Strategy and Policy Privacy Notice

Your Privacy

The Strategy and Policy Team is committed to protecting your privacy when you interact with us.  The Privacy Notice below explains how we use information about you and how we protect your privacy.

Why we use your personal information and the legal basis for collecting information

The Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, consolidated by The Planning (Wales) Act 2015 requires all Local Planning Authorities to produce a Local Development Plan (LDP).  The LDP sets out the policies and land use proposals for the National Park into the future.  It is used to guide appropriate development in the area and provides the framework against which to determine planning applications.

The LDP is drafted on the basis of evidence and part of that evidence is collected via consultation responses.  The LDP including the consultation responses are then considered at part of the Examination in Public.

From time to time we also draft Supplementary Planning Guidance to policies in the LDP.  These also involve consultation with the general public prior to approval.

Do you know what personal information is?

Personal information can be anything that identifies and relates to a living person. This can include information that when put together with other information can then identify a person. For example, this could be your name and contact details.

Did you know that some of your personal information might be ‘special’?

Some information is ‘special’ and needs more protection due to its sensitivity. It’s often information you would not want widely known and is very personal to you. This is likely to include anything that can reveal your:

  • sexuality and sexual health
  • religious or philosophical beliefs
  • ethnicity
  • physical or mental health
  • trade union membership
  • political opinion
  • genetic/biometric data
  • criminal history

Why do we need your personal information?

We may need to use some information about you to:

  • deliver services;
  • manage those services we provide to you;
  • check the quality of services; and
  • to help with research and planning of new services.

How the law allows us to use your personal information

There are a number of legal reasons why we need to collect and use your personal information.

Generally we collect and use personal information where:

  • you, or your legal representative, have given consent
  • you have entered into a contract with us
  • it is necessary to perform our statutory duties
  • it is required by law
  • you have made your information publicly available
  • it is necessary for legal cases
  • it is necessary for archiving, research, or statistical purposes

If we have consent to use your personal information, you have the right to remove it at any time. If you want to remove your consent, please contact ldp@beacons-npa.gov.uk and tell us which service you’re using so we can deal with your request.

We only use what we need

Where we can, we’ll only collect and use personal information if we need it to deliver a service or meet a requirement.

We don’t sell your personal information to anyone else. 

What you can do with your information

The law gives you a number of rights to control what personal information is used by us and how it is used by us.

You can ask for access to the information we hold on you

We would normally expect to share what we record about you with you whenever we assess your needs or provide you with services.

You can ask to change information you think is inaccurate

You should let us know if you disagree with something written on your file.

We may not always be able to change or remove that information but we’ll correct factual inaccuracies and may include your comments in the record to show that you disagree with it. 

You can ask to delete information (right to be forgotten)

In some circumstances you can ask for your personal information to be deleted, for example:

  • Where your personal information is no longer needed for the reason why it was collected in the first place
  • Where you have removed your consent for us to use your information (where there is no other legal reason us to use it)
  • Where there is no legal reason for the use of your information
  • Where deleting the information is a legal requirement

Where your personal information has been shared with others, we’ll do what we can to make sure those using your personal information comply with your request for erasure.

You can ask to limit what we use your personal data for

You have the right to ask us to restrict what we use your personal information for where:

  • you have identified inaccurate information, and have told us of it
  • where we have no legal reason to use that information but you want us to restrict what we use it for rather than erase the information altogether

When information is restricted it can’t be used other than to securely store the data and with your consent to handle legal claims and protect others, or where it’s for important public interests of the UK.

Where restriction of use has been granted, we’ll inform you before we carry on using your personal information.

You have the right to ask us to stop using your personal information for any service. However, if this request is approved this may cause delays or prevent us delivering that service.

Where possible we’ll seek to comply with your request, but we may need to hold or use information because we are required to by law.

How do we protect your information?

We’ll do what we can to make sure we hold records about you (on paper and electronically) in a secure way, and we’ll only make them available to those who have a right to see them. Examples of our security include:

  • Encryption, meaning that information is hidden so that it cannot be read without special knowledge (such as a password).
  • Controlling access to systems and networks allows us to stop people who are not allowed to view your personal information from getting access to it
  • Training for our staff allows us to make them aware of how to handle information and how and when to report when something goes wrong

How long do we keep your personal information?

There’s often a legal reason for keeping your personal information for a set period of time, we set this out in our retention schedule – for further information please contact ldp@beacons-npa.gov.uk

Where can I get advice?

If you have any worries or questions about how your personal information is handled please contact our Data Protection Officer, Paul Funnell, e-mail dpo@beacons-npa.gov.uk tel. 01874 624437.