Services provided

In November 2020 Dorset Council commissioned a review of homelessness in Dorset. Council’s must publish a new Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy every 5 years. As part of this, we are seeking customer feedback on the services we provide to support people who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. 

We take your privacy seriously and will only keep and use your personal information for reasons law requires or allows.  

What follows is an explanation of how the council will use this information; who it will be shared with and how long the council will keep it. 

Personal data we need from you

The personal data we need from you includes:

  • your views on the key issues affecting homelessness  
  • your views on the planned actions to tackle homelessness 
  • gender
  • age​ 

Special category (sensitive) data might we need

Special category (sensitive) data we might need from you includes:

  • ethnicity
  • data you volunteer in comments which may contain special category data, for example if you provide information about your political opinions

Who will be using your personal information?

Dorset Council.

What your information will be used for 

​Legal or public task under various UK laws including but not limited to: 

  • Housing Act 2002
  • planning and improving homelessness and rough sleeping services and associated services 

Your personal information will not be further processed unless it is necessary to do so to anonymise any answers you have submitted that may allow us to identify you unless further processed. 

The lawful or legal basis for requesting and using your information

Our lawful basis for processing your personal data is public task under Article 6(1)(e) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Any special category data processed is done so under Article 9(2)(h) and (j) of the GDPR.

Other organisations may we share your information with

Other organisations may we share your information with are:

  • government agencies e.g. Department of Work and Pensions 
  • Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Council 
  • The Police 
  • health agencies 
  • education providers 
  • other local authorities 
  • The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) 
  • emergency accommodation providers (eg bed and breakfast landlords) 
  • elected members and MPs 
  • funding bodies 
  • landlords – housing associations, social landlords and private landlords 
  • homelessness and rough sleeping service providers 

How long we will keep your data

We will retain anonymised information for as long as we have a business need to keep it.  Any personal data received as part of a survey response will be erased promptly after the closing date of the consultation.   

Using your data

Our use of your data will be subject to your legal rights as per the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).

Find more information about privacy law, our obligations and your rights from the ICO.

Contact us if you have concerns over the way we're asking for or using your personal data:

If you still have concerns following our response, you have the right to raise the matter with the Information Commissioner's Office