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We are providing information for residents, businesses, and communities which we will review and update regularly. View the latest updates, advice and guidance.
We are providing information for residents, businesses, and communities which we will review and update regularly. View the latest updates, advice and guidance.
Colchester Borough Council has to collect and use information about the people with whom it works; members of the public; current, past and prospective employees; customers; suppliers and others in order to carry out its duties. Colchester Borough Council will ensure that it treats all personal information entrusted to it lawfully and correctly.
The Council fully endorses and adheres to the principles set out in the Data Protection legislation (Data Protection Act 2018 and General Data Protection Regulations). This Retention Policy and the procedures set down in it are reviewed annually to ensure that the Council continues to comply with the requirements of Article 5 (e) of the General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), ‘kept in the form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which the personal data are processed’.
The purpose of this Policy is to ensure that Colchester Borough Council ensures that:
This policy should be read in conjunction with the Council’s Data Protection Policy.
The Council will ensure that all personal data is retained and disposed of correctly. For the purposes of this policy, personal data can be held in any medium including, but not exclusively, paper documents or files, electronic images and documents, emails, data records within an electronic dataset, other images, video and audio recordings.
In addition to meeting the requirements of Data Protection legislation, The Freedom of Information (FoI) Act and the Environmental Information Regulations (EIR) require the Council to maintain records management practices that enable it to respond to requests for information as soon as possible and at the latest within 20 working days.
The Retention Schedule is a control document setting out the periods for which records should be retained to meet the operational needs of the Council and to comply with legal and other requirements. This is a ‘live’ document which is continually maintained.
Whenever retaining or disposing of personal information the Council will ensure that:
There are a number of considerations that must be made when deciding upon an appropriate retention period.
There is no requirement to keep records of material routinely discarded in the course of any administrative activity such as duplicates, leaflets or other publicity material, rough drafts or ephemera such as sticky notes.
It is an offence to destroy, delete or amend records or data in order to prevent or attempt to prevent the release of information requested under the FoI Act or the EIR. Where the records holding the information requested have been destroyed in accordance with the retention schedule again the Council has a duty to explain why the information is no longer held.
Colchester Borough Council will ensure that:
All managers and staff will ensure that:
All contractors, consultants, partners or other servants or agents of the Council must:
The Council’s Data Protection Officer, is responsible for:
In the event of an information breach, or suspected breach, contact the ICT team and Data Protection Officer.
Data Protection Officer
DPO@colchester.gov.uk
01206 507340