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Policies and Procedures

1 POLICIES AND PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION

  1.1 Subject to the terms of the Records Management Policy, requested information shall be provided within 20 working days excepting where:

1.1.1 such information is legally privileged or its disclosure contravenes the Data Protection Act or where the information exists in draft form and has not been adopted by Council resolution

1.1.2 the decision to disclose or otherwise is deemed to warrant consideration by Council, under which circumstance the requested information will be provided within 20 working days of the first Ordinary meeting following at which such request can lawfully considered or the originator of such request shall be notified of Council’s decision not to release such information, together with its reasons for not doing so. Any issue which might be deemed to warrant consideration by Council will be referred to the Chair of the Parish Council so that his or her right to call an Extraordinary Meeting of the full Council can be exercised.

1.2 Charges for copying information held by the Council and for any postage will be made according to the Schedule of Fees appearing in the New Model Code of Publication.

1.2.1 The Parish Council will not ordinarily provide copies of documents which it has received through its role as statutory consultee (e.g. planning documents) or as a statutory recipient (e.g. minutes of meetings of other authorities) unless such documents have direct bearing on the actions of, or decisions made by, the Council and which are the subject of the request for information.

1.2.2 Planning documents and other third-party documents curated by the Council are available for inspection, by arrangement, but are subject to the following exclusions:

1.2.2.1 the Development Plan, Structure Plan, Local Plan, Rights of Way/Footpath maps, Local Development Frameworks and Supplementary Planning Documents, all of which are available from the Local Planning and/or Highways authorities.

The Parish Council does not have the facility to copy documents which are larger than A3 in size.

1.3 In the event of any dispute where information is withheld, appeals should be directed to the Council’s governing authority which is currently Chester City District Council or directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office: www.ico.gov.uk.

1.3 In the event of any dispute where information is withheld, appeals should be directed to the Council’s governing authority which is currently Chester City District Council or directly to the Information Commissioner’s Office: www.ico.gov.uk.

2 COMPLAINTS PROCEDURES INCLUDING THOSE COVERING REQUESTS FOR INFORMATION AND OPERATING THE PUBLICATION SCHEME

Complaints in respect of the Council should, in the first instance, be submitted in writing to the Clerk. The procedure followed in dealing with complaints is as set out below.

 

2.1 Complaints will be recorded by the Clerk and the Chair informed that such complaint has been received. Any such matter as falls within the scope of the function of the Clerk or Proper Officer will be resolved by the Clerk, excepting where the Clerk is the object of such complaint or may otherwise be deemed to have a personal or prejudicial interest relating to such complaint.

2.1.1 Where such interest on behalf of the Clerk is deemed to exist, complaints shall be referred directly to the Chair.

2.2 Where a complaint devolves to the Chair, he or she may exercise his or her right to call an Extraordinary Meeting of the full Council where such matter is deemed to warrant consideration by Council.

2.2.1 Where a complaint relates to actions by, or the conduct of, the Clerk or a Member of Council, the Clerk or Member will be excluded from Council during its final deliberation of such complaint. This will not affect the right of the Clerk or Member to make representations to Council.

2.3 Where a complaint cannot be resolved by Shocklach Oviatt and District Parish Council, it will be referred to the Council’s governing authority which is currently Chester City District Council.

 

3 INFORMATION SECURITY POLICY

 

3.1 Shocklach Oviatt and District Parish Council does not maintain any records or hold any information which is not otherwise available within the public domain.

 

4 DATA PROTECTION POLICIES

 

4.1 Shocklach Oviatt and District Parish Council does not maintain any database or hold any information which is not otherwise available within

  the public domain or which might be considered to be personal or sensitive within the context of the Data Protection Act (1998).

4.1.1 The Council is a statutory recipient of the Register of Local Electors which document is used solely for matters related to the business of the Council.

Council/SODPC/Policies and Procedures/December 2008

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