We take your privacy seriously and will only keep and use your personal information for reasons the law requires or allows. 

The Council is the data controller for the personal information we hold about you regarding Local Plan consultation representations. In order to comply with data protection legislation, we want to be sure you understand how we use this information.

The purposes for which your data will be used

• To maintain an up to date, confidential consultation database so that we can ensure we are consulting those we are required to by law as listed in the relevant regulations, and anyone who has given their consent to us holding their data to enable us to keep them personally informed of consultations run by the planning policy team (name, address / email address). Individuals can unsubscribe to this database at any time.
• For the formulation of Local Plans. Local Plans determine land use and planning policy for the area which then sets the context for making decisions on planning applications. The production of these is strictly regulated and we will consult on these using the information held on our database. When you submit comments to a Local Plan consultation your name and your comments will be made public. All other personal information will be held confidentially. When we consult on the ‘proposed submission’ stage of the Local Plan (i.e. the version intended to be submitted to the Planning Inspectorate for independent examination in public), and on any subsequent modifications the information you submit when making your comments will need to be shared with the Planning Inspectorate. This will include personal information (name and contact details) so that they can contact you to enable you to participate in the examination process. We will make this clear on our consultation forms for this stage of the process.
• For revisions to the Statement of Community Involvement. This is a statutory document which we produce to show how we will engage the community in the planning process. When we make substantive changes to this we will publicly consult, using the information held on our planning policy consultation database. When you submit comments your name and your comments will be made public. All other personal information will be held confidentially.

When you submit comments your name, and that of the person or organisation you represent will be published. All other personal information will be held confidentially. Where you are representing another person or organisation you will need to declare that you have their consent to submit comments on their behalf. Comments will be made public and, because they are used to inform the development of policy, will not be able to be withdrawn once they have been processed and published.  Any comments received which are considered to be inflammatory, offensive or otherwise inappropriate will be rejected and will not be published. On occasions, rejected comments may appear in the form of redacted elements of your submission in those instances where this approach is considered to be appropriate.

Planning laws set out the requirements for consultation in relation to Local Plans as defined by the Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012. Consultation also has to be undertaken in line with the Council’s Statement of Community Involvement (SCI). Representations received are used to help inform decisions about how the plan for the district should take shape. Representations received at the regulation 19 Stage of plan making have to be ‘duly made’ and are submitted along with the plan and accompanying documentation to the Secretary of State so that, through Examination in Public, a Planning Inspector can decide whether a Local Plan is ‘sound’ or whether representations raise issues which may render the plan unsound or require changes to be made.

Our lawful basis for carrying out these tasks

We are able to do this because we have your consent to do so, legislation says we must do it and that it is in the public interest to do so. There are several pieces of legislation that apply to the processing of planning and associated applications. 
The relevant legislation which say that we can carry out these functions and it is in the public interest are:

• Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004; 
• Localism Act 2011;
• Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.

With whom will we share your information

For Local Plan documents as defined by the Regulations, data received at the Proposed Submission (Regulation 19) stage (i.e. your consultation responses when we formally consult on the ‘Proposed Submission’ version of the plan) will be forwarded to the Planning Inspectorate along with other Local plan submission documents required for the independent Examination in Public.

How long we will keep your information

We only keep this data for the time specified in our retention schedule or as required by law.

Your rights

Data protection law provides you with certain rights, however not all of these rights will be available to you in all situations, particularly where we process your information as part of one of our statutory duties. Where we are under a legal duty to use data for a particular purpose you will not have the right to prevent it being used in that way.

A full list of the rights you may have, under data protection law, is given in the 'Your Rights' section on Data Protection - Privacy Notices.

For specific enquiries regarding personal data which we process you can contact the Data Protection Officer on email: dpo@staffordbc.gov.uk or at Civic Centre, Riverside, Stafford ST16 3AQ.

If you wish to complain about how your personal information has been handled by Stafford Borough Council then please contact the Data Protection Officer in the first instance using the details above. If you are not satisfied you can submit a formal complaint to the Council via Complaints.

Finally you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office at: The Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF. Tel: 0303 123 1113 or you can visit their website at ico.org.uk.

You can also find details of how we handle your personal information by visiting www.staffordbc.gov.uk/PrivacyNotice.