This notice provides details of how Leeds City Council’s Planning Service (which includes Development Management, Building Control, Enforcement, Tree Protection, Contaminated Land, Planning Policy and Street Naming and Numbering) collects and uses information about you.
The reasons we use your data
We collect information supplied by people when applying for planning permission and related applications, registering building works, naming or numbering properties, applying for tree preservation orders, listed buildings, and when we are monitoring compliance with relevant legislation. We also hold information supplied by members of the public who have commented on these applications, commented on draft Local Plan (and its associated Development Plan Documents) or contacted us in relation to the functions carried out by the services listed above. What sort of information we collect depends on which of our services you use, but can include (and is not limited to) the following:
- your name or business name, address and contact details
- your builder's name, address and contact details
- site address details
- details of any agents (including name, address and contact details) or other representative you have used in your application
- written or verbal communication with you (emails, letters, records of telephone calls and other conversations)
- photographs of your property or land
- descriptions and drawings of your property (including as it is now and how it will be after any proposed works are completed)
- decision notices, letters, and reports relating to your property
- name, address and contact details of land or property owners
- comments made on planning applications
- comments made on draft Local Plan (and its associated Development Plan Documents)
- details of those who have registered on our online planning system website
- any legal agreements you have entered into as part of your planning application decision, for example Section 106 agreements or Community Infrastructure Levy
- commercial information
- personal data supplied in support of an application (including, where specifically required as supporting evidence, medical information, information relating to ethnic origin, information relating to religious beliefs)
- Enforcements and Trees
- details of complaints
- material relating to the investigation of complaints
- material and information arising as a result of an investigation
- documents relating to any legal proceedings resulting from complaints
- documents relating to any application are shared with the Planning Inspectorate in the event of an appeal. Legislation also requires us to share the same information with appellants that we share with the Inspectorate. This may include comments made on an application and information about the address of the contributor.
Why we are allowed to use your data
We use this information to process planning and related applications, building control applications, requests for naming and numbering properties, tree preservation orders, monitoring compliance, enforcement, listed building records, and to communicate any decisions we make about those applications. The information may also be used to prepare anonymous statistics to monitor our performance as a department, or to help other departments with their work.
The legal basis for processing this personal data is that the Council, as Local Planning Authority, has a public task duty under Reg 6(1)(e) of UK GDPR to process personal information concerning planning. This public task duty is conferred by (but not limited to) the following legislation:
- The Town and Country Planning (Development Management Procedure) (England) Order 2015
- Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004
- The Building Regulations 2010
- Latent Damage Act 1986
- The Towns Improvement Clauses Act 1847
- Public Health Act Amendment Act 1907
- Public Health Act of 1925
- Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003
- The Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended)
- The Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990
- Highways Act 1980
- Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010
- The Localism Act 2011
- Flood and Water Management Act 2010
- Drainage Act 1991
- The Environment Act 1995
- The Environmental Protection Act 1990
- The Equality Act 2010
- The Housing and Planning Act 2016
- The Planning Act 2008
- The Taking Control of Goods (Fees) Regulation 2014
The following legal bases under the UK GDPR for processing may also apply to personal information we process:
- 6(1)(a) The data subject has given consent for the processing of his or her personal data for one or more specific purposes (we will also ask for your specific opt-in consent when processing data in this manner)
- 6(1)(b) Processing is necessary for the performance of a contract (where a service is being procured from us)
- 6(1)(c) Processing is necessary for compliance with a legal obligation
- 6(1)(f) Processing is necessary for the purposes of the legitimate interests pursued by the Council or by a third party
A small number of applications may contain "special category data", such as information about someone's health. There are additional safeguards for special category data and our consultation processes must reflect this.
Where we are processing such special category data, we rely on the following legal bases, in addition to those detailed above:
- 9(2)(a) Explicit consent of the data subject, unless reliance on consent is prohibited by law
- 9(2)(e) Processing relates to personal data manifestly made public by the data subject
- 9(2)(j) Processing is necessary for archiving purposes in the public interest, or scientific and historical research purposes or statistical purposes in accordance with Article 89(1) of the GDPR
Who we can share your data with
- contractors and partners providing services on our behalf
- education providers
- elected members
- fire and rescue services
- funding bodies
- government departments
- judicial agencies. For example, courts
- other Local Authorities
- Police
- Resilience Forum
- The Environment Agency
- The general public (via public registers)
- SmartSurvey Ltd
- Planning Inspectorate and their designated Programme Officer
Information may be shared with legal and other professionals as part of investigations into complaints about planning applications or building work.
Public access to planning information
Planning legislation requires us to make details of planning applications publicly available for inspection. We make applications available via our online Planning Public Access portal. Depending on the type of application, we are also legally required to publicise it and consult relevant organisations about it.
If you have made a planning application, your name and address may be included in any publicity we produce such as site notices, letters to neighbours and press advertisements. It will also be published on our Public Access website. This will also include the details of your planning agent if you have used one.
As part of the planning process we ask for the professional opinion of different organisations both inside and outside the Council. Some of those organisations are statutory consultees, (ie people that we must consult, such as the Environment Agency), others are non-statutory. Non-statutory consultees are groups who may be asked for their opinion if we believe they are likely to have an interest in the development. In all instances the information shared is that found on the public planning register.
Applicant names and addresses may also be held on other parts of the Council's website, for example records of Planning Panels and summary information about planning application publicity.
Planning comments
If you choose to comment on a planning application or appeal your personal details will be held on our internal systems so that the impact of that application on the contributor can be assessed.
Please note that we may also pass information to relevant authorities if we receive comments on applications that we believe are libellous, threatening, racist or in any other way offensive. Comments on planning applications should always be restricted to planning matters.
Pre-application enquiries
If you choose to utilise the Council’s pre-application enquiry process, any personal information you provide will only be held for the purpose of processing this enquiry and will be considered to be held under Article 6(1)(b) of the UK GDPR (on the basis that it is required, contractually, for us to provide this service).
The council may also use the information you provide, in our legitimate interests, to contact you with regard to completing an anonymous customer satisfaction survey concerning the service you have received. The Council will not share the data you provide with any third parties unless required by law, but the Planning Service will share this data internally with other council services (for example, Highways and Environmental Health) where their input is required.
Commenting on draft Local Plan (and its associated Development Plan documents)
Personal data is collected and processed to meet statutory obligations in relation to preparing Local Plans (its associated Development Plan Documents) and the related policy work. Comments will be retained until the adoption of the Policy. This includes the following:
- adding you to the Planning Policy Consultation Database (by your consent)
- adding you to the Self and Custom Build Housing Register
- recording of land and land ownership for consideration as potential development allocations
- keeping you informed about our Local Plan (and its associated Development Plan Documents) and related planning guidance and documents
- processing representations on the Local Plan (and its associated Development Plan Documents) and related planning guidance and documents
- undertaking virtual meetings, events, or hearings in relation to the Local Plan (and its associated Development Plan Documents) and related planning guidance and documents
- keeping a record of declared HMOs
- responding to enquiries and other matters
To comply with its statutory obligations, the Council must make your representation available for public inspection and regulations allow this information to be made available on the internet. This includes your name, address, and the contents of your comment. To protect personal data from unnecessary disclosure, the Council will, however, remove any personal information provided in your representation which we are not required, by law, to make available (for example, telephone numbers and signatures).
The personal information you provide will be held until the adoption of the Development Plan Document, after which it will be securely destroyed. Please note that we cannot provide anonymity or accept comments marked ‘private’ or ‘confidential’. Comments that include offensive, racist, discriminatory, threatening and other non-relevant statements will be destroyed.
Changes to this privacy notice
We keep our privacy notice under regular review. This privacy notice was last updated 6 June 2023.
