The council has a duty to protect public funds and as such will use measures to ensure that monies it owes are collected.
If we notify you that you owe us money, and you are having difficulties paying, please contact us so we can try to help.
If you do not pay, we can use various methods to pursue payment. These include obtaining information via public sources, sharing with other government organisations, referencing/tracing agencies and private sector debt collectors.
We are legally required to make some debt collections (for example, Council Tax) and therefore the legal basis for processing is GDPR Article 6 1(c) - processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation to which the controller is subject.
Some debt accumulated is not a legal obligation but may be contractual and covered by GDPR Article 6 1(b) - received chargeable services from us and not paid for them.
Some further debts are accumulated by default by the data subject leading to a debt to the public purse, for example, unpaid utility bills which then become the liability of the council.
It in the public interest to collect these to avoid detriment to the public purse and therefore covered by GDPR Article 6 1(e) - processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller.