Vale of White Horse District Council
Abbey House, Abbey Close,
Abingdon, OX14 3JE
Email: comments@whitehorsedc.gov.uk
Telephone: 01235 520202

Vale of White Horse District Council

3.02 Policy Statement

3.02.1

The Vale of White Horse District Council is committed to providing high quality services for the people living and working within the Vale and recognises, that to achieve this aim and to carry out its functions, it obtains and deals with personal information about people within the Vale and those who wish to do business with the Council. The Council acknowledges that it owes a duty to those people to protect their personal information in compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998. This policy therefore applies to all staff working for the Council and elected Members.

3.02.2

The Council will notify the Information Commissioner annually of the personal information to be processed in accordance with Part III of the Data Protection Act 1998 and will keep under review its register entries to ensure they remain accurate and up-to-date. Elected Members are encouraged to notify the Information Commissioner if the nature of their constituency work involves the processing of personal data. The Council will also obtain and deal with information in accordance with the eight data protection principles which are set out below.

3.02.3

As and when the Information Commissioner produces Codes of Practice relating to specific areas, the Council will normally follow the Commissioner’s Codes unless there are exceptional circumstances justifying a departure from the recommended approach. Any guidance issued by the Commissioner will also be taken into account when dealing with specific data protection issues.

3.02.4

The Council will respond to and assist any person (including an employee or elected Member) who requests access to information about them held by the Council but the Council will charge for access to such personal data. The Council will provide guidance to those who wish to exercise their rights as to the process to be followed.

3.02.5

Information about a particular individual will not be revealed to any third party, with or without a request, unless consent has been obtained or disclosure is justified under the provisions of the legislation.

3.02.6

Data protection legislation is a complex and changing area of the law which affects all areas of the Council’s work. The Council will, from time to time, issue guidance to staff and ensure adequate training takes place. The Directors will have overall responsibility for compliance in their respective Directorates but it will be the responsibility of Assistant Directors to deal with day to day issues in their respective Service Areas.

3.02.7

If any member of staff knowingly or recklessly breaches the Council’s Data Protection Policy, the Council will regard it as a serious disciplinary offence subject to the Council’s Disciplinary Policy and Procedure.

3.02.8

If any elected Member knowingly or recklessly breaches the Council’s Data Protection Policy, it may be regarded as a breach of the Council’s Local Code of Conduct and subject to a complaint to the Standards Board for England.

3.02.9

This Policy shall come into effect on the 23rd day of October 2002 and shall be reviewed at least once every four years and also when circumstances warrant it.