Planning Policy - Privacy Notice
Planning Policy Privacy Policy
Buckinghamshire Council's Planning Policy team collects; uses and is responsible for certain personal information about you.
When we collect personal information we are regulated under the General Data Protection Regulation which applies across the European Union (including in the United Kingdom) and we are responsible as 'controller' of that personal information for the purposes of those laws.
The personal information we collect
Information collected by us:-
The work for which we collect personal information includes:
producing, reviewing and monitoring planning policy and guidance documents (these include local plans, neighbourhood plans, supplementary planning documents and non-statutory supplementary planning guidance);
keeping registers such as the self-build and custom housebuilding register and brownfield land register;
monitoring development; and
- producing a housing and economic land availability assessment and, from time to time, undertaking a "call for sites" and other evidence-based reports as appropriate.
In order to fulfil these functions, it is necessary that we collect the following personal information:
your name
your phone numbers
your email address
- your home address
At times, we may need you (or you may want) to supply other personal information such as your date of birth, marital status, gender, ethnic status, information on family members, medical, health or details on vulnerabilities and financial information regarding yourself or your existing or proposed business interests.
The type of information we collect will depend on the nature of the activity and we will never ask for more personal data than is necessary in order to deal with your enquiry or response on planning documents.
Information collected from other sources:-
We also obtain personal information from:
other services within Buckinghamshire Council
other government partners and agencies
- other third-party partners
How we use your personal information:-
In order to ensure that we are able to deliver the highest quality service to you, we use your personal information in the following ways:
for the purposes of the production, review and monitoring of planning policy documents, including local plans, Supplementary Planning Documents, Community Infrastructure Levy and neighbourhood plans;
for the purposes of undertaking a referendum in relation to a neighbourhood plan;
for the purposes of keeping and updating registers, such as self-build and custom housebuilding registers and brownfield land registers; and
- for the purposes of making development management decisions, including the determination of planning applications and planning appeals, and producing planning agreements.
Who we share your personal information with:-
In order to carry out the above activities in an efficient way, we routinely share personal data with other service departments within Buckinghamshire Council, such as Development Management, Electoral, Economic Development, Finance, Housing and Legal services. We may also share personal data with other government partners and agencies, such as:
the District Valuer
Environment Agency
Historic England
- Natural England
In relation to statutory plan-making processes we will share your personal data with independent planning inspectors, examiners and programme officers. This data sharing enables us to ensure the best service is delivered and so that you can be directly contacted by these independent persons rather than through the Council.
We do not anticipate that our data-transferring arrangements will involve a transfer outside of the European Economic Area (EEA). We do not sell your information to other organisations. We will not share your personal information with any other third party.
On occasion we may be required to share personal information with law enforcement or other authorities if required by applicable law. Where this occurs we will ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place
Whether information has to be provided by you and, if so, why?
The provision of the personal data (as set out above) is required from you to enable us to deliver our services. We will inform you at the point of collecting information from you whether you are required to provide the information to us.
Failing to provide information may result in:
us not being able to consult with you or deal with a response you have made in relation to a draft planning policy document;
you not being able to participate in a referendum in relation to a neighbourhood plan;
you not being included on a register, such as self-build and custom housebuilding registers or brownfield land register; or
- your views not being taken into account in development management decisions.
How long your personal information will be kept?
We will hold the personal data provided by you until the relevant matter is concluded. In the case of planning policy documents, we may keep personal data until the relevant document is superseded. For auditing and accountability purposes we routinely hold information for a period of six years from conclusion or resolution of a matter, or longer if we have an obligation to retain this information.
Reasons for collecting and using your personal information:-
We rely on planning legislation (such as regulations relating to consultation on planning policy documents and the collection, administration and spending of CIL) as the lawful basis on which we collect and use your personal data.
Redaction ('blanking things out'):-
We are required, as a part of the process of developing planning policies, neighbourhood plans, community infrastructure levy and other documents, to publish any responses received to consultations.
We operate a policy where we routinely redact the following details before making forms and documents available online:
personal contact details (eg telephone numbers and email addresses);
signatures;
special category data (eg information about health conditions or ethnic origin); and
- information agreed to be confidential.
If you are submitting information which you would like to be treated confidentially or wish to be specifically withheld from the public register, please let us know as soon as you can - ideally in advance of your submission. The best way to contact us about this issue is by email on planningpolicyteam.bc@buckinghamshire.gov.uk.
Complaints and problems
If you need to make a complaint specifically about the way we have processed your data you can complain using the following:
by email: dataprotection@buckinghamshire.gov.uk or
- by post: Data Protection Officer, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury HP19 8FF
Having exhausted the Councils procedure, if you believe that we have failed to respond properly then you can direct your concerns to the Information Commissioners Office.
