Privacy notice for consultations and surveys

Reigate & Banstead Borough Council is the data controller for the purposes of the UK General Data Protection Regulation - ICO. The purpose of this privacy policy is to tell you about what information we collect about you in our consultations, how we use that information and who we may share it with.

What data we collect and the legal basis for processing it

There are two types of personal information that we collect frequently as part of consultations and surveys; these are contact details and equalities information. We may also collect contact details at other times, with your express consent where necessary, for the purposes listed below.

Planning consultations

This document does not relate to personal data collected through formal consultations on planning applications or planning policy (such as the local plan consultation). For information on data collected on planning application consultations, visit the comment on a planning application webpage. For information on planning policy consultations, read our privacy notice.

Contact details

We may ask for your name, address, organisation name (if relevant), phone number or email address, so that we can contact you if you:

1. ask to be notified about forthcoming Reigate & Banstead Borough Council surveys or consultations
2. indicate that you would like to participate in a subsequent stage of an existing consultation that you have taken part in
3. request to be kept informed about the results of a consultation and or subsequent decisions related to it
4. say you would like to be involved in planning or implementing future services or to volunteer in consultations in other ways
5. if you ask to receive further information on a specific service related to the consultation

or

6. to administer incentives, such as prize draws, that encourage participation in our surveys.

We will only process your contact details with your express consent and only for the purpose(s) specified. Generally, contact details are kept separately from other information you may provide; this may be done automatically when you submit your survey response or, in the case of formal consultations, six months after a formal decision.

Where we have invited you to be part of a long-term consultation panel, we will store your details for longer than six months but you may opt out at any time and we would remove your details from our contact list as soon as reasonably practical.

Equalities information

We may ask your age, gender, transgender status, ethnic origin, disability status, sexual orientation, and religion or belief for equalities monitoring. Equalities monitoring is in the public interest and is required by the Equality Act 2010 - GOV.UK.

Other personal information

There are also some kinds of personal information that we collect occasionally if it is required for a specific topic. We may ask your postcode, about your household composition, family, lifestyle, or social circumstances, financial circumstances, physical or mental health or condition, education and professional training, employment status, housing tenure, and satisfaction with the council and its services.

It is in the public interest to process this data to inform service development and shape council policies. This is particularly relevant to public health, as well as other areas for which the council is responsible or is involved.

How long we will keep your data for

If you have consented to us using your contact details to tell you of future Reigate & Banstead Borough Council consultations or surveys, your contact details will be held for up to three years from the date of consent.

If you have consented to us using your contact details to keep you informed about a particular consultation or survey, your contact details will be held for up to three years from the start date of the consultation survey.

If you have consented to us using your contact details because you would like to be involved in planning or implementing future services or to volunteer in consultations in other ways, your contact details will be held for up to three years from the date of consent.

If you have consented to us using your contact details as part of a consultation panel we will keep your details for up to three years from the date of consent.

If you have consented to us using your contact details to receive further information on a specific service related to the consultation, we will keep your details for up to three years from the start date of the consultation.

Before the three-year period finishes, we may contact you to ask if you would like us to retain your contact details for a further period of up to three years.

If you have consented to us using your contact details to administer incentives, such as prize draws, your contact details will be held until the incentives have been awarded. They will then be deleted.

Equalities information and other personal information collected as part of a consultation will be stored for up to six months after a decision has been made on the final proposals. Equalities and other personal information will then either be anonymised or deleted.

Equalities information and other personal information collected as part of other surveys, which do not lead to a formal decision, will be stored for up to six months after a consultation or survey report is published or signed off. The equalities information and other personal information will then either be anonymised or deleted.

Equalities information and other personal information collected as part of a survey without a specific closing date (e.g. "rolling surveys" that capture service-level customer satisfaction) will be stored for up to six months after the end of the annual reporting cycle during which the data was collected. The equalities information and other personal information will then either be anonymised or deleted.

If you are a member of a panel, equalities information will be held for up to three years from the date of consent.

Who we share your data with and why

Sometimes Reigate & Banstead Borough Council runs consultations or surveys in association with, or on behalf of, local and or regional partners or public agencies (e.g. such as running a joint survey with neighbouring boroughs or councils on services that we each provide, with other statutory services on issues that are mutually relevant to of our services or with local voluntary or community organisations on issues that are of interest to both of us). In such cases, we would share anonymised data and equalities information with the partner or agency.

If the partner organisation(s) wishes for us to collect your personal data, we will draw up a data transfer agreement with them and ask for your permission to collect and transfer your personal data in accordance with that agreement.

We might also ask for your consent for us to supply them with your contact details so they can keep you informed about a particular consultation or survey.

Personal information will not be published or passed on to third parties

Where an organisation responds to a consultation, the name of the organisation - but not the name of the individual respondent(s) - may be published with the consultation response.

The information that you supply is collected using software called "SmartSurvey". SmartSurvey stores data on secure servers in the United Kingdom. Information about SmartSurvey’s privacy policy is on its website.

Your rights as a data subject

You have the right, at any time, to ask for the erasure of any personal information we hold about you, including your contact details collected during a consultation or survey, or at your written request, for the purposes of informing you about consultations or surveys, to administer your membership of a Panel.

You have the right to object to the processing of your personal information and or to request access to your data and where data is found to be inaccurate to have that data corrected.

You also have a right of complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk if you think we have dealt with your information in an inappropriate manner.

You can ask to see what information we hold about you and have access to it. You can do this, by contacting:

Data Protection Officer
Reigate & Banstead Borough Council
Town Hall
Castlefield Road
Reigate
RH2 0SH

Email: data.protection@reigate-banstead.gov.uk

Any further questions regarding the data being processed may also be sent to the above address or to the data controller.