GDPR Councillors as Data Controllers

Question

My friend and her neighbours are concerned that their elderly neighbour is getting a costly raw deal from a local provider as he doesn't like to make a fuss. I emailed the District Council Ward Members for their advice as one is a relevant board member and was told that due to GDPR they couldn't respond, and had I asked the gentleman in questions permission before I shared this information.

Am I understanding correctly? Looking at the ICO website it appears that individual Councillors need to be registered in their own right as Data Controllers if they are acting for their residents issues. Most advice is only signposting at Parish Council level.

Answer 1

I have to admit some confusion and concern over the role of Ward Councillors re GDPR and Data Controllers.  The general advice as mentioned above states " If individual councillor's are acting as a representative of their Ward (e.g. taking forward complaints made by their local residents) then they would be a controller in their own right and would not be covered by the Local Authority's registration. Therefore they would need to pay the new fee.
I intend bringing this up at or next meeting. It is the distinction between say, reporting of Ward activities and actively taking up specific issues (probably for one individual).  One solution I presume is to pass such complaints direct to the Clerk etc.
However it does raise an important issue.