This privacy notice is regularly reviewed and may be updated or revisited at any time. It was last updated in January 2026. It is important that the personal data we hold about you is accurate and current. Please keep us informed if your personal data changes.
- Introduction
- What personal data do we collect?
- How we use personal data
- Legal Basis for processing
- Who do we share personal data with?
- How long do we keep personal data?
- Automated decisions
- Your rights
- Data Protection Officer.
Introduction
Our core data protection obligations and commitments are set out in Wigan Council Primary Privacy Notice.
This notice provides additional privacy information for Democratic services.
What personal data do we collect?
To carry out activities and obligations as a Democratic Service we process the following personal data:
- Personal contact details such as name, title, addresses, telephone numbers, and personal email addresses
- Personal demographics (including date of birth, gender, marital status, civil partnerships)
- Business contact details such as names, addresses, personal email address, telephone numbers
- Bank account details, payroll and tax/national insurance status information.
We also process the following Criminal Offence Data
- Offences (including alleged offences), criminal proceedings, outcomes and sentences. This information is processed to protect the public against dishonesty and improper conduct.
How we use personal data
The main purposes for processing your personal data are:
- To keep records of decisions, meetings and petitions
- To process school appeals for your child through an Independent Panel
- To process exclusion reviews for your child through an Independent Panel
- To manage the decision-making process through appropriate
- Committees, Boards and Panels in accordance with the functions of the Council
- To deliver services and support you.
We publish a record of all Council decisions and meetings, as well as any background information and reports that inform that decision.
The majority of Council meetings are transacted in public. Agendas and reports for all Council and Committee meetings are made available to the public 5 working days in advance of the meeting, in accordance with statutory requirements. The exception being public and press excluded items.
Petitions
The Localism Act 2011 abolished the need for Local Authorities to consider petitions, however, as good practice and in line with Greater Manchester, Wigan Council has kept its petition scheme (external link).
The Council welcomes petitions as a valuable tool for people to let us know their concerns about the local community.
In order to review and respond to a petition submitted to us, we will need to process some of the personal data of the people who have signed it. We provide a platform for people to create petitions on our website.
Legal Basis for processing
The lawful basis we rely on for processing your personal data is:
- It is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority
- It is necessary to fulfil a legal obligation under the following:
- Access to Information Act 1985 including subsequent Acts
- The Local Government Act 1972 including subsequent acts
- The Council’s Constitution
- The Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014
- School Admission Appeals Code statutory guidance.
The condition we rely on for processing your criminal data is:
- Reasons of substantial public interest – statutory etc and government purposes.
Who do we share personal data with?
In addition to the general reasons for data sharing described in the Council’s Primary Privacy Notice, we share and collect data with the following when required:
- Other teams within Wigan Council
- Other local authorities
- Government agencies
- General Practitioners (GPs)
- Health Service Providers
- Police
- School appeal appellants
- Appropriate Outside Bodies.
This is not an exhaustive list.
There is a legal duty to provide and make publicly available records of Council meetings and decisions taken. If you ask a question under ‘Ask the Cabinet’ some information about you and what you say will be included on the Council’s website.
Petitions and our response will be published on our website. We will only publish the name of the person who submitted the petition if this was submitted electronically.
How long do we keep personal data?
We will only retain your personal data for as long as necessary to fulfil the purposes we collected it for, including for the purposes of satisfying any future legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.
We must continue to retain necessary data in accordance with our corporate records policy to fulfil legal, statutory and regulatory requirements.
Automated decisions
All the decisions we make about you involve human intervention.
Your rights
More information on how to seek advice to exercise your rights, raise a concern or complain about the handling of your personal data by the council can be found in Wigan Council Primary Privacy Notice.
Data protection officer
If you wish to raise a concern or seek clarification about any aspect of this notice, please contact our Data Protection Officer. Please provide documents to prove your identity along with a description of your concern.
We will respond to all requests within one month.
If you are unhappy with the way that we handle your concern you may complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) (external link).
Document information
Owner: Janet Davies, Assistant Director - Legal Governance and Elections
Author: Nick Higham, Democratic and Governance Manager
Version and date: V4.0 January 2026