This policy was last reviewed in December 2025 and will be reviewed every two years unless legislative, regulatory or case law changes require an earlier review.
- Introduction
- Purpose
- Scope
- Procedure
- Right to review.
Introduction
This Policy and Procedure is for members of the public to raise complaints about the handling of their personal data and fulfils the requirement in the Data Protection Act 2018, section 164A for the Council to facilitate the making of such complaints.
Purpose
To detail the procedure for members of the public to follow to raise complaints about the handling of their personal data.
Scope
Any data subject (anybody whose personal data has been processed by the Council) has the right to complain to the controller (the Council).
Complaints may include but are not limited to:
- Being unhappy with a response to a subject access request (SAR), or other rights request
- Possible data breaches
- Being unhappy about the way personal data has been handled, including but not limited to:
- Storage and security of personal data
- How long personal data has been held
- The accuracy of the personal data held.
This procedure does not cover complaints about Freedom of Information or Environmental Information Requests which are dealt with by way of a Senior Officer Review.
The Council has a range of Complaints Procedures for its other activities.
Procedure
If you wish to make a complaint under this policy, you can:
- Contact the Data Protection Officer
- Write to the IG Manager, Information Governance Team, Legal, Governance and Elections Division, Resources and Legal Directorate, Wigan Council, PO BOX 100, WN1 3DS
- Deliver in person to Wigan Town Hall, Library Street, Wigan for the attention of the Information Governance Manager.
You should submit any complaint within two months of the issue arising, although in exceptional circumstances the Council will consider complaints received outside this timescale.
The Council will acknowledge your complaint within five working days.
The Council will undertake an investigation of the matters you have raised in your complaint and may contact you for further information, if necessary.
The Council will endeavour to respond to your complaint as soon as possible and, in most cases, within one calendar month.
If the complaint is particularly complex and further time is required to respond, then the Council will keep you informed.
The Council will respond in writing providing details of the investigation undertaken and detailing the outcome of that investigation.
Right to external review
If you remain dissatisfied after you have received the response to your complaint, you have the right to refer the matter to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) or call 0303 123 1113.
The ICO will not normally accept complaints more than 3 months after the last contact with our department.
Document information
Owner: Data Protection Officer
Approver: Information Governance Operational Group
Version and date: V1.0 2nd December 2025