Local Plan Making Consultation - Privacy Notice
Who the Council is and what the Council does
The Council is a data controller under the Data Protection Legislation as the Council collects and processes personal information about you in order to provide services and meet their statutory and regulatory obligations.
This notice explains why the Council asks for your personal information, how that information will be used and how you can access your records.
Any questions regarding our privacy practices should be sent to:
Data Protection Officer (DPO)
West Oxfordshire District Council
Woodgreen Offices, Witney, OX28 1NB
Email: data.protection@westoxon.gov.uk
Tel: 01993 861000
Why the Council needs your information and how the Council uses it
The personal data that you provide will be used to enable the Council to identify who has responded to public consultations concerning the Local Plan, its supporting evidence including supplementary planning documents (collectively this is known as ‘local plan making’) and the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). Where requested, it will enable the Council to correspond with you regarding upcoming public consultations related to local plan making and other planning policy consultations.
What is the legal process for collecting and processing this data
We will also use your personal information in order to consult you on, notify or inform you of local plan making related matters. The legal basis for processing this data is guided by but not limited to the following Acts:
- The Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 (as amended),
- Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012 (as amended)
- and other associated planning legislation
The lawful basis for processing your information is:
- GDPR Article 6(1)(a) - the data subject has given consent to the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes;
- GDPR Article 6(1)(c) - processing is necessary for compliance with legal obligation to which the Council is subject;
- GDPR Article 6(1)(e) - processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest in the exercise of official authority vested in the Council.
The Council may also elect to consult on planning policy proposals where there is no legal requirement to do so but where there is a general expectation of consultation and engagement with the public and / or other groups.
What type of information is collected from you?
As a minimum, we require the following data to be provided: name, postcode and email address (if you do not have an email address then we will require your full home address).
The Council can collect your information via the following methods:
- online consultation portal
- telephone
- letter
The above list is not exhaustive. The Council will only ask for personal information that is appropriate to enable us to deliver our services. In some cases, you can refuse to provide your details if you deem a request to be inappropriate. However, you should note that this may impact on our ability to provide some services to you.
All comments and personal data will be stored in electronic format in the Council’s consultation portal. This portal is provided by a third party and the Council has a formal contract with the data processor.
Why the Council needs your information and how the Council uses it
Responses to public consultations will be made publicly available to view on the Council’s website and may be attributable to your name (and organisation and client if this information is provided), however any other personal information you provide will not be made public.
If responses include personal data, this will be redacted. Responses including libellous, discriminatory or otherwise offensive comments will not be made publicly available or may be redacted.
All comments and personal data will be stored in electronic format in the Council’s consultation portal. This portal is provided by a third party and the Council has a formal contract with this data processor. They have access to view your personal data but will not process the data in any way. Comments submitted in hard-copy may also be stored at the Council’s offices.
You are entitled to withdraw your representation up until the point that the consultation closes. Should you do so, your representation and associated data will be permanently deleted as soon as reasonably possible, and your representation will not be taken into account.
Who your information may be shared with (internally and externally)
Your personal data will only be processed by West Oxfordshire District Council employees.
However, your data may be shared with:
- consultants working to support the Planning Policy team
- the Valuation Office Agency (VOA)
- the Planning Inspectorate (PINS)
- an appointed PINS Inspector (and his/her administrative staff)
- a Programme Officer acting for the Council
The Council will also use the information for the purpose of performing any of its statutory enforcement duties. It will make any disclosures required by law and it may also share this information with other bodies responsible for detecting / preventing fraud or auditing / administering public funds.
Your information will not be disclosed to any other organisations, except where the Council is required and allowed to by law. The Council will not share your information with third parties for marketing purposes.
The consultation system has the ability to use AI to assist officers in the analysis and summarisation of comments made. The AI only has access to the anonymised comments and no personal data will be provided to the AI.
How long the Council keeps your information (retention period)
In relation to the activity of consultation to gain approval for the Local Plan, information will be retained permanently but all records will be reviewed after 3 years as indicated in the Information and Record Management Society of Great Britain (IRMS) section 10.2. page 73. This applies to:
- Consultation documents and replies;
- Inquiries and objections made by members of public;
- Public Inquiry documents.
Where you have indicated an interest in being notified of future planning consultations, your personal data will be held to enable you to be notified of relevant consultations.
Your information will be disposed of in a controlled and secure manner in accordance with the Council’s Policy.
How the Council protects your information
All the information the Council collects is stored securely on our IT system and manual filing systems. The Council has strict procedures for the way this is done. Any and all information about you is treated as confidential and with respect. There are also clear rules and guidance about storing, recording and sharing information which staff receive training on.
The Council will not transfer your personal data outside the EU without your consent.
The Council have implemented accepted standards of technology and operational security in order to protect personal data from loss, misuse, or unauthorised alteration or destruction.
Please note, however, that where you are transmitting information to us over the internet this can never be guaranteed to be 100% secure.
If you use your credit or debit card to make payments, the Council passes your card details securely to our payment processing partner as part of the payment process. The Council does this in accordance with the Payment Card Industry Security Standard and does not store the details on its website. The information you give to the Council when using our online payment system will only be used for the recording of your payment.
The Council will notify you promptly in the event of any breach of your personal data which might expose you to serious risk.
Your rights
You have rights under the Data Protection Legislations to:
- Access your personal data;
- Be provided with information about how your personal data is processed;
- Have your personal data corrected;
- Have your personal data erased in certain circumstances;
- Object to or restrict how your personal data is processed;
- Have your personal data transferred to yourself or to another business in certain circumstances; and
- Be told if the Council have made a mistake whilst processing your data and the Council will self-report breaches to the Commissioner.
How you can access, update or correct your information
The Data Protection Legislation allows you to find out what information is held about you, on paper and computer records. This is known as ‘right of subject access’ and applies to your data along with all other personal records.
If you wish to see a copy of your records you should contact the Data Protection Officer. You are entitled to receive a copy of our records free of charge, within a month.
In certain circumstances access to your records may be limited, for example, if the records you have asked for contain information relating to another person.
The accuracy of your information is important to us to be able to provide relevant services more quickly. The Council is working to make our record keeping more efficient. In the meantime, if you change your address or email address, or if any of your circumstances change or any of the other information the Council holds is inaccurate or out of date, please email us or write to us at:
Planning Policy
West Oxfordshire District Council
Woodgreen Offices, Witney, OX28 1NB
Email: Planning.policy@westoxon.gov.uk
Further information
If you would like to know more about how the Council uses your information, or if for any reason you do not wish to have your information used in any of the ways described in this privacy notice, please contact the Data Protection Officer at data.protection@westoxon.gov.uk
You can also complain to the Information Commissioner: https://ico.org.uk
The Council reserves the right to update this privacy notice from time to time by publishing a new version on our website.