How we use your information
If you a Community Councillor, the Council uses your information to:
- Send you information and updates about any issues or changes affecting your community.
- Verify the identity of individuals who have been elected to represent the Community Council.
- Ensure that the appropriate people have signed the Community Council’s Constitution and financial accounts
We keep your information in a secure database which is maintained by the Council’s Community Council Liaison Officer. We publish the names of all Community Councillors on our public website so people in your community know who their Community Councillors are. We also publish contact details for a nominated contact person for each Community Council, so organisations and members of the public can get in touch about any issues or concerns they may have. We recommend that this be a generic community council email address rather than a personal one.
How we use your information with your permission
The Council is often asked for contact details of Community Councillors, by organisations and individuals who want to get in touch about issues relevant to your community, for example: Scottish Water, SEPA planning agents/designers and members of the public. We will only pass on your contact details to external organisations if you have given us permission to do so.
The Council has a duty to consult Community Councils about planning, licensing or general issues that affect that community. If you have given us permission to do so, we will publish your contact details on the Council’s internal website, or pass your details to relevant officers internally on request.
We’ll only pass or publish your contact details as described above if you have actively given us permission to do so.
You can change your mind at any time, just contact the Community Council Liaison Officer who will update our records.
How long we keep your information for
The Community Council Liaison Officer keep your contact details for as long as you remain a Community Councillor (normally three years). Your name will be kept on Aberdeen City Council’s website for as long as you remain a Community Councillor (normally three years). This information will then be permanently removed from the Council’s website.
Other personal information the Council holds about Community Councillors
Community Council agendas and minutes
Community Council agendas and minutes also contain personal information about those who have participated in meetings. Where these are provided to the Council for distribution in public offices and libraries, in line with Community Council’s duty to ascertain, co-ordinate and express the views of their community, the Council will keep these minutes and agendas permanently in our local studies library.
Community Council grants
The Council has the power to provide appropriate level of funding and support for Community Councils in its area. A decision to award the grant will only be made when the Treasurer of the Community Council submits the annual accounts for their organisation which have been approved by the Community Council. The annual accounts or covering statement will contain:
- The name, address, and email address of the Treasurer.
- The name and address of the independent examiner.
The Council’s Community Council Liaison Officer will assess the annual accounts in order to calculate grant entitlement. We keep Community Council annual accounts for a period of 7 years, after which they are destroyed.
Your rights
You have rights to your data, including the right to ask for a copy of it. See more information on all the rights you have, how they work in practice, and the contact details of our Data Protection Officer. You also have the right to make a complaint to the Information Commissioner’s Office. They are the body responsible for making sure organisations like the Council handle your data lawfully.
Our legal basis
Aberdeen City Council is the Data Controller for your information. Our legal basis for processing your information is Article 6(1)(e) of the General Data Protection Regulation. This is because supporting and consulting Community Council’s is part of our public task, as outlined in the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, The Local Government etc (Scotland) Act 1994, Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (Scotland) Regulations 2013, and The Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.
The Council also considers collecting and preserving important information about Aberdeen’s people and place is part of it public task, as outlined in the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994 and the Public Records (Scotland) Act 2011.