Privacy

Planning services privacy notice

Submission of planning and related applications, pre-application enquiries, preparation, monitoring and review of planning policy documents Section 106 and enforcement.

Who is the data controller for the information I provide?

Liverpool City Council is the data controller for the data you provide. Planning services takes your privacy very seriously and will keep your personal data secure at all times.

Why are we collecting your data?

Planning legislation requires us to collect information from you when you submit a planning related application and supporting documentation or make a representation or comment in relation to a planning application or the preparation, monitoring or review of planning policy.

What is the legal basis for collecting and processing this data?

Planning legislation - Town and Country Planning Act 1990, Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004 and the Town and Country Planning Development Management Procedure, England (Order 2015) - requires us to collect information from you when you submit a planning related application and supporting documentation or make a representation or comment in relation to a planning application or the preparation, monitoring or review of planning policy.

This applies when you contact us about the preparation, monitoring or review of planning policy, or an existing application or related information or make an enforcement complaint. This includes contact by email, letter or telephone either direct or via the contact centre.

We may also receive information about you from third parties, including planning agents and interested parties who comment on a planning application or the preparation, monitoring or review of planning policy, or planning and related applications. We may also undertake proactive enforcement enquiries and gather information relating to liabilities under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (S106 liabilities).

What information do we collect?

The types of personal information we collect may include:

  • Basic personal information including name, address and contact details.
  • Information relating to expressed opinions or intentions in respect of a planning and related applications or matters.
  • Any other information you provide to us during the application process enforcement investigation.

What do we use your data for?

We will use your personal data as part of the Council's statutory duties in relation to the processing of all types of planning and related applications or to the preparation, monitoring or review of planning policy. This also includes relevant S106 charges (a legal agreement entered into under section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 between an applicant and the City Council to mitigate the impacts of a development proposal) to enable the Council to determine whether planning permission or similar consents should be granted and to process any S106 liabilities, which may apply.

Data provided as part of the planning and related application process will be used as part of the council's work with regard to the monitoring, implementation and enforcement of planning permissions and investigations into breaches of planning control or in relation to the preparation, monitoring or review of planning policy. We use the information we collect about you to fulfil our legal obligations around the planning process.

Do I have to provide this information, and what will happen if I don’t?

Your planning application cannot be processed.  Formal representations made on planning applications or policy documents cannot be considered.

Publication of information

Planning policy preparation, monitoring and review

When publishing the formal representation made on planning policy documents we will only make public the name of the respondent.  We must however provide the official person appointed and where appropriate any person appointed to assist that official, to conduct any public examination of a submitted development plan document or neighbourhood plan with relevant contact details in order to ensure that you have an opportunity to fully participate in the independent examination process.

Retention of information

The law requires us to maintain the information on the register of planning applications indefinitely, and as such information relating to applications will be available on our website permanently. Comments and objections on applications form part of the statutory register and we will retain copies of these alongside the planning application. S106 information may be retained permanently for enforcement, audit and monitoring purposes. Enforcement complaints are retained permanently as the records are necessary to inform the planning process.

Pre-application enquiries will be held indefinitely as they form part of the planning history for the site and the data will be used for monitoring and enforcement purposes, however these will not be published online.

Personal data will be held securely by the council. We have a Data Protection Policy in place to oversee the effective and secure processing of your personal information, and also utilise appropriate technical safeguards to keep your information secure and confidential where appropriate.

We will retain the original representations and comments made in respect of the preparation, monitoring or review of planning policy while they remain relevant to the preparation of the development plan or other policy document in question. In the case of formal statutory documents such as the Local Plan, this will be until at least the end of any legal challenge period following the City Council’s formal decision to adopt that document.

Who will your information be shared with?

The information you have provided may be shared with other Liverpool City Council departments and other external third parties, when undertaking statutory and non-statutory consultation, for example, building control and highways services and Merseyside Environmental Advisory Service (MEAS). We may also share data with the Police and other third parties to identify and deter criminal activity in accordance with the law.

If an appeal is made against our decision, the information you have provided will be shared with The Planning Inspectorate for the purposes of determining planning and related application appeals and investigating enforcement matters and appeals. This is to enable the Inspector to take account of your comment, when deciding the appeal.

Your name, address and comment will be shared publicly via Planning Online as the Town and Country Planning Acts require us to do so. You should be aware that it may be possible for your address to be browsed through internet browsers and search engines.

In relation to the preparation, monitoring or review of planning policy documents we will share your information with any consultants undertaking this work on our behalf, the Panning Inspectorate and the official person appointed and where appropriate any person appointed to assist that official, to conduct any public examination of a submitted development plan document or neighbourhood plan with relevant contact details in order to ensure that you have an opportunity to fully participate in the independent examination process.

Will my data be transferred abroad and if so why?

No.

Automated decision-making and profiling

We do not engage in automated decision-making using your personal data.

What rights do I have when it comes to my data?

You have a number of rights that are set out on the How to access your data page of this section.

Delib Privacy Information

Delib's software (this website) enables organisations to set up and operate activities, through which they can engage with you.

This site is managed by the controlling organisation, Liverpool City Council. When you access and use this site, the personal information you have submitted to these activities will go to the organisation. Delib will not access your personal information unless requested to do so by the organisation, and only for the purposes of assisting them with the administration of this site.

Accessing your Personal Information

If you have any questions or requests about your personal information, for example to request a copy of it, or to ask for it to be corrected if you think it is wrong, please contact the organisation (as stated in their Privacy Notice / Privacy Statement / Privacy Policy). It is the controlling organisation's responsibility to answer any questions or requests about your personal information.

Collection of Browser Information

The information provided by your computer when you use this website is collected by Delib. For example, your browser type, IP address, language preference, referring site and the date and time. The purpose for collecting this information is to maintain the security of the website and for operating and improving the software.