Do Councillor have a 'right' to read Parishioners letters of complaint?

Question

When a parishioner writes to the Council via the clerk about an issue, should councillors have access to read the full letter?

Answer 1

The short answer is yes.  Cllrs should be made aware of all correspondence received and have access to read it if they so choose. They are responsible for the operations and actions of their council and can't exercise that responsibility if the Clerk or Chair obstructs access to correspondence.

Answer 2

If you have a Complaints Committee or similar then it should go to them in the first instance. If you don’t then yes full council should see BUT only keep the name.

If there is an email address, telephone number or home address that should be kept private to the Clerk as GDPR states only if that NEEDS sharing should be shared.

Comments

WRONG!!!

I’m simply informing you of fact, if you feel that you know better than that is up to you. HOWEVER I am informing you that my education and career is legal. If you have equal knowledge (in this case you clearly don’t) then great. However I’ve always been taught to respect where people know best.

The council is NOT the data controller. As grey an area as GDPR is, it is not difficult.

The law states that ONLY necessary information should be shared with ONLY the necessary parties.
Therefore a person complaining about about bin emptying for example should NOT have their email address, home address or telephone number shared, it is unnecessary!!

If a complainant provides name, address etc etc and is complaining about the councils objection to their planning application and you have a complaint committee AND planning committee then could argue that each committee can have access to the details as it could be deemed necessary.

As I said it really, really isn’t hard.

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Thanks Smallb34r. It's not just me then.  As you remark, "Sharing"  in the context of GDPR  refers to one organisation providing or withholding personal data with another in accordance with the appropriate articles, not limiting who within the same organisation can view (but not necessarily process) personal data. This link provides more relevant info  https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/law-topic/data-protection/reform/rules-business-and-organisations/obligations/controller-processor/what-data-controller-or-data-processor_en  Chloe insists she is right and isn't happy about being challenged. Rather than cite appropriate legislation to support her assertions, she continues to resort to diversionary measures essentially saying how eminent she views herself to be. Accordingly it is pointless arguing with her any further

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Very very much the opposite Graeme_r I welcome, appreciate, applaud and encourage healthy challenge.

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I'm sorry that you disagree. Your assumptions that you are better qualified than me are wide of the mark. I would urge anyone interested in this thread to call the ICO directly. They are friendly and helpful and you can rely on their advice in the event of a complaint.

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However, I would not hold my breath for any definitive response from the ICO in relation to any concern you may wish to formally raise with them in this regard.