From 1 February 2024, Bury Council is responsible for managing and maintaining all council homes previously supported by Six Town Housing.
Please use this website and other contact points as usual. Further information is also available on the council’s website.
Find out more here: Six Town Housing Update

Chapters

  1. Purpose
  2. The types of personal information we collect and store
  3. How we collect job applicants’ information
  4. How we use job applicant information
  5. What happens if you fail to provide certain information
  6. How we use ‘special categories’ of more sensitive personal information
  7. How we use information relating to criminal convictions
  8. Automated decision making
  9. How we share job applicant’s information
  10. How long we keep personal information for
  11. Your right to access personal information
  12. Your rights
  13. Complaints
  14. Contact us

1. Purpose

Six Town Housing is a "data controller".  This means that we are responsible for deciding how we hold and use personal information about you.  You are being given a copy of this privacy notice because you are applying for work with us (whether as an employee, volunteer, worker or contractor).  It makes you aware of how and why your personal information will be used, namely for the purposes of the recruitment exercise, and how long we will usually keep your personal information for.  It provides you with certain information that must be provided under the General Data Protection Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (‘the GDPR’) and the Data Protection Act 2018 (‘DPA’).


2. The types of personal information we collect and store

In connection with your application to work for us, we will collect, store, and use the following types of personal information about you:

  • The information you have provided to us in your CV and covering letter;
  • The information you have provided to us on our application form, including name, title, address, telephone number, personal email address, date of birth, gender, employment history and qualifications;
  • Any information you provide to us as part of the interview process;

We will also collect, store and use the following types "special categories" of more sensitive personal information:

  • Information about your race or ethnicity, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, trade union membership and political opinions;
  • Information about your health, including any medical condition, health and sickness records;
  • Information about criminal convictions and offences.

3. How we collect job applicants’ information

We collect personal information about job applicants from the following sources:

  • You, the job applicant;
  • Recruitment agencies;
  • Your named referees;
  • Disclosure and Barring Service in respect of criminal convictions;
  • Information about you from publicly accessible sources such as your social media profiles;

4. How we use job applicants’ information:

We use this personal information to assess suitability for job roles and to carry out our duties as an employer.  This includes:

  • Processing job applications;
  • Communicating with you throughout the recruitment process;
  • Assessing your skills, qualifications, and suitability for the role;
  • Legal, personnel, administration and management purposes;
  • Performance monitoring;
  • Quality and training purposes;
  • Monitoring compliance with equal opportunities legislation; and
  • Complying with legal requirements and obligations to third parties.

The legal basis’ we rely on for processing personal information in this way are as follows:

  • Consent has been obtained;
  • Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract (including negotiations to enter into a contract);
  • Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation; or
  • Processing is necessary for our legitimate interests.

After we have received application form and/or CV, we will then process that information to decide whether you meet the basic requirements to be shortlisted for the role.  If you do, we will decide whether your application is strong enough to invite you for an interview.  If we decide to call you for an interview, we will use the information you provide to us at the interview to decide whether to offer you the role.  If we decide to offer you the role, we will then take up references and, when relevant, carry out a criminal record check before confirming your appointment.


5. What happens if you fail to provide certain information?

If you fail to provide information when requested, which is necessary for us to consider your application (such as evidence of qualifications or work history), we will not be able to process your application successfully.  For example, if we require a DBS check or references for this role and you fail to provide us with relevant details, we will not be able to take your application further.


6. How we use “special categories” of more sensitive personal information:

We will use special categories of information about you in the following ways:

  • We will use information about any disability or medical condition you disclose to us to consider whether we need to provide appropriate adjustments during the recruitment process, for example whether adjustments need to be made during an interview; and
  • We will use information about your race or national or ethnic origin, religious, philosophical or moral beliefs, or your sexual life or sexual orientation, to ensure meaningful equal opportunity monitoring and reporting.

7. How we use information relating to criminal convictions:

We envisage that we may process information about criminal convictions.

We will collect information about your criminal convictions history if we would like to offer you the role (conditional on checks and any other conditions, such as references, being satisfactory).  We are required to carry out a criminal records check in order to satisfy ourselves that there is nothing in your criminal convictions history which makes you unsuitable for the role.  Roles which are listed on the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (SI 1975/1023] are eligible for a check from the Disclosure and Barring Service.

We have in place an appropriate policy document and safeguards which we are required by law to maintain when processing such data.  Please see our DBS Procedure (HRPR194) for further details.


8. Automated Decision Making

You will not be subject to decisions that will have a significant impact on you based solely on automated decision-making.


9. How we share job applicants’ information:

We will not normally share your information with anyone else without your consent.  However, there certain circumstances where we will be required to share your information with other organisations and we will comply with the GDPR and the DPA when disclosing this information.  Where it is required or necessary in accordance with the GDPR and/or the DPA, we may share information with:

  • Educators and examining bodies;
  • Suppliers and service providers;
  • Central and local government;
  • Auditors;
  • Survey and research organisations;
  • Trade unions and associations;
  • Professional advisers and consultants;
  • Homes England;
  • Professional bodies;
  • Insurers;
  • Employment and recruitment agencies;
  • HR Information system provider Natural HR;
  • Survey platform provider Hive.

10. How long we keep personal information:

Personal information about unsuccessful job applications will be held for six months after the recruitment exercise has been completed, the information will then be destroyed or deleted.  We may send unsuccessful job applicants details of other roles which may be of interest to them if they have consented for us to do so.  Once a person has taken up employment with us, we will compile a file relating to their employment.  The information contained in this file will be kept secure and will only be used for purposes directly relevant to that person’s employment.  Once their employment with us has ended, we will retain the file in accordance with the requirements of our records Management Schedule and then delete it.

A copy of our Records Management Schedule which details the retention periods for employee information is available upon request.


11. Your right to access personal information:

You can find out if we hold any personal information about you by making a ‘subject access request’ under the GDPR.  If we do hold information about you, we will:

  • Give you a description of it;
  • Tell you why we are holding;
  • Tell you who it has been disclosed to; and
  • Let you have a copy of the information in an intelligible form.

You may also have the right for your personal information to be transmitted electronically to another organisation in certain circumstances.

You can request access to the information we hold about you at any time by contacting us (please see contact details section below).  Please mark your request for the attention of our Data Protection Officer.


12. Your rights:

If you believe that any of the personal information we hold about you is incorrect, you have the right to ask us to rectify that information at any time.

You may also have the right, in certain circumstances, to request that we delete your personal information, to block any further processing of your personal information or to object to the processing of your personal information.  There are some specific circumstances where these rights do not apply and we can refuse to deal with your request.

If we are processing your personal information based upon your consent (e.g. as part of our marketing or promotional activities or to contact you about any future roles), you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

If you require any further information about your right to rectification, erasure, restriction of or object to processing or you wish to withdraw your consent please contact us (please see contact details section below).


13. Complaints:

We take any complaints we receive about the collection and use of personal information very seriously.  We would encourage you to bring it to our attention if you think that our collection or use of information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate.  You can make a complaint at any time by contacting us (see contact details section below).

If you think our collection or use of personal information is unfair, misleading or inappropriate or if you have concerns about the security of your personal information, you also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office.  You can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office at the following address:

Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF


14. Contact us:

You can e-mail us at V.Tattersall@sixtownhousing.org or write to us at the following address:

Six Town Housing, 6 Knowsley Place, Angouleme Way, Bury, BL9 0EL.

We have appointed a Data Protection Officer to oversee our compliance with this privacy notice. Our Data Protection Officer is Vicky Tattersall.  If you have any questions about this privacy notice or how we handle your personal information, please contact the DPO using the details above.