This notice provides details of what information we collect from you, what we do with it, and who it might be shared with for the Local Development Plan (LDP).

Identity and contact details of the controller and the data protection officer

Falkirk Council is the data controller. You can contact the data protection officer at:

Data Protection Officer
The Foundry
4 Central Boulevard, Central Park
Larbert
FK5 4RS

Frequently asked questions

  1. Table of contents

Why do we collect this information?

The information is being collected for the following purpose:

  1. to contact and inform you about a LDP document, including:
    • to report progress on a LDP document
    • how, when and where you can participate in the review or consultation of a LDP document
    • the outcomes from the review or consultation of a LDP document
  2. to deal with, and respond to, your freedom of information or environmental information requests
  3. to allow us to consider a site you are promoting through the 'Call for Sites' process for the LDP and carry out consultation on the site
  4. to invite you to participate in the review of a LDP document, including through consultation
  5. to enable the Scottish Government’s Planning and Environment Appeals Division (DPEA) to:
    • contact and notify you about the examination of the LDP
    • invite you to attend a site visit, hearing or inquiry
    • invite you to respond to a Reporter's request for further representations or information
  6. to send you a statutory notice(s) about a LDP document
  7. to record your name and your representation in publicly available documents, reporting views and issues raised during public consultation of a LDP document along with the Council’s response
  8. to monitor and review changes to our housing land supply, including ownership and developer interest, as part of our yearly housing land audit
  9. for equal opportunities monitoring as part of the Equalities and Poverty Impact Assessment of a LDP document

The legal basis for each purpose is set out below:

Legal basis Purpose
Consent  
Performance of a contract  
Legal obligation 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Vital interests  
Task carried out in the public interest 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9
Legitimate interests  

In terms of 3 above, we may need to process your information to carry out our public duties under Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 or the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.

In terms of 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 above, we may need to process your information to carry out our public duties for the review, monitoring, preparation and consultation of a LDP document as required by:

  • Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997
  • Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006
  • The Town and Country Planning (Development Planning) (Scotland) Regulations 2008
  • The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994
  • Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005
  • Equality Act 2010

What information do we collect?

We collect your name and contact details, including your postal address, email address and or phone number. We may collect information about age, disability, ethnic origin and race, sexual orientation and so on for the purposes of equal opportunities monitoring. We may also keep copies of your communications with us and our responses.


Where do we collect information from?

You. We get your information from communications with us, for example when you submit a representation (or comments) on a LDP document or when you ask to join our customer database.


Who might we share your information with?

The Scottish Government

All unresolved representations made on the LDP - Proposed Plan must be submitted to the Scottish Government's Planning and Environment Appeals Division (DPEA) for an independent examination, undertaken by a Reporter.

We may need to share your contact details (your name, telephone number, postal address and email address) with the DPEA so that its representatives can contact you about your representation.

Council Services and organisations

The Council has a duty to protect public funds. We may check your information within the Council for verification purposes and for the prevention of fraud. We may share your information with other organisations where we are required to do so for the purposes of the prevention or detection of crime.

General Public

Representations made on a LDP document are not confidential. Your name and/or organisation, comments, and any other information you provide with or in your representation may be made available online or to anyone on request for information.

Your personal details, such as postal address, email address, signatures, telephone numbers, will not be made public in the documents we publish.

In addition, we may publish a summary of your representation along with your name and/or organisation in publicly available documents. These documents may be available for public inspection on the Council's or the DPEA's website and at selected locations such as public libraries and Council offices.

If you are an agent, developer and/or land owner of a site that you are promoting through the Call for Sites process, we may publish your name and/or organisation along with the details of your proposal. For monitoring purposes, we record the names of developers or landowners and their sites identified within the Falkirk Council area's housing land supply. This information is published in our yearly housing land audit.

We may be obliged by the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 or Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004 to provide copies of the information you give to us.


Will we send your information outwith the UK?

Your information will normally be stored and processed in premises in the Council area or on servers based in the UK. While it may sometimes be necessary to transfer personal information overseas, any transfers will be in compliance with data protection law.


How long do we keep hold of your information?

We keep your information as long as required by law or by our business requirements. We have a Business Classification Scheme in place which sets out the types of records we hold, and how long we hold them - you can access the relevant part of the scheme below.

Planning and Building Standards

What are my rights in relation to the information held about me?

You have the following rights:

  • To see any information held about you by making a subject access request.
  • To withdraw consent at any time, where the legal basis for processing is consent.
  • To data portability, where the legal basis for processing is (i) consent or (ii) performance of a contract.
  • To request rectification or erasure of your information, where data protection legislation allows this.

Do I have a right to complain about the way information has been used?

If you have a concern about the way we are collecting or using your personal data, please let us know and we will try to resolve this. If you are still concerned, you can contact the Information Commissioner:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House, Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
or if you prefer to use a national rate number:

Do I have to provide my personal data to you?

We require your information to process your representation made under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997, Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006 and/or The Town and Country Planning (Development Planning) (Scotland) Regulations 2008. Please note that we are unable to accept anonymous representations.

We may need your information to carry out our other duties under:

  • Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997
  • Planning etc. (Scotland) Act 2006
  • The Town and Country Planning (Development Planning) (Scotland) Regulations 2008
  • Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
  • The Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004
  • The Conservation (Natural Habitats, &c.) Regulations 1994
  • Environmental Assessment (Scotland) Act 2005
  • Equality Act 2010

There may be consequences if you do not provide your information. Depending on the situation, the consequences may include:

  • Your representation, or Call for Sites submission, not being accepted by us
  • No contact information to issue a response to your request for information
  • No contact information to send you notifications about a LDP document
  • No contact information for us or the DPEA to contact you
  • Missing information for stakeholders (the public, developers, Council services, government agencies and so on) to consider a planning matter

Do you use any automated processes to make decisions about me?

No. We do not use automated decision making processes for a LDP document.


This notice was last updated in May 2020.