External Audit – External Auditor Report 2025 26

Internal Audit Report 2025 26

Notice of Conclusion of Audit 2025 26

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Present: BPC Cllrs Oughton (Vice-Chair and meeting Chair), Coe, Hadow, Luckens, and Thomas were present, as were DCC Cllr Brazil for his report, Clerk A Thom, and one member of the public.

a. Open Forum

There were no questions from Parishioners.

b. Councillors Forum

Cllrs raised: an administrative matter regarding the list of meeting action items, and the maintenance needed to footpaths 18 and 19 which is addressed as an Agenda item in this meeting.

1. Report from Devon County Council Councillor

This item was moved up the Agenda at the Chair’s discretion, to allow DCC Council Brazil to leave and attend another meeting. Cllr Brazil reported on recent meetings of the DCC full Council and of the Cabinet. The Cabinet is thrilled that the most recent Ofsted monitoring letter is very supportive and encouraging. Work has been done to improve Children’s and Social Services. The Ofsted ranking is moving from good towards outstanding.

Regarding Local Government Reorganisation (LGR), DCC had planned to request a judicial review of the Government’s decision because the criteria the Government set were not followed and the LGR will cost £90 million to deliver. However the Government has now decided to pause and review the process. Eight of the 21 councils going through LGR have submitted judicial review – hence the Government’s pause. DCC has paused submission of its judicial review until 13 October pending getting clarification from the Government. DCC may progress with submitting the judicial review if the Government’s response is not satisfactory. There is only a three month period after a decision in which a judicial review request can be lodged. The deadline is 16 October. DCC has asked to be reimbursed for the cost of LGR because that is extra work. It is crucial to the people of Devon that they get this right. Cllr Brazil agrees that changes would be helpful but would focus on systems and allow local councils in Devon to develop solutions. There is now a much better relationship between County and District Councils, with more collaborative team working eg on homelessness, care, care leavers.

Works to protect village of Torcross have started. DCC is waiting on the Government’s response to its bid for funds for works on the Slapton Line road.

2. Apologies

Apologies for absence were received from BPC and SHDC Cllr Rake.

3. Declarations of Interest

Cllrs agreed that they all had an interest in the Agenda item about the Wormcharming Festival’s use of the shed in the Cemetery.

4. Co-option to fill the current Vacancy for a Parish Councillor

The Clerk’s recommendation that BPC considers the possible two candidates in its 12 October meeting was approved.

5. Minutes of Previous Meetings

It was resolved to approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 13 July 2026.

6. Report from South Hams District Council Councillor

Deferred in the absence of SHDC Cllr Rake.

7. Planning Applications

   1. South Hams District Council’s Planning Decisions

The decisions below were noted:

• 1466/26/HHO 2 Greenslade Road Blackawton TQ9 7BP. Demolish & replace existing conservatory with minor alterations. Refusal.

• 2001/26/TEX Wadstray House Blackawton TQ9 7DE. Tree Works No Objection Raised Tree Works No Objection Raised.

• 2159/26/COM Church Quillet Blackawton. Notice of intent to install electronic communication apparatus comprising one light wooden pole at 10 metres high (Ref: WH5RHF4T). Do not wish to comment.

• 2219/26/COM Near Shearstone Barn Blackawton TQ9 7DG. Notice of intent to install electronic communication apparatus comprising two x 10m light wooden poles (Ref: WH5RGH5H). Do not wish to comment.

• 1703/26/ARC Development At Sx 8052 5109 Town Farm School Lane Blackawton. Application for approval of details reserved by condition 20 (Traffic Management Plan) of planning consent 3878/18/VAR. Discharge of Condition Approved

1. 2. Review of New Applications

BPC considered commenting to SHDC on the following applications:

• 2151/26/HHO Pruston House Blackawton TQ9 7AJ. Upgrade conservatory, new form breakfast room, side link & rear porch.
  It was resolved that no response will be made to SHDC.

• 2258/26/FUL Westdown Blackawton TQ9 7AL. General Purpose Agricultural Building.
  It was resolved that no response will be made to SHDC.

• Full Variation application to the premises licence SHPL0295 from Punch Taverns Limited for The Seale Arms, 10 Victoria Road, Dartmouth, TQ6 9SA.
  It was resolved that no response will be made to SHDC.

The following premises licence applications were noted. They have closed to comments. No extraordinary meeting was considered necessary to comment:

• Full Variation application to the premises licence SHPL0536 from Mad Hatters Tea Room & Restaurant, on the ground floor at 10 Fairfax Place, Dartmouth, TQ6 9AD.

• New premises licence from the Henderson Seafood Limited for The Counter, Unit 5, Old Market Square, Dartmouth, TQ6 9SE

The following application is provided for BPC’s information:

• 2125/26/SCO Town Farm School Lane Blackawton TQ9 7BE. Request for EIA screening opinion for a Solar Farm. Under Consideration.

8. Consultations

• SHDC Joint Local Plan: Scoping consultation to gather views. Closes 24/9/26.
  BPC is not submitting a Council response. Cllrs may choose to comment individually.

9. French Furze Development

Cllr Thomas reported that Vistry did a site visit of the Business Units on 10 August. Vistry has produced a snagging list of 13 items to be dealt with by Vistry, including the addition of useful under-counter sockets for appliances which aren’t on the specifications. The Heras fencing around the last three units will be replaced with closed board fencing on the front and side, and over part of back to stop people getting back there. There is no delivery time-frame.

There will a public residents’ meeting in the Village Hall on 12 October.

10. Wind Turbine Feasibility Study

There are interested landowners. The project is somewhat behind schedule which has been raised with Community Power Solutions. CPS and BPC are discussing a data processor contract.

11. Use of the Blackawton Cemetery Shed

The proposal to use available free space in the shed to store some Wormcharming Festival equipment was approved subject to the response from BPC‘s insurer.

12. Maintenance of Footpaths 18 and 19 in Blackawton

South Hams Ramblers’ offer to carry out the works with free labour and reimbursement of materials cost was supported subject to Devon County Council’s support. It was agreed that BPC will make use of earmarked DCC footpath maintenance grant funds for the materials expenses subject to the provision of adequate documentation and evidence (most likely based on support for payment from the DCC Public Right of Way Warden).

13. Stonemason Work completed on Churchyard Walls

The Clerk reported on the completed project.

The Clerk said that BPC requested traffic management for sequential sites and arranged Devon County Council permits with extra time if the work took longer than estimated. However there was lack of clarity and the Give and Take signage was delivered early to coincide with the permit. As a good will gesture the invoice for the extra sign hire time has been discounted, and the Clerk recommends that the remaining extra sign hire charge of £120 be paid to closes the matter without legal dispute and being mindful that because BPC was unfamiliar with this type of project they used much more administration time than would normally be expected. The invoice to arrange for the permit for Main Street works has now been received and is correct. The meeting resolved to pay the traffic management invoices as recommended by the Clerk.

The stonemason work on Park Lane took about twice as long as was anticipated. On Park Lane the stonemasons added a layer of mortar to funnel water into the drainage pipe. The stonemason has told BPC that they have retrospectively obtained approval from the consultant engineer for that change, some of the supporting documentation for the request and its approval is pending. The stonemasons removed the wall to ground level (rather than about half way down as in the specifications) in two of the three Park Lane sites in order to achieve a more robust result. Their late finishing resulted in an extra traffic management sign collection charge. It was resolved to accept the change to the specifications based on the documentation already available, to thank the stonemason for the high quality of their work, and that in recognition of the extra work done the extra traffic management fee (£80) will not be passed on to the stonemason.

The Clerk recommended that in a future similar project traffic management be arranged by the stonemason rather than the Parish Council as in this project.

14. Repointing of Lychgate Piers and Wall on Park Lane near Cousins Cross

It was confirmed that BPC will submit the necessary List B application to the Church of England, Exeter Diocese.

15. Conservation and Maintenance of Churchyard Gates

It was resolved to approve the proposals in the Report including approval of a procurement exercise and a project to request a grant from National Heritage Lottery Fund but not from Heritage England. BPC’s responsibility to maintain the northern churchyard wall, which adjoins the School and a property, and its gate will be accepted as is current practice. The meeting noted that churchyard gate maintenance is being separated into two projects: Grade II listed gates first, and then the School playground gate possibly along with repainting the Cemetery gates as a future separate project.

16. Traffic Collision Log

The log form is now available on the community website. BPC is seeking to collect information about locations in the Blackawton Parish where traffic collisions (or near collisions) happen – to identify possible road safety issues and have evidence to use when discussing concerns with Devon County Council. The official statistics available to Devon County Council use injury related collisions reported to or recorded by the Police, so they aren’t a complete record. It was agreed to provide paper copies of the log form in the Community Shop (subject to the Community Shop’s agreement), and confirmed that the log will not ask for vehicle details or contact details. Completion of the log form online is preferred and BPC will provide a QR code to access the log form on the community website.

17. Review of Data Protection Compliance

The Clerk has had a very useful session with Breakthrough Communications, who are used by Devon Association of Local Councils to answer more detailed data protection enquiries. There is a list of action items. The Clerk flagged some action items: The data minimisation principle: you should only collect the minimum personal information needed for the purpose and only share it where necessary to achieve the purpose. Surveys can use ‘just in time’ consent – with consent achieved by the person taking part in the survey. BPC needs data processor contracts with the provider of the wind turbine feasibility study and with its website host. BPC may need to change website host. Some legitimate interest legal basis assessments need to be done – including for the Beacon and for the community website.

18. Finance

    1. Update on Current Financial Position

The Reports and Bank Reconciliations at 31 July and 31 August were received. The bank balance at 31 August was £70,728.34, with an unearmarked general reserve of £20,166.85.

1. 2. Payments

It was resolved to authorise the following payments

• Clerk July & August Expenses Reimbursement £53.97

• Grounds Maintenance Frequent cuts 4 and 18 August 2026:

Churchyard £210.00

Cemetery £228.00

The following Payments authorised since the last monthly meeting were noted individually:

• Tree ties (12) for Rowan trees (Cllr Luckens reimbursed) £23.97

• Replacement tap for Water Butt in the Cemetery (Cllr Luckens reimbursed) £9.19

• Replacement of safety glass in Woodlands bus shelter (incl. VAT, in two equal payments) £509.52

• Churchyard Stonemason Traffic Management – Invoice #1 (under BPC Fin. Regs: 7.8 iv) £3,360.00

• Creation of the website traffic log requested by BPC £55.00

To following payments made since the last monthly meeting and authorised by BPC annually were noted:

• Grounds Maintenance Frequent cuts 7 and 21 July 2026:
  Churchyard £210.00

Cemetery £228.00

19. Insurance Claim for Cost to Replace Glass in the Bus Shelter at Woodlands

The meeting decided that BPC will make not make a claim. The potential payment would be £174.60. There is a risk that the claim would increase the annual premium.

20. Direct Debits

It was resolved to approve setting up direct debits for regular payments for: the SIM only service for Clerk’s mobile phone and for the Parish Council’s Cloud storage.

21. Website Domains

It was resolved to move BPC’s blackawtoncommunity.com domain to a new registrar. The new registrar’s data centres run on 100% renewable energy and they are a certified B Corp. The ongoing annual costs will be reduced from £72.23 to £11.99.

22. Cemetery Fees

It was noted that the annual CPI increase was implemented from 14 August and that it was overdue (due on 1 April).

23. Contracts

    1. Clerk’s Pay Award 26/27

It was noted that the 26/27 NJC Award has been agreed, and that it will be implemented in September 2026 and backpay payments made to 1 April 2026.

1. 2. Bus Shelter Cleans

It was noted that the contract with Dartmouth Town Council has not yet been renewed and DTC will advise its availability after 14 September.

24. Correspondence

The following correspondence was considered:

• Invitation from Co-editor of the Voice for councillors to attend or send short written message from the Parish Council to be read to attendees: People’s Emergency Briefing Stoke Fleming Village Hall Fri. 18/9/26 6:30 p.m.

The Clerk was asked to reply asking Stoke Fleming to please advertise that the Briefing will also be screened in Blackawton on 1 November.

25. Next Meeting

It was confirmed that the next meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Monday 12 October at 7:30 p.m.

The meeting closed 20:50.

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Earmarked Reserves 2026 August 31

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You are hereby summoned to attend the monthly meeting of Blackawton Parish Council to be held on Monday 14 September 2026 at 7:30 p.m. in Blackawton Village Hall for the purpose of transacting the following business.

a. Open Forum

The Chair invites Questions from Parishioners.

b. Councillors Forum

Cllrs may raise items for attention or for future consideration.

AGENDA

1. Apologies

To receive apologies for absence

2. Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations of Members’ interests in Agenda items

3. Co-option to fill the current Vacancy for a Parish Councillor

To consider approving the Clerk’s recommendation that BPC considers the possible two candidates in its 12 October meeting.

4. Minutes of Previous Meetings

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 13 July 2026.

5. Report from Devon County Council Councillor

6. Report from South Hams District Council Councillor

7. Planning Applications

   1. South Hams District Council’s Planning Decisions

To note the decisions as follows:

• 1466/26/HHO 2 Greenslade Road Blackawton TQ9 7BP. Demolish & replace existing conservatory with minor alterations. Refusal.

• 2001/26/TEX Wadstray House Blackawton TQ9 7DE. Tree Works No Objection Raised Tree Works No Objection Raised.

• 2159/26/COM Church Quillet Blackawton. Notice of intent to install electronic communication apparatus comprising one light wooden pole at 10 metres high (Ref: WH5RHF4T). Do not wish to comment.

• 2219/26/COM Near Shearstone Barn Blackawton TQ9 7DG. Notice of intent to install electronic communication apparatus comprising two x 10m light wooden poles (Ref: WH5RGH5H). Do not wish to comment.

• 1703/26/ARC Development At Sx 8052 5109 Town Farm School Lane Blackawton. Application for approval of details reserved by condition 20 (Traffic Management Plan) of planning consent 3878/18/VAR. Discharge of Condition Approved

1. 2. Review of New Applications

To comment to SHDC on the following applications:

• 2151/26/HHO Pruston House Blackawton TQ9 7AJ. Upgrade conservatory, new form breakfast room, side link & rear porch.

• 2258/26/FUL Westdown Blackawton TQ9 7AL. General Purpose Agricultural Building.

• Full Variation application to the premises licence SHPL0295 from Punch Taverns Limited for The Seale Arms, 10 Victoria Road, Dartmouth, TQ6 9SA.

To note the following premises licence applications. They have closed to comments. No extraordinary meeting was considered necessary to comment:

• Full Variation application to the premises licence SHPL0536 from Mad Hatters Tea Room & Restaurant, on the ground floor at 10 Fairfax Place, Dartmouth, TQ6 9AD.

• New premises licence from the Henderson Seafood Limited for The Counter, Unit 5, Old Market Square, Dartmouth, TQ6 9SE

For information:

• 2125/26/SCO Town Farm School Lane Blackawton TQ9 7BE. Request for EIA screening opinion for a Solar Farm. Under Consideration.

8. Consultations

• SHDC Joint Local Plan: Scoping consultation to gather views. Closes 24/9/26.

9. French Furze Development

To receive an update.

10. Wind Turbine Feasibility Study

To note the update Reports.

To consider a data management contract with Community Power Solutions.

11. Use of the Blackawton Cemetery Shed

To consider the proposal to use the shed to store some Wormcharming Festival equipment.

12. Maintenance of Footpaths 18 and 19 in Blackawton

To consider South Hams Ramblers offer to carry out works for free labour and reimbursement for materials cost.

13. Stonemason Work completed on Churchyard Walls

To receive a report on the project.

To consider the invoices for Traffic Management and Stonemasonry.

14. Repointing of Lychgate Piers and Wall on Park Lane near Cousins Cross

To confirm that BPC will submit the necessary List B application to the Church of England, Exeter Diocese.

15. Conservation and Maintenance of Churchyard Gates

To consider the proposal including approval of a procurement exercise and a project to request a grant from National Heritage Lottery Fund but not Heritage England.

16. Traffic Collision Log

To note there is a log form on the website. To consider provision of paper copies in the Community Shop and whether adding the collection of vehicle details and contact details is required for the log’s purpose.

17. Review of Data Protection Compliance

To receive an update and consider the action items.

18. Finance

    1. Update on Current Financial Position

To receive Reports and Bank Reconciliations at 31 July and 31 August.

1. 2. Payments

To authorise the following payments

• Clerk July & August Expenses Reimbursement £53.97

• Grounds Maintenance Frequent cuts 4 and 18 August 2026:

Churchyard £210.00

Cemetery £228.00

Payments authorised since the last monthly meeting

• Tree ties (12) for Rowan trees (Cllr Luckens reimbursed) £23.97

• Replacement tap for Water Butt in the Cemetery (Cllr Luckens reimbursed) £9.19

• Replacement of safety glass in Woodlands bus shelter (Incl. VAT, in two equal payments) £509.52

• Churchyard Stonemason Traffic Management – Invoice #1 (under BPC Fin. Regs: 7.8 iv) £3,360.00

• Creation of website traffic log requested by BPC £55.00

Payments made since the last monthly meeting authorised by BPC annually

• Grounds Maintenance Frequent cuts 7 and 21 July 2026:
  Churchyard £210.00

Cemetery £228.00

19. Insurance Claim for Cost to Replace Glass in the Bus Shelter at Woodlands

To decide if BPC will make a claim.

20. Direct Debits

To approve setting up direct debits for regular payments for: the SIM only service for Clerk’s mobile phone and for the Parish Council’s Cloud storage.

21. Website Domains

To consider approving the proposal to move the blackawtoncommunity.com domain to a new registrar.

22. Cemetery Fees

To note that the annual CPI increase was implemented from 14 August and that it was due on 1 April.

23. Contracts

    1. Clerk’s Pay Award 26/27

To note that the 26/27 NJC Award has been agreed and will be implemented in September 2026 and back pay payments made to 1 April 2026.

1. 2. Bus Shelter Cleans

To note that the contract with Dartmouth Town Council has not yet been renewed and DTC will advise its availability after 14 September.

24. Correspondence

To note or consider:

• Invitation from Co-editor of the Voice for councillors to attend or send short written message from the Parish Council to be read to attendees: People’s Emergency Briefing Stoke Fleming Village Hall Fri. 18/9/26 6:30 p.m.

25. Next Meeting

To confirm the next meeting of the Parish Council will be held on Monday 12 October at 7:30 p.m.

PRESS AND MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC ARE VERY WELCOME TO ATTEND

Annette Thom

Parish Clerk

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PRIVACY NOTICE

For staff*, councillors and Role Holders**

*“Staff” means employees, workers, agency staff and those retained on a temporary or permanent basis

**Includes, volunteers, contractors, agents, and other role holders within the council including former staff*and former councillors. This also includes applicants or candidates for any of these roles.

Your personal data – what is it?

“Personal data” is any information about a living individual which allows them to be identified from that data (for example a name, photograph, video, email address, or address). Identification can be directly using the data itself or by combining it with other information which helps to identify a living individual (e.g. a list of staff may contain personnel ID numbers rather than names but if you use a separate list of the ID numbers which give the corresponding names to identify the staff in the first list then the first list will also be treated as personal data). The processing of personal data is governed by legislation relating to personal data which applies in the United Kingdom including the General Data Protection Regulation (the “GDPR”) and other legislation relating to personal data and rights such as the Human Rights Act.

Who are we?

This Privacy Notice is provided to you by the Blackawton Parish Council. Blackawton Parish Council and its Councillors are the data controllers for your data.

The council may work together with:

• Other data controllers, such as local authorities, public authorities, central government and agencies such as HMRC and DVLA

• Staff pension providers

• Former and prospective employers

• DBS services suppliers

• Payroll services providers

We may need to share personal data we hold with them so that they can carry out their responsibilities to the council and our community. The organisations referred to above will sometimes be “joint data controllers”. This means we are all responsible to you for how we process your data where for example two or more data controllers are working together for a joint purpose. If there is no joint purpose or collaboration then the data controllers will be independent and will be individually responsible to you.

Volunteers, contractors, and agents

When working with us we will collect personal data required to deliver the service or project. You will in most cases use your own phone and email address. The personal data you provide, including your full name, phone number, and email address, will be shared as required to deliver the service or project.

Councillors

When you sign your acceptance of office and take your seat on Blackawton Parish Council the personal information you provide such as your name, address, email address, and phone number will be processed and stored for administrative purposes. You are required to complete a register of interests which is made public on the South Hams District Council’s website and is available for inspection, this publication excludes your home address. Blackawton Parish Council will provide you with a dedicated email address for conducting Council business. It is Blackawton Parish Council practice to publish in the Blackawton Beacon community newsletter and on the Blackawton community website Councillors full name, council email address and your contact phone number to support it to deliver its service to the Blackawton community. You may also choose to add a photo and a short biography to the website.

Your name, phone number, and dedicated email address will be shared with other parties in the course of your work as a Parish Councillor, for example with the District and County Council or with contractors employed by the Blackawton Parish Council.

The council will comply with data protection law. This says that the personal data we hold about you must be:

• Used lawfully, fairly and in a transparent way.

• Collected only for valid purposes that we have clearly explained to you and not used in any way that is incompatible with those purposes.

• Relevant to the purposes we have told you about and limited only to those purposes.

• Accurate and kept up to date.

• Kept only as long as necessary for the purposes we have told you about.

• Kept and destroyed securely including ensuring that appropriate technical and security measures are in place to protect your personal data to protect personal data from loss, misuse, unauthorised access and disclosure.

What data do we process?

• Names, titles, and aliases, photographs.

• Start date / leaving date

• Contact details such as telephone numbers, addresses, and email addresses.

• Where they are relevant to our legal obligations, or where you provide them to us, we may process information such as gender, age, date of birth, marital status, nationality, education/work history, academic/professional qualifications, employment details, hobbies, family composition, and dependants.

• Non-financial identifiers such as passport numbers, driving licence numbers, vehicle registration numbers, taxpayer identification numbers, staff identification numbers, tax reference codes, and national insurance numbers.

• Financial identifiers such as bank account numbers, payment card numbers, payment/transaction identifiers, policy numbers, and claim numbers.

• Financial information such as National Insurance number, pay and pay records, tax code, tax and benefits contributions, expenses claimed.

• Other operational personal data created, obtained, or otherwise processed in the course of carrying out our activities, including but not limited to, recordings of telephone messages, IP addresses and website visit histories, logs of visitors, and logs of accidents, injuries and insurance claims.

• Recruitment information (including copies of right to work documentation, references and other information included in a CV or cover letter or as part of the application process and referral source (e.g. agency, staff referral))

• Location of employment or workplace.

• Other staff data (not covered above) including; level, performance management information, languages and proficiency; licences/certificates, immigration status; employment status; information for disciplinary and grievance proceedings; and personal biographies.

• Information about your use of our information and communications systems.

We use your personal data for some or all of the following purposes:

We collect personal data required to allow us to perform our contract with you, deliver a service, or to enable us to comply with legal obligations. For example:

• To deliver projects and services

• Making a decision about your recruitment or appointment.

• Determining the terms on which you work for us.

• Checking you are legally entitled to work in the UK.

• Paying you and, if you are an employee, deducting tax and National Insurance contributions.

• Providing any contractual benefits to you

• Liaising with your pension provider.

• Administering the contract we have entered into with you.

• Management and planning, including accounting and auditing.

• Conducting performance reviews, managing performance and determining performance requirements.

• Making decisions about salary reviews and compensation.

• Assessing qualifications for a particular job or task, including decisions about promotions.

• Conducting grievance or disciplinary proceedings.

• Making decisions about your continued employment or engagement.

• Making arrangements for the termination of our working relationship.

• Education, training and development requirements.

• Dealing with legal disputes involving you, including accidents at work.

• Ascertaining your fitness to work.

• Managing sickness absence.

• Complying with health and safety obligations.

• To prevent fraud.

• To ensure network and information security, including preventing unauthorised access to our computer and electronic communications systems and preventing malicious software distribution.

• Equal opportunities monitoring.

• To undertake activity consistent with our statutory functions and powers including any delegated functions.

• To maintain our own accounts and records;

• To seek your views or comments;

• To process a job application;

• To administer councillors’ interests

• To provide a reference.

Some of the above grounds for processing will overlap and there may be several grounds which justify our use of your personal data.

We will only use your personal data when the law allows us to. Most commonly, we will use your personal data in the following circumstances:

• Where we need to perform the contract we have entered into with you.

• Where we need to comply with a legal obligation.

We may also use your personal data in the following situations, which are likely to be rare:

• Where we need to protect your interests (or someone else’s interests).

• Where it is needed in the public interest [or for official purposes].

How we use sensitive personal data  

• We may process sensitive personal data relating to staff, councillors and role holders including, as appropriate:

  • information about your physical or mental health or condition in order to monitor sick leave and take decisions on your fitness for work;

  • your racial or ethnic origin or religious or similar information in order to monitor compliance with equal opportunities legislation;

  • in order to comply with legal requirements and obligations to third parties.

• These types of data are described in the GDPR as “Special categories of data” and require higher levels of protection. We need to have further justification for collecting, storing and using this type of personal data.

• We may process special categories of personal data in the following circumstances:

  • In limited circumstances, with your explicit written consent.

  • Where we need to carry out our legal obligations.

  • Where it is needed in the public interest, such as for equal opportunities monitoring or in relation to our pension scheme.

  • Where it is needed to assess your working capacity on health grounds, subject to appropriate confidentiality safeguards.

• Less commonly, we may process this type of personal data where it is needed in relation to legal claims or where it is needed to protect your interests (or someone else’s interests) and you are not capable of giving your consent, or where you have already made the information public.

Do we need your consent to process your sensitive personal data?

• We do not need your consent if we use your sensitive personal data in accordance with our rights and obligations in the field of employment and social security law.

• In limited circumstances, we may approach you for your written consent to allow us to process certain sensitive personal data. If we do so, we will provide you with full details of the personal data that we would like and the reason we need it, so that you can carefully consider whether you wish to consent.

• You should be aware that it is not a condition of your contract with us that you agree to any request for consent from us.

Information about criminal convictions  

• We may only use personal data relating to criminal convictions where the law allows us to do so. This will usually be where such processing is necessary to carry out our obligations and provided we do so in line with our data protection policy.

• Less commonly, we may use personal data relating to criminal convictions where it is necessary in relation to legal claims, where it is necessary to protect your interests (or someone else’s interests) and you are not capable of giving your consent, or where you have already made the information public.

• Where appropriate, we will collect personal data about criminal convictions as part of the recruitment process or we may be notified of such personal data directly by you in the course of you working for us.

What is the legal basis for processing your personal data?

Some of our processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation.

We may also process data if it is necessary to deliver a project or service, for the performance of a contract with you, or to take steps to enter into a contract.

We will also process your data in order to assist you in fulfilling your role in the council including administrative support or if processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation.

Sharing your personal data

Your personal data will only be shared with third parties including other data controllers where it is necessary for the performance of the data controllers’ tasks or where you first give us your prior consent. It is likely that we will need to share your data with:

• Our agents, suppliers and contractors. For example, we may ask a commercial provider to manage our HR/ payroll functions, or to maintain our database software;

• Other persons or organisations operating within local community.

• Other data controllers, such as local authorities, public authorities, central government and agencies such as HMRC and DVLA

• Staff pension providers

• Former and prospective employers

• DBS services suppliers

• Payroll services providers

• Recruitment Agencies

• Credit reference agencies

• Professional advisors

• Trade unions or employee representatives

How long do we keep your personal data?

We will keep some records permanently if we are legally required to do so. We may keep some other records for an extended period of time. For example, it is currently best practice to keep financial records for a minimum period of 8 years to support HMRC audits or provide tax information. We may have legal obligations to retain some data in connection with our statutory obligations as a public authority. The council is permitted to retain data in order to defend or pursue claims. In some cases the law imposes a time limit for such claims (for example 3 years for personal injury claims or 6 years for contract claims). We will retain some personal data for this purpose as long as we believe it is necessary to be able to defend or pursue a claim. In general, we will endeavour to keep data only for as long as we need it. This means that we will delete it when it is no longer needed.

Your responsibilities

It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes during your working relationship with us.

Your rights in connection with personal data

You have the following rights with respect to your personal data: –

When exercising any of the rights listed below, in order to process your request, we may need to verify your identity for your security. In such cases we will need you to respond with proof of your identity before you can exercise these rights.

1. 1. The right to access personal data we hold on you

• At any point you can contact us to request the personal data we hold on you as well as why we have that personal data, who has access to the personal data and where we obtained the personal data from. Once we have received your request we will respond within one month.

• There are no fees or charges for the first request but additional requests for the same personal data or requests which are manifestly unfounded or excessive may be subject to an administrative fee.

1. 1. The right to correct and update the personal data we hold on you

• If the data we hold on you is out of date, incomplete or incorrect, you can inform us and your data will be updated.

1. 1. The right to have your personal data erased

• If you feel that we should no longer be using your personal data or that we are unlawfully using your personal data, you can request that we erase the personal data we hold.

• When we receive your request we will confirm whether the personal data has been deleted or the reason why it cannot be deleted (for example because we need it for to comply with a legal obligation).

1. 1. The right to object to processing of your personal data or to restrict it to certain purposes only

• You have the right to request that we stop processing your personal data or ask us to restrict processing. Upon receiving the request we will contact you and let you know if we are able to comply or if we have a legal obligation to continue to process your data.

1. 1. The right to data portability

• You have the right to request that we transfer some of your data to another controller. We will comply with your request, where it is feasible to do so, within one month of receiving your request.

1. 1. The right to withdraw your consent to the processing at any time for any processing of data to which consent was obtained

• You can withdraw your consent easily by telephone, email, or by post (see Contact Details below).

1. 1. The right to lodge a complaint with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

• You can contact the Information Commissioners Office on 0303 123 1113 or via email https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/ or at the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Transfer of Data Abroad

Any personal data transferred to countries or territories outside the European Economic Area (“EEA”) will only be placed on systems complying with measures giving equivalent protection of personal rights either through international agreements or contracts approved by the European Union.

Further processing

If we wish to use your personal data for a new purpose, not covered by this Privacy Notice, then we will provide you with a new notice explaining this new use prior to commencing the processing and setting out the relevant purposes and processing conditions. Where and whenever necessary, we will seek your prior consent to the new processing, if we start to use your personal data for a purpose not mentioned in this notice.

Changes to this notice

We keep this Privacy Notice under regular review and we will place any updates on this web page www.blackawtoncommunity.com.

Contact Details

Please contact us if you have any questions about this Privacy Notice or the personal data we hold about you or to exercise all relevant rights, queries or complaints at:

Parish Clerk, Blackawton Parish Council

Email: parishclerk@blackawtoncommunity.com or 07979 391442

You can contact the Information Commissioners Office on 0303 123 1113 or via email https://ico.org.uk/global/contact-us/email/ or at the Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.

Version History

Approved June 2018

Reviewed: July 2026

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