from the Highland area have applied to receive support and their application has gone through internal verification, eligible applicants' details will be shared with the Council to enable the payment to be processed. 

The Alternative Fuel Payment Alternative Funding is intended to facilitate the £200 payment of support for domestic energy consumers in Great Britain that would otherwise not receive that support through the Alternative Fuel Payment Scheme due to the absence of a direct relationship with an energy supplier.  Once applicants from the Highland area have applied to receive support and their application has gone through internal verification, eligible applicants' details will be shared with the Council to enable the payment to be processed.

There will be two-way Personal Data transfer, in that BEIS will be sharing Personal Data, as contained in the applications made to BEIS by the applicants, with the Council, and the Council will be sharing Personal Data back with BEIS in respect of reporting connected with the monitoring, fraud prevention and effectiveness of the Scheme.

The Council will be responsible for making payments and for checking applications which have been verified by BEIS.The following 3 checks will be made:

Address verification - where possible using existing records e.g. Council Tax

Payment details - to ensure the verified bank account details match the name of the applicant

A check to ensure a payment has not already been made to the household

A check to ensure the household has incurred alternative fuel costs

The council may also use your data to assess your liability for council tax on the property you have stated as your sole or main residence on the application.

If we are unable to process your data, we will not be able to provide you with your payment. 

Article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR because the processing is necessary to perform a task carried out in the public interest or exercise the official authority granted to the data controller.

Article 6(1)(c)  of the UK GDPR because the council is legally required to process data for the purposes of collecting Council Tax.

The legal basis for the processing of special categories of personal data associated with applications is Article 9(2)(g) of the UK GDPR where the processing is necessary for reason of substantial public interest.

• Access your data
• Change personal data
• Delete personal data
• Restrict processing of personal data
• Object to the processing of you data

Find out more about your rights

The council will share your data with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy.

We hold your data for 6 years, plus current. 

Your data is not subject to automated processing.

The data controller is the Highland Council. 

If you are unhappy with the way we have processed your personal information you can contact the Information Commissioner:
Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Tel: 0303 123 1113
https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/