Winterbourne Abbas & Steepleton Parish Council
Data Protection Complaints Procedure
The parish council would ask that initially any alleged data protection issue is brought to the attention of the clerk or chairman by email or by letter to the addresses below. Please refer to the parish council's General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) - Data Protection policy using this link. In line with HM Government's Information Commissioners Office (ICO), a Subject Access Request (SAR) should be submitted to the Parish Council in the first instance (item e in the above policy)
If it is felt that the parish council's response or resolution of the request is not satisfactory, then an individual can make a complaint to the parish council.
In this event, the parish council will :
1). Acknowledge Receipt: Upon receipt of the complaint, the parish council will check that the complaint has come from an appropriate person as third parties may not be allowed to access someone else’s personal data. As soon as this has been established, the parish council will respond to say that the complaint will be investigated within a period not exceeding 30 days. The clerk or chairman of the parish council will be given as a point of contact.
2) Finding out what has gone wrong: The parish council will deal with any data protection complaints as soon as possible, gathering all information that is available and checking this fairly and for accuracy. If necessary, more information may be asked for to allow this checking to be progressed.
3) Regular Updates: After its initial response, the parish council will give regular updates on progress using concise and plain language.
4) Record of actions: The parish council will keep a record of the progress of dealing with the complaint with dates of correspondence and actions taken. The reasons for decisions will also be recorded
5) Response to the complaint: Once the parish council has completed its investigations, it will inform the person making the complaint of the outcome by email or letter. An explanation of what has been done to resolve the issue plus any steps taken as a result will be given. Where possible the issues will be addressed separately with appropriate evidence for each. The person making the complaint will also be informed that they have the right to complain to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO)
6) Review of any lessons to be learnt: Having responded to the complaint, the parish council will take the opportunity to review what had happened and consider anything that can be learnt and improved to prevent future similar complaints.
Updated May 2026