PRIVACY POLICY

Your personal data – what is it?

Personal data is any information about a living individual which allows them to be identified from that data (for example a name, photographs, videos, email address, or address). An individual can be identified either directly from the data itself or by combining it with other information which helps identify them (e.g. a list of staff may contain personnel ID numbers rather than names but if you use a list a separate list of the ID numbers which give the corresponding names to identify the staff in the first list then the first list will also be treated as personal data). The processing of personal data is governed by UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR), the Data Protection Act 2018, the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 (DUAA) and other applicable data protection and privacy legislation.

Who are we? 

This Privacy Notice is provided to you by the Flaxton Parish Council (ICO registration  ZA788009), which is the data controller for your data.

Other data controllers the Council works with:

  • North Yorkshire Council
  • Internal auditors
  • External auditors
  • Banks/payment providers
  • IT and website providers
  • Insurance providers
  • Legal advisers
  • Community groups
  • Charities
  • Other not-for-profit organisations
  • Contractors

We may need to share the personal data we hold about you with them so that they can conduct their responsibilities to the Council. In limited circumstances the Council and another organisation may act as joint controllers. Where this occurs, the parties will determine their respective responsibilities for complying with data protection law.

A description of what personal data the Council processes and for what purposes is set out in this Privacy Notice.  

The Council will process some or all of the following personal data where necessary to perform its tasks: 

  • Names, titles, and aliases, photographs;
  • Contact details such as telephone numbers, addresses, and email addresses;
  • Where they are relevant to the services provided by a Council, or where you provide them to us, we may process information such as gender, age, marital status, nationality, education/work history, academic/professional qualifications, hobbies, family composition, and dependants;
  • Where you pay for activities such as use of a Council Hall, financial identifiers such as bank account numbers, payment transaction details, policy numbers, and claim numbers;

How we use special category personal data

Where the Council employs staff we may process special category personal data including, as appropriate:

  • information about your physical or mental health or condition in order to monitor sick leave and take decisions on your fitness for work;
  • your racial or ethnic origin or religious or similar information in order to monitor compliance with equal opportunities legislation;
  • in order to comply with legal requirements and obligations to third parties.

These types of data are described in the UK GDPR as “Special categories of data” and require higher levels of protection. We need to have further justification for collecting, storing and using this type of personal data. The ICO specifically stresses that organisations need to identify the special category data being processed, minimise it and have appropriate security measures.

We may process special categories of personal data in the following circumstances:

  • In limited circumstances, with your explicit written consent.
  • Where we need to comply with our legal obligations.
  • Where it is needed in the public interest.

Less commonly, we may process this type of personal data where it is needed in relation to legal claims or where it is needed to protect your interests (or someone else’s interests) and you are not capable of giving your consent, or where you have already made the information public.

The Council may, where permitted by law, process information relating to criminal allegations, offences, proceedings or safeguarding concerns where this is necessary for safeguarding purposes, the prevention or detection of unlawful acts, the protection of the public, or compliance with legal obligations.

When do we rely on your consent to process special category data?

In limited circumstances, we may approach you for your written consent to allow us to process certain special category personal data. If we do so, we will provide you with full details of the personal data that we would like and the reason we need it, so that you can carefully consider whether you wish to consent.

The Council will comply with data protection law

This says that the personal data we hold about you must be:

  • Used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way.
  • Collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes.
  • Relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes.
  • Accurate and kept up to date.
  • Kept only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about.
  • Kept and destroyed securely including ensuring that appropriate technical and security measures are in place to protect your personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure.

How we obtain personal data

We obtain personal data:

  • Directly from you when you contact the Council, submit forms, apply for grants, hire Council facilities or participate in Council activities.
  • From public bodies, local authorities and partner organisations where necessary to carry out Council functions.
  • From publicly available sources where relevant to Council business.
  • Through our website and social media platforms.

Use of your personal data

We use your personal data for some or all of the following purposes:

  • To contact you by post, email, telephone or using social media (e.g., Facebook, X, WhatsApp);
  • To help us to build up a picture of how we are performing;
  • To prevent and detect fraud and corruption in the use of public funds and where necessary for the law enforcement functions;
  • To enable us to meet all legal and statutory obligations and powers including any delegated functions;
  • To conduct comprehensive safeguarding procedures (including due diligence and complaints handling) in accordance with best safeguarding practice from time to time with the aim of ensuring that all children and adults-at-risk are provided with safe environments and as necessary to protect individuals from harm or injury;
  • To promote the interests of the Council;
  • To maintain our own accounts and records;
  • To seek your views, opinions or comments;
  • To notify you of changes to our facilities, services, events and staff, Councillors and other role holders;
  • To send you communications which you have requested and that may be of interest to you. These may include information about campaigns, appeals, other new projects or initiatives;
  • To process relevant financial transactions including grants and payments for goods and services supplied to the Council;
  • To allow the statistical analysis of data so we can plan the provision of services.

When you interact with the Council through social media platforms, those providers may process your personal information independently and as separate data controllers in accordance with their own privacy notices.

 Security

We have appropriate technical and organisational measures in place to protect personal data against unauthorised or unlawful processing, accidental loss, destruction or damage.

Automated decision making and profiling

The Council does not undertake automated decision-making or profiling using personal data.

What is the legal basis for processing your personal data?

Most personal data processed by the Council is processed under Article 6(1)(e) UK GDPR (performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the Council) and, where applicable, Article 6(1)(c) UK GDPR (compliance with a legal obligation).

Sometimes when exercising these powers or duties it is necessary to process personal data of residents or people using the Council’s services.  We will always consider your interests and rights. This Privacy Notice sets out your rights and the Council’s obligations to you.

Sometimes the use of your personal data requires your consent. We will first obtain your consent to that use.

The lawful bases for the use of your personal data are shown in the table below.

Purpose for Processing

Personal Data Categories Used

Lawful Basis (UK GDPR Article 6)

Special Category Condition (Article 9 – if applicable)

Delivering Public Services & Communications (Managing village events, and responding to public inquiries)

Names, titles, contact details (email, phone, address), financial transaction identifiers.

Article 6(1)(e): Public Task (discharge of statutory functions) OR Article 6(1)(b): Contract (where you rent a facility/allotment).

N/A

Statutory Safeguarding (Ensuring safety for children and vulnerable adults at sponsored events)

Names, family composition, details of injuries, physical/mental health details.

 Article 6(1)(e) Public Task and, where applicable, Article 6(1)(c) Legal Obligation.

Article 9(2)(g) UK GDPR and Schedule 1, Part 2, Paragraph 18 of the Data Protection Act 2018 (Safeguarding of children and individuals at risk)

Financial Transactions & Accountability (Processing grants, paying suppliers, collecting fees, and maintaining statutory Council accounts)

Names, financial identifiers, bank account numbers, transaction histories.

Article 6(1)(c): Legal Obligation (compliance with HMRC and local government audit legislation).

N/A

Preventing Fraud & Law Enforcement (Auditing public funds to prevent crime and corruption)

Names, identifiers.

Article 6(1)(c): Legal Obligation OR Article 6(1)(e): Public Task.

Article 9(2)(g): Substantial public interest (prevention/detection of unlawful acts).

Council Administration & Employment (where the Council employs staff) (Managing staff, tracking sick leave, assessing fitness for work, and maintaining internal Council rosters)

Names, work history, professional qualifications, health conditions, medical treatment.

Article 6(1)(b): Contract (employment) OR Article 6(1)(c): Legal Obligation.

Article 9(2)(b): Employment, social security and social protection law.

Newsletters & Community Marketing (Sending opted-in email updates regarding village news, campaigns, or general Council initiatives)

Names, email addresses.

Article 6(1)(a): Consent. You may withdraw your consent at any time by contacting the Council or using the unsubscribe facility provided.

N/A

Cookies

Information about the use of cookies on our website can be found in our Cookie Policy.

Sharing your personal data

This section provides information about the third parties with whom the Council may share your personal data. These third parties have an obligation to put in place appropriate security measures and will be responsible to you directly for the manner in which they process and protect your personal data. It is likely that we will need to share your data with some or all of the following (but only where necessary):

  • The data controllers listed above under the heading “Other data controllers the Council works with”;
  • Our agents, suppliers and contractors. For example, we may ask a commercial provider to publish or distribute newsletters on our behalf, or to maintain our database software;
  • On occasion, other local authorities or not-for-profit organisations with which we are conducting joint ventures e.g. in relation to facilities or events for the community.

How long do we keep your personal data?

We retain personal data for as long as necessary for the purpose for which it was collected and with our document retention and disposal schedule and any statutory retention requirements. Specific retention periods are detailed therein.

The Council is permitted to retain data in order to defend or pursue claims. In some cases, the law imposes a time limit for such claims (for example 3 years for personal injury claims or 6 years for contract claims). We will retain some personal data for this purpose as long as we believe it is necessary to be able to defend or pursue a claim. In general, we will endeavour to keep data only for as long as we need it. This means that we will delete it when it is no longer needed.

Your rights and your personal data 

You have the following rights with respect to your personal data:

When exercising any of the rights listed below, in order to process your request, we may need to verify your identity for your security. In such cases we will need you to respond with proof of your identity before you can exercise these rights.

The right to access personal data we hold on you

At any point you can contact us to request the personal data we hold on you as well as why we have that personal data, who has access to the personal data and where we obtained the personal data. Once we have received your request we will respond within one month.

There are no fees or charges for the first request but additional requests for the same personal data or requests which are manifestly unfounded or excessive may be subject to an administrative fee.

The right to correct and update the personal data we hold on you

If the data we hold on you is out of date, incomplete or incorrect, you can inform us and your data will be updated. 

The right to have your personal data erased

If you feel that we should no longer be using your personal data or that we are unlawfully using your personal data, you can request that we erase the personal data we hold. 

When we receive your request, we will confirm whether the personal data has been deleted or the reason it cannot be deleted (for example because we need it to comply with a legal obligation). 

The right to object to processing of your personal data or to restrict it to certain purposes only

You have the right to request that we stop processing your personal data or ask us to restrict processing. Upon receiving the request, we will contact you and let you know if we are able to comply or if we have a legal obligation to continue to process your data. 

The right to data portability

You have the right to request that we transfer some of your data to another controller. The right to data portability only applies where processing is based on consent or contract and conducted by automated means. Where the right to data portability applies, we will comply with your request within one month.

The right to withdraw your consent to the processing at any time for any processing of data to which consent was obtained

 You can withdraw your consent easily by telephone, email, or by post (see Contact Details below).

The right to complain to the ICO

You have the right to complain to the ICO if you are unhappy with how your personal data is handled.

Data protection complaints procedure

You have the right to complain directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office at any time. We would however appreciate the opportunity to address your concerns before you approach the ICO.

Flaxton Parish Council is committed to protecting personal data and individuals can complain directly to the Council in writing if they believe their personal data has not been managed appropriately. The Council shall acknowledge receipt of the complaint and investigate and communicate the outcome within one month.

This procedure is separate from the Council’s general complaints procedure. The Council is not required to appoint a Data Protection Officer under Article 37 UK GDPR. The Clerk is the Council’s contact for data protection matters.

You may also contact the ICO directly at any time, regardless of whether you have first raised your concerns with the Council. You can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office on 0303 123 1113 or via https://ico.org.uk or at the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Transfer of data outside the UK

Any personal data transferred to countries or territories outside the United Kingdom will only be processed on systems that ensure an adequate level of protection for personal rights. This is achieved either through UK Adequacy Regulations, or by using appropriate safeguards such as the UK International Data Transfer Agreement (IDTA) or the UK Addendum to the EU Standard Contractual Clauses, as approved by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO). Because our website is accessible worldwide, limited personal data (for example, names or email addresses published in a public newsletter) may occasionally be accessed from overseas.

Further processing

If we wish to use your personal data for a new purpose, not covered by this Privacy Notice, then we will provide you with a new notice explaining this new use prior to commencing the processing, setting out the relevant purposes, and processing conditions. Where and whenever necessary, we will seek your prior consent to the new processing.

Changes to this notice

We keep this Privacy Notice under regular review and we will place any updates on https://www.flaxtonpc.org.uk/privacy-policy/.  

Contact details

Please contact us if you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or the personal data that we hold about you or to exercise all relevant rights, queries or complaints at:

Data Controller: Flaxton Parish Council
Contact for Data Protection Matters: The Parish Clerk.

Email:

Address: 6 The Grove, South Elmsall, WF9 2PE

This policy was last reviewed and updated on 26th October 2026 and adopted by Flaxton Parish Council.