Privacy notices

Who we are

We are the planning department for Croydon Council. We use your personal information when carrying out our functions as a local planning authority including but not limited to:

• making decisions and providing advice on planning applications
• drafting planning policies
• working with neighbourhoods on their plans
• working with neighbouring authorities on strategic policies
• responding to allegations of unlawful development
• monitoring development
• providing planning and building control services
• entering legal agreements, serving notices and promoting the best use of land
• complying with government department research and statistical returns
• accounting for our decisions and investigate of corporate complaints

This privacy notice explains how we use your personal information and how we protect your privacy in accordance with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018. It applies to any activity involving our use of your personal data, for example, collecting, storing, sharing, and destroying personal information.

What information we collect

We collect a range of information including:

• name
• address
• email
• telephone number
• bank details
• agent contact details (if applicable)
• full address of the development
• record of payments made, amounts outstanding to the Council and any action taken by us to recover monies owed in relation to fees for planning/building control applications or for any alleged planning breaches

We usually obtain an applicant’s information in two ways – it is supplied to us directly (or via a planning agent on their behalf), or we receive it from a third-party website that provides a transaction service, such as:

• The Planning Portal
• iApply

We also receive comments, representations, allegations and questions via email, letter and the online register via the Council’s website.

We are required by planning regulations to publish planning applications on our website which includes applicant/agent name and address as these form part of the statutory register. We redact other personal information such as signatures, email addresses and telephone numbers (see section Redaction, below).

Why we collect your information

To allow us to make decisions on their applications, individuals must provide us with some personal data. In a small number of circumstances, individuals will also provide us with “special category data” in support of their application (e.g. evidence of medical history).

To comply with the GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, we will inform you whether you are required by law to provide certain information to us; if you do have a choice to provide information that is not mandatory, your explicit consent will be requested. You do have the right to withdraw your consent if this is applicable to processing your data. If this is the case, we will let you know. If you withdraw your consent, we may not be able to provide certain services to you. If this is the case, we will tell you.

We use the information provided to us to make decisions about the use of land in the public interest. This is known as a “public task” and is why we do not need you to “opt in” to allow your information to be used.

Some information provided to us we are obliged under relevant legislation and associated regulations to make available on planning registers. This is a permanent record of our planning decisions that form part of the planning history of a site, along with other facts that form part of the “land search”.

Lawful basis on which we use this information

• Compliance with our legal obligations
• Tasks carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority
• Contract for the supply of services
• Consent given by you or your representative where this is applicable

Who we share your information with

• We may need to share the information we have with other parts of Croydon Council, for example, to establish how long a building has been used as a dwelling
• Other Croydon Council teams so they can carry out their statutory roles and support our service (e.g. Housing, Complaints, Corporate Finance, Legal Services, IT Services, Enforcement)
• External agencies such as the Planning Inspectorate or the Local Government & Social Care Ombudsman (LGO) in the context of any appeals or complaints
• We make details of planning applications available online so that people can contribute their comments.

We do not sell your information to other organisations for marketing or commercial purposes. We do not transfer your information outside of the UK without your consent. We do not use your information for automated decision-making.

Redaction (‘blanking things out’)

We operate a policy where we routinely redact the following details before making forms and documents available online:
 

• Personal contact details for the applicant e.g. telephone numbers, email addresses
• Signatures
• Special Category Data e.g. supporting statements that include information about health conditions or ethnic origin
• Information agreed to be confidential

Sometimes we may decide that it is necessary, justified and lawful to disclose data that appears in the list above (see also section Lawful basis, above). In these circumstances, we will let you know of our intention before we publish anything.

If you are submitting supporting information which you would like to be treated confidentially or wish to be specifically withheld from the public register, please let us know as soon as you can – ideally in advance of submitting the application. The best way to contact us about this issue is by email at development.management@croydon.gov.uk or telephone on 020 8726 6800.

Retention (‘how long we keep your information for’)

Personal data will not be retained for longer than necessary than for the purposes for which it was collected. There is usually a legal reason for keeping your personal information for a set period of time – this ranges from months for some records to years for more sensitive records. For example:

• Statutory registers (e.g. planning decisions, approved plans, legal agreements) – in perpetuity
• Supporting documents and reports – in perpetuity
• Representations, letters, general correspondence on planning applications – in perpetuity
• Submissions and evidence relating to planning enforcement investigations – in perpetuity

If you require more information about our retention schedule, please contact us at development.management@croydon.gov.uk.

Providing us with accurate information

The accuracy of your information is very important for us to be able to provide you with relevant services more quickly.

If you change your address or email address, or if any of your circumstances change or any of the other information we hold is inaccurate or out of date, please email us at development.management@croydon.gov.uk

Requesting access to your personal data

Under GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018, you have the right to request access to information that we hold about you. To make a request for your personal information, contact the Council’s Information Management Team at SAR@croydon.gov.uk.

Further information

The GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 give you a number of rights to control what personal information is used by us and how it is used by us. Information about your data rights is listed in the Council’s Corporate Privacy Notice on the Council’s website at www.croydon.gov.uk/privacy.

If you have any questions or concerns about the way we collect, store or use your personal information, please contact in the first instance development.management@croydon.gov.uk or 020 8726 6800.

For independent advice about data-protection issues, you can contact the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) at www.ico.org.uk.

We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Notice at any time and will keep it under review. If we do make any changes, we will post the current version to our website at this address.

Last updated: June 2018