Privacy Policy

How Wembury Parish Council collects, uses and protects your personal information.

Last updated: 28 July 2026

1. Who we are

Wembury Parish Council is a local authority and is the “data controller” for the personal information it collects and uses in the course of its functions, including administration, planning consultation, allotments, burial ground management, correspondence with residents, and the running of council meetings.

This notice explains what personal data we collect, why we collect it, how we use it, and what rights you have over it. It applies to information collected through our website, by email, by phone, in writing, and in person.

 

2. Information we collect

Depending on how you interact with us, we may collect:

  • Your name, postal address, email address and telephone number
  • Details of correspondence, enquiries, comments or complaints you send us
  • Information you provide when applying for an allotment, booking a facility, or requesting a burial or memorial
  • Comments made at, or submitted in relation to, parish council meetings
  • Planning consultation responses
  • Job or volunteer applications, where relevant
  • CCTV footage, if any council-operated premises are monitored

We do not knowingly collect special category data (such as health or financial details) unless you provide it voluntarily as part of a request to us, or it is necessary for a specific service (for example, a burial record).

 

3. How we use your information

We use personal information to:

  • Respond to enquiries, correspondence and complaints
  • Administer parish council services, such as allotments and burial grounds
  • Process and record planning consultation responses
  • Maintain statutory records and minutes of council meetings
  • Manage recruitment of staff or councillors
  • Meet our legal and regulatory obligations

 

 

5. Sharing your information

We do not sell or rent personal information. We may share it with:

  • South Hams District Council and Devon County Council, where required for shared functions such as planning
  • Our internal auditor and external auditor, for statutory financial audit
  • Our website and IT service providers, acting on our instructions
  • The police or other authorities, where we are required to do so by law

Minutes and agendas of council meetings are published on our website and are public documents; where possible, we avoid publishing unnecessary personal detail within them.

 

6. How long we keep it

We keep personal information only for as long as necessary for the purpose it was collected, and in line with the retention periods set out in guidance issued by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) and relevant legislation. Statutory records, such as minutes and financial records, are retained permanently or for periods set by law; routine correspondence is generally retained for a shorter, defined period before secure disposal.

 

7. Keeping your information secure

We take appropriate technical and organisational measures to protect personal information against unauthorised access, loss, misuse or disclosure, including restricting access to those who need it to carry out council business.

8. Cookies

 

Our website may use essential cookies needed for the site to function correctly. We do not use cookies for advertising or tracking purposes. You can control or delete cookies through your browser settings at any time.

9. Your rights

 

Under UK data protection law, you have the right to:

  • Ask us what personal information we hold about you, and request a copy of it
  • Ask us to correct information that is inaccurate or incomplete
  • Ask us to delete your information, in certain circumstances
  • Ask us to restrict or object to how we use your information, in certain circumstances
  • Withdraw consent at any time, where we rely on consent to process your data

To exercise any of these rights, please contact the Parish Clerk using the details below.

 

10. Children’s privacy

Our services are generally intended for use by adults. We do not knowingly collect personal information from children without appropriate parental or guardian involvement.

 

11. Changes to this notice

We may update this notice from time to time to reflect changes in our practices or the law. The date at the top of this page shows when it was last revised.

 

12. Contact us and complaints

If you have a question about this notice, or wish to exercise any of your data protection rights, please contact the Parish Clerk:

Wembury Parish Council

Email: clerk@wemburyparishcouncil.gov.uk

Telephone: 01752 393420

If you are unhappy with how we have handled your personal information, you also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO):