- How we use your data
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Our planning department uses various kinds of information including personal data and occasionally special categories data (previously called sensitive personal data).
We receive applications seeking planning consent of one form or another, requests for advice and we investigate allegations of breaches of planning control.
Our purpose in collecting and using data is to operate as a statutory body carrying out a public task.The most common things we use personal data for are:
- to help us determine an application
- publicise applications in various ways to seek comments and information
- notifying other organisations of proposals to seek their views
- investigating allegations
- writing reports and making decisions
We use your personal data for to process and determine planning applications, building regulations notices, dangerous structures, street naming and numbering, planning policy and investigating alleged breaches.
We have a statutory obligation to provide these services in accordance with:- The Building Act 1984 and the building regulations
- The London Building Act (Amendment) Act 1939
- Fire Safety and Places of Sports Act 1987
- Town and Country Planning Act 1990
- Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004
- Planning Act 2008
- Proceeds of Crime Act 2002
- Local Government Act 1972
Your personal data may have been shared with Stoke-on-Trent City Council by another organisation as detailed below depending on how you submitted your application.
- Planning Portal
- iApply
In line with our policy, any hard copy correspondence you provide will be digitised and delivered to us by our third party processor.
We collect:- name
- address
- telephone number
- bank details
- agent contact details (if applicable)
- full address of the development
- special categories data (previously called personal sensitive data)
- information agreed to be confidential
If you are submitting supporting information, which you would like to be treated confidentially or wish to be specifically withheld from the public register, let us know at as soon as you can - ideally before submitting the application. You can do this by contacting the relevant planning officer.
The council publishes planning applications on its website, which includes the applicant/agent name and address but we do redact some of the personal data you have provided, namely your signature, email addresses and telephone number so these are not visible to the public and only to the council’s planning department.
We charge for planning applications and will record payment amounts made, amounts outstanding and the action taken to recover monies owed.
Enforcement cases remain confidential and at no time will we divulge the details of complainants who have informed us of alleged planning breaches.
Generally, the information we hold will have been provided by you (on an application or enquiry form or when we communicate with you), but we may also hold information provided by third parties where this is relevant (such as complainants, LGO, other council departments).
We will only ask for personal data that is appropriate to enable us to deliver our services. In some cases, you can refuse to provide your details if you deem a request to be inappropriate but this might affect our ability to provide some services to you.
We will sometimes need to share the information we have with other departments in the council and also to external bodies that we work alongside.
Comments include material considerations, which we consider when determining planning applications. All comments provided by you are held on our system along with your contact information, if it has been provided.
In order to be transparent as a public authority we normally publish the full text of the comments you have provided and this full text is published on our public facing website. We will redact your email address and signatures but you should be careful not to provide any other personal data or special categories data (previously called sensitive personal data) about yourself in these comments which is capable of identifying you to anyone else. If you do so, you must be aware that these will be
seen by the public.
If you wish to make comments providing any personal data or special categories data (previously called sensitive personal data) about yourself which is capable of identifying you then you should consider doing so only by using an alternative method.Email us
We will usually provide a summary of your comments in both our delegated and committee reports as part of the decision making process. If the application is reported to committee, the committee members receive a summary of all comments in their background papers a week before the meeting.
We receive allegations of unlawful development that we investigate and decide whether or not to act. Allegations are a useful way for us to learn about potential breaches of planning control and we treat the personal details of the people who make the allegation in confidence. These personal details are not made public. We are required by statute to make public any enforcement notices we serve.
The council receives planning, advert, householder and enforcement appeals. The appellant and their agents submit documents for these appeals. The documents include the appeal form that may contain personal details of the applicant and agent. Documents uploaded with the council's questionnaire may also contain personal data or special categories data (previously called sensitive personal data). Some of the third party comments are already redacted when received through the council's Planning Portal, others are redacted by our internal support team but some may still contain personal data or special categories data (previously called sensitive personal data), for example letters that are sent via the Planning Inspectorate (PINs).These comments and comments previously made at application stage are forwarded to PINs and are currently not all redacted, as PINs do not make these documents public.
In addition, we write to third parties to notify them of the appeal. All of these documents are currently uploaded to the council's website as public information.
The consultations sent out to third parties advise the recipients to submit their comments either via the Planning Portal or by writing to PINs, the consultation letter includes the following paragraph:- Please note that your comments will be visible to the public at large. You should be careful not to provide personal data or special categories data (previously called sensitive personal data) which is capable of identifying you but if you do, you should be aware that the public will see it so you must only provide information which you are happy for the public at large to see.
- If you supply personal data belonging to a third party, please ensure you have their permission to do so. More detailed information about data protection and privacy matters is available at the Information Commissioner's Office.
- Third parties are informed when telephoning the council that their comments will be sent onto the appellant and the agent via PINs.
Our weekly list of applications, along with agent and applicant’s details, are sent to a list of councillors and any interested party. Pending applications under review are visible to members of the public.
Applications for pre-application advice are stored in our system. These are not published on our website.
You have rights under the data protection legislation:- to access your personal data
- to be provided with information about how your personal data is processed
- to have your personal data corrected
- to have your personal data erased in certain circumstances
- to object to or restrict how your personal data is processed
- to have your personal data transferred to yourself or to another business in certain circumstances
- you have the right to be told if we have made a mistake whilst processing your data and we have a duty to self-report certain breaches to the Information Commissioner
We may share data with our internal audit team to evaluate the effectiveness of the organisation’s risk management, control and governance processes. We may also share your data with the council's fraud team to help to prevent and detect fraud.
- Who to contact if you have questions
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Data protection legislation allows you to find out what information is held about you, on paper and computer records. This is known as ‘right of subject access’ and applies to your planning data along with all other personal records. If you wish to see a copy of your records, you should contact the council’s data protection officer. You are entitled to receive a copy of our records free of charge, within a month.
In certain circumstances, access to your records may be limited, for example, if the records you have asked for contain information relating to another person.
The accuracy of your information is important to us to be able to provide relevant services more quickly. We are working to make our record keeping more efficient. In the meantime, 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 email us.
Making decisions on planning matters is a public task and you do not have the right to withdraw consent. However if you think we have done something wrong or there is a reason you would prefer for something to not be disclosed email us.
If you wish to contact us in relation to any of your information rights, email foi@stoke.gov.uk or write to Information Rights Team, Floor 2, Civic Centre, Glebe Street, Stoke-on-Trent ST4 1HH.
Complete the online form
The information rights team can be called on 01782 233732 or 235965.
If you wish to complain about how your personal information has been handled by Stoke-on-Trent City Council, contact the information rights team in the first instance using the details above. If you are not satisfied you can complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF, or call 03031231113