Democratic & Support Services Privacy Policy

Democratic & Support Services at New Forest District Council is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy.

This Privacy Notice is designed to help you understand how and why Democratic & Support Services processes your personal data. This notice should be read in conjunction with the Council's Corporate Privacy Notice.

This Privacy Notice aims to explain:

1.     Who we are

2.     What kind of personal data do we process?

3.     Why do we collect your personal information?

4.     Who do we obtain your information from?

5.     Who do we share your personal information with?

6.     How long do we keep your information?

7.     What is our lawful basis for processing your information?

8.     Your rights

9.     Your right to complain

1.      Who we are

The Data Controller for the personal data we process is New Forest District Council ('the Council'), Appletree Court, Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst, Hampshire SO43 7PA (data.controller@nfdc.gov.uk).

The Council has appointed a Data Protection Officer. Their contact details are: Data Protection Officer, New Forest District Council, Appletree Court, Beaulieu Road, Lyndhurst, Hampshire SO43 7PA (data.protection@nfdc.gov.uk)

Democratic & Support Services manages constitutional and governance issues and provides advice and support for elected members of the Council and senior officers in the discharge of their democratic roles. We publish agendas and minutes for all council decision making meetings, as well as any background information that may inform discussion. We also process information to facilitate wider public involvement through the live streaming/ virtual publishing of Council meetings. We will process petitions submitted to the Council.

Democratic & Support Services also supports the Chairman of the Council and organises civic events. 

2.      What kind of personal data do we process

Democratic & Support Services may collect the following categories of personal data: 

• Name
• Address 
• Contact details (telephone number and email address)
• Details of any representations, contributions or complaints you may submit to the Council
• Digital footage (visual and/or audio) of your participation in the democratic process

3.      Why do we collect your personal information? 

We collect your information for the following purposes:

• To facilitate service delivery
• To undertake statutory functions or to comply with a legal obligation to which the Council is subject
• To support the Council in fulfilling its democratic duties such as enabling you to participate in the democratic process
• To maintain a record of Council meetings and decision making and facilitate public observation of such meetings
• To allow us to contact you via post, email or telephone
• To enable us to process and investigate complaints submitted against Council members
• To consider any petitions submitted to the Council to which you have signed

The Council formally publishes agendas and minutes for all official meetings held by the Council on our website. Therefore, any contributions you make through your participation in the democratic process may be included in the agendas/minutes and be accessible to the public unless restricted due to confidentiality. Reports and records of decision-making will also be published accordingly unless restricted due to confidentiality. 

To encourage participation and engagement, and ensure transparency, the Council broadcasts its public meetings live and these are recorded for repeated viewing.  If attending a Council meeting, your image will be processed in order for the Council to deliver this service. The recordings are published on the Council's website and on YouTube.

4.      Who do we obtain your information from?

The categories of personal data we collect, as outlined above, will be collected from you directly (as the data subject) or from a representative acting on your behalf. 

Democratic & Support Services works with other services across the Council and they may share your personal information where it is necessary for us to deliver our services.

5.      Who do we share this information with?

Information you provide may be shared with elected members and if it is a matter of public record (such as names of people who have made representations on a Licensing Application), then this may be included on the relevant agenda/minutes.

We may need to share the information that you give us with Services within the Council, or other external organisations such as local Town and Parish Councils, New Forest National Park Authority and Hampshire County Council. 

6.      How long do we keep your information?

We keep your personal data for as long as is reasonably required for the purposes explained in this privacy notice.

To support us in managing how long we hold your personal data and our record management, we maintain a Retention and Destruction Schedule which includes clear guidelines on data retention and deletion.

Where your personal data is included within Council, Cabinet, Committee or Panel documentation this will be retained in perpetuity.  

7.      What is our lawful basis for processing your information?

We rely on the following lawful basis to process your personal data:

• Legal Obligation: The processing is necessary for the Council to comply with a legal obligation.
• Public Task: The processing is necessary for the Council to perform a task in the public interest or for its official functions with a basis in law.

The legislation that relates to Democratic & Support Services includes, but is not limited to:

• The Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985
• Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960
• Local Government Act 1972 
• Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to Information) (England) Regulations 2012
• Responsibilities Regulations' (Local Authorities (Functions and Responsibilities) (England) Regulations 2000
• Local Government Act 2000
• Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014
• Localism Act 2011
•  

8.      Your rights

Under certain circumstances, you have rights under data protection laws in relation to your personal data. You have the following rights:

• Request access to your personal data.
• Request correction of your personal data.
• Request erasure of your personal data.
• Object to processing of your personal data.
• Request restriction of processing your personal data.
• Request transfer of your personal data.
• Right to withdraw consent.

If you wish to exercise any of the rights set out above, please contact the Data Protection Officer at data.protection@nfdc.gov.uk.

For more information regarding the rights set out above, please refer to the Council's Information Rights Policy.

9.      Your right to complain

We work to high standards when it comes to processing your personal data. If you have queries or concerns, please contact our Data Protection Officer at data.protection@nfdc.gov.uk.

We hope that our Data Protection Officer can resolve any query or concern you raise about our use of your personal data. If you feel we have not handled your query or concern to your satisfaction you can contact the Information Commissioner's Office ('the ICO') who are the UK supervisory authority for all data protection matters.

You can contact the ICO at:

• Website: https://ico.org.uk/concerns
• Telephone: 0303 123 1113
• Post: Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF
• Email: casework@ico.org.uk