Requesting personal information - Subject Access Request (SAR)
The London Borough of Havering has a legal requirement to ensure that all personal data received, maintained and created by us is recorded.
Information is kept secure and up to date and is only used for the purposes for which it was collected.
Information we hold about you
You may request a copy of the information we hold about you, called a Subject Access Request (SAR).
This includes your housing file, social care file and any other information held about you by the Council.
You have the right to access any personal information held by the Council and to request information about:
- what personal data we hold about you
- the purposes of the processing
- the categories of personal data concerned
- the recipients to whom the personal data has/will be disclosed
- how long we intend to store your personal data for
- if we did not collect the data directly from you, information about the source
We only ever retain personal information for as long as is necessary and we have retention policies in place to meet these obligations.
We are required under some laws or regulations to retain your personal data for a set period of time for example.
Where there is nothing laid down by law we will make a business decision, taking into account the necessity of the processing in order to define the retention period.
How to make a Subject Access Request
To access your information please complete the online request form.
You can also write to us at:
The London Borough of Havering
Insight, Information and Investigations Team
Town Hall
Romford
RM1 3BB
Information you will need to provide with your request
You will need to provide two official documents as proof of your name and address, one document from list A and one document from list B.
List A
- Driving licence
- Passport
List B
Dated within the last three months a:
- bank/building society statement
- utility bill (gas, water, electric or telephone)
- Council Tax bill
- Benefits Agency / State Pension correspondence (on headed paper)
You should delete any financial information you do not wish us to see. We only need to see the name and address on this document.
Authorisation to act on your behalf
You may authorise someone to make the request on your behalf.
If you would like to make a request for someone else, because they are under 12 years old, you may do so if you are a parent or another person who is legally able to act on their behalf.
You must provide the birth certificate of the children whose data is being requested, to the online form or sent in via the above address, along with a copy of your identity.
If you would like to raise a request on behalf of someone who is vulnerable or not mentally able to, or if they wish you to act on their behalf.
You must provide a letter confirming Power of Attorney or a letter of authorisation by uploading this to the online form or sent in via the above address, along with a copy of their identity.
Responding to your request
We will provide your information within 30 days of receiving your request, proof of identity, and any authorisation documents that may be required.
We can extend this by 60 more days if the request is considered complex. We will update you if this is the case.
What you can do with the information
When you receive your information, you have the right to check it for accuracy.
You can request a review should you not be satisfied with the response to your SAR, and we will be happy to assess this.
This should be done by responding to the SAR response we give you or writing to us at the above address.
Complaint sabout the SAR process
If at any point you are unhappy with the way we have handled your request, you should contact us via any of the above channels.
If you are not satisfied with our response, you should contact the Information Commissioners Office.