Privacy Notice: Essex County Council
As a Councillor you are the holder of public office and there is information we hold about you which we share with the public and publish on our website. This information can be processed by Essex County Council (ECC) for any purpose relating to your role as a councillor. This information includes:
- your image (for your security, personal ID and publication on the website)
- name, address, date of birth and contact details
- register of interests, which will include any occupation
- your election record, including any political group to which you belong or have
belonged - the committees on which you serve and outside bodies to which you may be
appointed - your attendance at meetings
- Audio and video recordings made by the Council at meetings
- the allowances and expenses you receive
- the training you receive
- gifts and hospitality you receive and
- any complaints about your conduct which the Standards Committee decides
to make public.
Much of this information has to be published by law, but not all of it has to be placed on the ECC website and if you would like some of the above information to be withheld from publication, please discuss this with the Director, Legal and Assurance or the Head of Democracy and Transparency as soon as possible as soon as possible.
Some non-sensitive information will be maintained indefinitely and become part of the permanent and historical public records of Essex County Council that may be accessed by the public through the Essex Record Office.
In addition, the Council will hold other information about you which will be processed for the purposes of administering your role as a councillor and improving the service we deliver. This information will be held securely in accordance with the Council’s data management policies and will only be accessible to relevant staff or disclosed to others in accordance with those policies or as required by law.
The Council has a duty to protect public funds and may use and disclose this information to prevent and detect crime. Information used in such circumstances may include:
- your bank details (if you claim allowances or receive a Basic or Special
Responsibility Allowance) - your date of birth, tax and NI (if applicable)
- marital status/next of kin (if supplied)
- details of any vehicle you use for council business (if you claim business
mileage or park at County Hall) - telephone numbers and email address (if you supply these and do not want
us to publish them) - any complaints which have not been made public
- private communications with the Council and
- the result of your DBS check.
In addition the following information will be processed with your consent when completing the personal development planning questionnaire.
- Relevant experiences e.g. professional, business or community roles
- Division, Council and Political priorities
- Interests
- Skills
- Knowledge
- Training History
This information will be held securely until you cease to be a County Councillor and will be destroyed in accordance with the Council’s Retention Policy unless retained for permanent preservation (as above).
Under the Data Protection Act 2018/GDPR you have a number of rights which include finding out what personal information we hold about you, requesting us to change or correct any data we hold on you or requesting we delete your personal information (although this would mean we would not be able to provide you with further services). You may also express any concerns with how we use your personal data. For more information please speak to the Director, Legal and Assurance or the Head of Democracy and Transparency.
Please note that the Freedom of Information Act 2000 applies to the Council. Accordingly we may be required to release information about you if we are required to do so under this Act. We would consult you before releasing any significant information about you.
How to contact us:
If you wish to discuss this privacy notice, please contact democratic.services@essex.gov.uk