This Privacy Notice is regularly reviewed and may be updated or revised at any time. It was last updated in October 2025. It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes.
- Introduction
- What personal data do we collect?
- How we use personal data
- Legal Basis for processing
- Who do we share personal data with?
- How long do we keep personal data?
- Automated decisions
- Your rights
- Data Protection Officer.
Introduction
Our core data protection obligations and commitments are set out in the Wigan Council Primary Privacy Notice.
This notice provides additional privacy information for members of the public working with Independent Domestic Violence Advisors and Resettlement Officers.
What personal data do we collect?
To carry out activities and obligations as a Domestic Violence and Resettlement Service we process the following personal data:
- Name
- Date of birth
- Address
- Telephone number
- Email address
- Gender
- Marital status
- Civil Partnerships
- Nationality
- Next of kin
- Key relationships
- National Insurance number
- Photos/Images (for resettlement only).
We also process the following Special Category Data:
- Health-related data, including details of your GP and other health professionals
- Race
- Ethnicity
- Religious or philosophical beliefs
- Sexual orientation.
We also process the following Criminal Offence Data.
- Offences (including alleged offences), criminal proceedings, outcomes, and sentences).
How we use personal data
The main purposes for processing your personal data are:
For IDVAs (domestic violence):
- Risk Assessment and Safety Planning purposes
- To assess the level of risk to the victim/survivor
- To develop tailored safety plans based on individual circumstances.
- Support and Advocacy
- To provide appropriate emotional and practical support
- To advocate on behalf of the individual with other agencies (e.g., police, housing, social services).
- Multi-Agency Working
- To contribute to MARAC (Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference) processes
- To share relevant information with safeguarding partners to protect the individual and any children involved.
- Legal and Statutory Duties
- To comply with legal obligations under the Domestic Abuse Act 2021 such as exploring safe accommodation provision.
- To support criminal or civil proceedings where necessary.
- Monitoring and Evaluation
- To track outcomes and service effectiveness
- To report anonymised data for funding or commissioning purposes.
For resettlement:
- Provision of Support Services
- To assess individual needs (e.g. housing, health, education, employment)
- To tailor support plans and ensure appropriate referrals to other services.
- Legal and Immigration Compliance
- To assist with immigration status, asylum claims, and documentation
- To liaise with the Home Office or legal representatives.
- Safeguarding and Risk Management
- To identify and respond to safeguarding concerns (e.g. trafficking, exploitation, domestic abuse)
- To share information with safeguarding partners when necessary.
- Accommodation and Integration
- To arrange housing and monitor tenancy support
- To support integration into local communities, including language classes and cultural orientation.
- Health and Wellbeing
- To ensure access to healthcare, mental health services, and specialist support
- To record vulnerabilities such as trauma, disability, or chronic illness.
- Monitoring and Reporting
- To track outcomes for funding, commissioning, and service improvement
- To provide anonymised data to local authorities or national programmes.
Legal Basis for processing
The lawful basis we rely on for processing your personal data is:
- That it is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the Council under the following:
For IDVAs (domestic violence):
-
- Domestic Abuse Act 2021
- Children Act 1989
- Care Act 2014
- Victims and Prisoners Act 2024
- Human Rights Act 1998.
For Resettlement:
-
- Children Act 1989
- Care Act 2014
- Human Rights Act 1998
- Immigration Act 1971
- Immigration and Asylum Act 1999
- Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002
- Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc.) Act 2004
- Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009
- Immigration Act 2014
- Immigration Act 2016
- Nationality and Borders Act 2022
- Illegal Migration Act 2023.
The conditions we rely on for processing your special category data are:
- Reasons of substantial public interest: statutory and government purposes
- Health or social care (with a basis in law).
The condition we rely on for processing your criminal data is:
- Reasons of substantial public interest: Statutory etc and government purposes.
Who do we share personal data with?
In addition to the general reasons for data sharing described in the Council’s Primary Privacy Notice, we share data with and collect data from the following when required:
- Other teams within Wigan Council including, but not limited to, Social Care (Adults and Children’s) and the Youth Offending service
- Other local authorities
- Government agencies and department including, but not limited to, Department of Health, Department of Work and Pensions, Home Office
- Police
- Fire and rescue services
- Probation
- County, Magistrates or Crown Courts
- NHS agencies (GPs, hospitals, ambulance, health visitors)
- Mental health services
- Education providers
- Residential/nursing care providers
- Legal service providers
- Substance misuse agencies
- Housing associations
- Advocacy services
- Coroners Office.
This is not an exhaustive list.
How long do we keep personal data?
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any future legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
We must continue to retain necessary data in accordance with our corporate records policy to fulfil legal, statutory and regulatory requirements.
Automated decisions
All the decisions we make about you involve human intervention.
Your rights
More information on how to seek advice to exercise your rights, raise a concern or complain about the handling of your personal data by the council can be found in at Wigan Council Primary Privacy Notice.
Data Protection Officer
If you wish to raise a concern or seek clarification about any aspect of this notice, please contact our Data Protection Officer. Please provide documents to prove your identity along with a description of your concern.
We will respond to all requests within one month.
If you are unhappy with the way that we handle your concern you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) (external link).
Document information
Owner: Julie Middlehurst, Assistant Director Infrastructure and Regulatory Services
Author: Laura Newton, Domestic and Sexual Violence Business Manager
Version and date: V2.0, October 2025