This charter explains:
- how we manage personal and non-personal information,
- what you can expect from us, and
- what your information rights are.
We need to process all sorts of information in order to
provide services efficiently and recognise that information is a
resource that must be managed well. Laws and regulations govern our
duties and your rights. Other documents, policies and procedures
describe what choices we have made in managing information.
In summary, we manage information to ensure that:
- it is functional – so we can carry out our job efficiently and effectively
- it is accurate – so we, and you, can rely on our information, and
- we are accountable – so we can reassure you that we did our job properly
And we want you to be able to:
- manage your dealings with us effectively, and exercise your rights
- confirm that we are doing our job properly
- make up your mind about matters of public interest
- take part in the democratic process in Richmondshire
In addition to this Charter, we have an Information Strategy
that aims to make more Council information available where it is
needed, in the format it is needed, when it is needed. You can
download a copy of the Information Strategy Information
Strategy.
About your personal information
Personal ‘data’ is information that relates to living
individuals, including customers, Council Officers and Councillors.
It does not include information relating to dead people, groups or
communities of people, organisations or businesses.
The management of personal information is regulated by the
Data Protection Act 1998. We have a Data Protection Policy to guide
officers in applying the Act. Through the Act and the policy we
will work to ensure that:
- where you have a choice about providing us with your information (or not), it is as easy as possible for you to do so
- if information about you is processed without your knowledge, it is only done where this is necessary for specific purposes such as public safety, statistical analysis, the protection of the economy, the prevention of crime or disorder, the protection of health or morals or the protection of the rights and freedoms of others
- only information that we actually need is collected and ‘processed’. Processed means anything that can be done with information including collecting, storing, sharing and deleting
- your personal information is only seen by staff who need it to do their jobs
- any information which we no longer need is deleted
- decisions affecting you are only made on the basis of reliable and up to date information
- your information is protected from unauthorised or accidental disclosure
- a copy of any information we hold about you will normally be provided to you, on request
- any inaccurate or misleading information is checked and corrected as soon as you bring this to our attention
- proper procedures are in place for dealing promptly with any complaints that you make about information we hold on you.
In return we ask you to help us to keep your information up to
date by telling us about changes immediately.
‘Fair processing’ statements
Wherever we request personal information from you we will tell
you:
- who will see it
- how we safeguard your personal information
- why it is needed
- how you can check and correct it
- what we will do with it
- how to pursue a query or complaint
- when we will delete it
- where to get more information
Here is further information on the Data Protection Act
1998.
About non-personal information
From January 2005 you have been able to request access to all
non-personal information held by us under the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and our Freedom of Information Policy.
Through the Act and our policy we will ensure that:
- as much information as possible is published so that you can access it easily
- information is only withheld from you where this is necessary for reasons such as the protection of the economy, law enforcement, health and safety, to ensure the proper conduct of public affairs, the protection of the privacy, or other legitimate interests, of others
- information is deleted or archived once it is finished with, to ensure efficient use of storage space and other resources
- Our archive of historic records provides you with a resource for study and research.
Here is further information on the Freedom of Information Act
About ‘owning’ information
If you are a contractor, partner or another organisation
working with us, we may hold information that you "own". Under the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 any member of the public could ask
for this information. If we receive a request for this information,
we will inform you of the request and ask if you object to
disclosure.
You may own the copyright or have other legal rights over the
information. These will always be respected.
However, even if you do object, we may still disclose it if it
is in the public interest to do so. We have a duty to find the
balance between individual and collective rights. We welcome open
government and expect that organisations performing public
functions will share that view, particularly where they are paid
from public funds.
To find out more about Contractor / 3rd Party information,
click Contractor / 3rd Party.
About people in a public role
The Data Protection Act 1998 and our Data Protection Policy
protect information relating to someone’s personal, family or
business life. However, if we receive a request for this type of
information, and the person concerned has a public role – e.g. as a
public servant, or is fulfilling one of the Council's public
functions - then we will try to balance their privacy and their
public role in responding to the request.
This means that if you are asking about a decision that a
Council officer has made, and you need to know his or her name, we
will only withhold it if an exemption applies.
Information relating to a deceased person is no longer classed
as personal information and we will disclose it unless one of the
exemptions applies. However, if we know that this will cause
distress to a relative we will discuss the matter with the family
first.
About electronic and other types of information
Promises made in this charter apply to information held in
almost all formats including:
- electronic files of numbers, text or other data
- scanned images of paper documents, stored electronically
- paper files and documents
- microfilm
- audio-visual records such as CCTV images or interview tapes.
An important exception is personal data held in unstructured
paper files. We keep as little unstructured information as
possible, since it is difficult to access and use. If information
about you is kept in this way you can still ask for a copy of it,
but if we cannot locate it reasonably easily we will tell you
so.
In all formats information is stored and ordered in ways that
make it efficient for us to use. It is not always stored in a way
that will enable the items that you want to be easily found.
Electronic data can often be searched to locate particular items,
but this cannot be done with manual files. For this reason some
requests may not be possible within any cost constraints that
apply.
Fees
Freedom of information
If you make an enquiry under the Freedom of Information Act
2000 that costs less than £450 to administer it will be met free of
charge. By administer, we mean the cost of finding and retrieving
the information. However, we may ask you to pay the cost of making
copies, for postage and similar expenses. Copies will be charged at
10p per page.
If your enquiry will cost more than £450 we may refuse
outright to answer it, or we may ask you to pay the cost.
Data protection
If you request your own personal data, under the Data
Protection Act, this will be provided upon receipt of a fee of
£10.
Environmental information regulations
Enquiries under the Environmental Information Regulations 2004
will be charged a fee in accordance with those regulations.
Information in other formats
You can ask for information to be in any reasonable format,
and in languages other than English, but there may be an additional
charge for this. We will discuss the likely cost of your request
with you so that you can decide whether to go ahead. We may be able
to fit a reduced request to your budget if the full cost would be
too high.
If someone else has copyright in the information you want, you
may have to pay them to use it. If so this cost will be outside our
control.
For further information on accessing any information held by
us, please email:
or telephone 01748 829100
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Last updated:
22 December 2008
