1. WNP Data Protection Action, General Data Protection Regulation,
25 May 2018
See Hard Copy Archive Deposit, 15
1.1 Statement: WNP Committee, ICO Data Controller registration [ZA218210], is engaged in a ‘Public Task … specific in the public interest which is set out by law’ in the Locality Act 2011. https://ico.org/uk/for-organisations/guide-to-the-general-data-protection-regulation-gdpr/lawful-basis-for-processing/public-task/
1.2 ‘Public Task’ replaces the former ‘public function’.
1.3 WNP Privacy Notice [see 2 below] ‘documents our decision that our data processing is necessary to perform the task we are responsible for’ in the public interest, to identify that task and authority and give basic information about our purposes and our lawful basis. All this in our ‘Privacy Notice’. A legal basis = ‘conditions for processing personal data.’
1.4 The Committee has had the help of Allan Hicks on Data Protection, throughout Consultation 2016-2018, and of Mark Davies running the WNP Website since mid 2016, with Audrey Parsons in support.
1.5 WNP Committee and Associates have shared email and phone number information since inception in January 2016.
1.6 15 December 2015, prior to the formation of the WNP Committee, attendees at a village meeting signed up as ‘Volunteer’, ‘Street rep’, ‘Interested’ or ‘Keep me informed’. The Chairman uses that original list (of phone numbers, emails, and a handful of street addresses). The original completed and signed lists have been archived. Numbers have dropped since 2015 from 163 to the current 125. Approx. every 1.5 to 2 months, information, reminders and/or calls for volunteers go out to this group. Twice the chairman has pressed the CC button and not the BCC button, apologised to everyone and reported himself to the WNP Data Protection Adviser. This contact list and the original sign-up papers will be destroyed after WNP Committee completes its Public Task.
1.7 We received many responses post-coded only. For example the Statutory Housing Needs Survey gave only Postcodes for identity. An alert about Air Quality on Old London Rd (next to A40 bypass) was received from two post-codes. It would have been unethical to probe, but coincidentally one complainant told WNP Chairman directly of the pollution; the other complainant was her neighbour and friend. Both agreed to take it further with WNP and SODC. [1] They are happy for names to remain on the Evidence Base account.
1.8 Immediately after Public Consultation May-June 2017, the names and contacts of respondents were exchanged for and solely published with archival number identity. The original detailed list is kept by the Chairman for the Examiner’s eyes only, and in a secure Hard Copy Archive). It will be destroyed when WNP Committee completes its Public Task [2]
1.9 In March 2018 WNP Chairman informed Wheatley Parish Councillors at their monthly meeting, of Data Protection implications. In recording Consultation between Parish Councillors and WNP, we have named those in elected or appointed public office (NP Committee members too form a delegated ‘sub-committee’) but we delete private individuals’ detail. Once NP evidence becomes redundant, all data contact information – hard copies of Straw Poll, of Statutory Survey, of Volunteer List, and of Pub. Con. responses currently held in the secure Hard Copy Archive – will be destroyed. [3]
1.10 WNP Chairman has checked all website detail, particularly the Evidence Base and has contacted those he felt should be informed that their contacts were in the public domain. Four private individuals were approached; they were happy that their name / details remain published. The ‘Volunteer’ list of Dec. 2015 were all approached too: one asked for their name to be deleted, which was done without question.
1.11 Neighbourhood Planning Consultation organisers prefer, but cannot demand proof of whether a respondent is a bona fide resident of an NP Area. Suspect returns do seem to get through Public Consultations when feelings run high. In January 2017 WNP volunteers checked 243 responses to Draft Local Plan about OBU and Wheatley suspected of being orchestrated from elsewhere in South Oxon [4].The WNP Committee, however, accept that Data Privacy, despite risk, is an absolute priority.
2. WNP Data Protection – GDPR Privacy Notice
Neighbourhood planning is an opportunity for communities to shape development in their community through the production of Neighbourhood Development Plans (among other things).
A Neighbourhood Development Plan (NDP) sits alongside the Local Plan produced by South Oxfordshire District Council and the policies contained within the NDP are used in the determination of planning applications.
Wheatley Parish Council has set up a Steering Group in order to produce an NDP for Wheatley. The Steering Group must collect information from the community in order to develop the plan.
The Steering Group needs to collect:
contact details for community members such as name, address, telephone number or email address
information about the extent to which the SG has surveyed the community for its views.
This survey information is required for an approval of the NDP and will record to what extent people have attended Neighbourhood Planning meetings or responded to survey requests.
The purpose(s) for which the Steering Group collects this information are to produce a database to enable contact with members of the community and to record that survey data. The lawful basis for doing so is the Locality Act 2011.
The only organisations with which the Steering Group may share the information are South Oxfordshire District Council and/or an Independent Examiner who checks whether the proposed NDP meets certain conditions before it can be approved.
When this sort of information is collected, there has to be a Data Controller responsible for how it is processed, and that Data Controller has to be registered with the Information Commissioner’s Office.
The Steering Group is that Data Controller and is registered as such. You can review the registration by using this link:
https://ico.org.uk/esdwebpages/search
Enter registration reference number ZA218210 (nothing else is needed).
If you have any questions about this or wish to check or have deleted any of your data, then please contact:
By letter – Wheatley Parish Council, Merry Bells, 89A High Street, Wheatley OX33 1XP
By email –
info@wheatleyneighbourhoodplan.co.uk
3. WNP Data Protection – Letter to Committee Members/Associates
Dear WNP committee members and associates (previous and present),
Most, if not all, of you are aware that new data protection regulations are coming into law on the 25th of May. The consequences of GDPR (General Data Protection Regulations) coming has meant a review/update of the documentation/actions that the WNP make/take concerning data protection. To help in this process the following questions have been formulated for all to answer.
WNP and Data Protection(NB: for the purposes of these questions a ‘member of the public’ is taken to mean : a person not directly involved in WNP (eg. does not include WNP Committee members/associates), or is not an officer or councillor at SODC or Parish level when ‘involved’ in the WNP process etc.)
Please answer all questions that follow by deleting/adding text as appropriate:
1. Do you contact (by email,phone or post) members of the public directly, using personal information to address them, concerning the WNP? Yes / No
If yes, a) What category of persons do you contact? (do not give actual names)
b) Why?
2. Have you had placed on the WNP website any documentation containing the name/other person identifying data for any members of the public? Yes / No
If yes, a) Please list the names of the documents.
b) Do you have the permission of the member of the public involved to have these data on the website?
3. Have you in your possession any personal data on any members of the public in hard copy or electronically? Yes / No
If yes, a) What type of information? (do not give actual data)
b) Why?
Name :
Connection with WNP:
Date:
Audrey Parsons,
WNP Committee,
Data Protection and WNP Website assistant administrator
4. Acknowledgement from SODC
|
From Sam Townley, SODC, re. WNP Compliance with GDPR, 01 October, 2018 Good Afternoon John Apologies for the delay. I have reviewed both consultation statement text and GDPR implementation notes and have no comments to make; your group seems to be operating good practice with data protection. The consultation statement will be reviewed again when the plan is submitted. Kind Regards Mr Sam Townley Neighbourhood Planning Enquiries Officer South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils |
References:
[1]
EB Research / Survey 14, Air Quality Research Old London Road EB Old London Rd Air Quality, responses from residents,October 2017
EB Research / Survey 15, Air Quality, Wheatley 2006-2017 (WNP with SODC, Oct-November 2016) WNP-Air-Quality-Wheatley-2006-2017-WNP-with-SODC-Oct-Nov-2017
EB Research / Survey 16, Air Quality Research Old London Road Evidence Base, Old London Rd Air Quality 2, WNP Correspondence with SODC April 2018.
[2]
HCAD (Hard Copy Archive Deposit) 6, Public Consultation 2017, Public Responses, 56-109
[3]
HCAD 9, WNP in Consultation with WPC and HPC, 20 June 2017
[4]
EB Research / Survey 4, WNP private analysis of 234 (unpublished/unanalysed) SODC Consultation responses to OBU proposal, July 2016. Evidence believed contaminated – see Note to Analysis. WNP-responses-to-SODC-LP32-Q-7-July-2016-unpublished-abstracted-analysed-by-WNP-Jan-2017