My Privacy Policy

I am a member of Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council representing Shevington with Lower Ground & Moor Ward, which is within the Wigan Constituency.  As one of your elected representatives, it is important that I can keep in touch with residents about my work, take up casework on their behalf, ask for views on local issues and provide them with local information, which I believe is important or would be of benefit or interest to them. I have highlighted external links throughout this page in Yellow, which will take you to external websites should you require more detailed information beyond what is included within my policy on this page.  Should you need to contact me for further information or for any other reason relevant to my roles or the ward please see my Contact page for ways to contact me.

This page explains how I collect and use personal data, and the lawful bases for doing so and provides information about your rights in respect of your personal data for which I am the data controller.

Data collection and use

I will only collect and use personal contact information for the purpose for which it has been provided.  For the purpose of this notice, I consider the lawful bases for processing information to be as follows:

Legitimate Interests: The processing is necessary for your legitimate interests or the legitimate interests of a third party.  For example, to notify You of Upcoming roadworks that may affect you etc. i.e. Issues to which I feel you will benefit from the information but where I am not promoting specific events or activities

Consent: You have given me consent to process your personal data for a specific purpose for example, to notify you of upcoming specific community activities and events etc.

Public Task: The processing is necessary for me to perform a task in the public interest or as part of my official function as a councillor, and the task or function has a clear basis in law.  For example, if I am working directly with officers on behalf of the council.  In this respect, Wigan Council is the data controller and You should consult their privacy policy (https://www.wigan.gov.uk/sitepages/privacypolicy.aspx) for details of the information they hold and how it is handled

Vital Interests: The processing is necessary to protect someone’s life or if I believe someone is at risk of harm.

Legal Obligation: The processing is necessary for me to comply with the law (not including contractual obligations).

Any personal contact information I collect in my role as a Councillor will not be used for party political purposes.  However, as a Labour Councillor, I may have access to personal contact information from other sources, which I or my colleagues may use for campaigning purposes.  In respect of that information, the Labour Party is the data controller, and you should consult their privacy policy (https://labour.org.uk/privacy-policy/) for details of what information they hold, why, and how they use and process that information.

The following table, which is taken from the Information Commissioners Office website, briefly outlines rights within each of the Lawful Bases that apply.  If you click on the image it will take you to the Information Commissioners website where you can find this table and more detailed information about Lawful Bases

I undertake casework using personal information provided by or on behalf of residents. I do not share contact details provided to me except where it is necessary and reasonable to do so to advocate on your behalf. Please see the “Who I share your information with” section for further details.

When you contact me for assistance, provide me with your contact details via my website, complete a form or survey sent to you by me, or visit my surgery or during public activities, I may ask you for personal contact information and may also ask for your consent to add your details to my email distribution list for residents of this ward to share important and relevant local information where your consent is required.

I may communicate by post, email, telephone, or text message about my work and provide you with information, which I believe will be of Value to you. I have a legal entitlement to the full electoral register for the Wigan Metropolitan Borough Council area, which includes the full name and address of every registered elector and I may write to you in connection with my duties and activities as a Councillor.

In circumstances where consent is required, I will only send emails, texts, or contact you by telephone where you have provided consent for me to do so. You may withdraw your consent or unsubscribe at any time from these communications by emailing me directly and I will remove you from my distribution lists regardless of whether consent is required or not as I do not wish to send people information they do not want unless of course there is an urgent situation requiring me to do so. To simplify the process residents can unsubscribe themselves from my email list by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of each email newsletter

Who I share your information with:

I will not share your personal information unless I take up casework on your behalf and it is necessary for me to do so with officials or departments from within the council or other agencies relevant to your case. I will only share as much information as I believe is necessary to take your case forward or I am required to do so for legal reasons. If you have any questions or concerns about how the information you provide is used, please don’t hesitate to contact me for more information at any time.

Other than in the circumstances above, I will not share your personal information with other individuals or organisations unless you ask me to do so.

Retention of personal data

I will only keep your personal contact information for as long as it is necessary to fulfill the purposes described in this policy. Information relating to casework will only be retained for as long as it is necessary to resolve or otherwise complete your request, although I may retain a minimum amount of information about closed cases in case you contact me again for help or new developments take place in connection with old enquiries, which may require for you to be updated.

I will only retain your personal information so long as I am an elected member of Wigan Council.

I will regularly review the personal information I hold to ensure that its use is necessary and proportionate.

IP Addresses, cookies, and links to other websites

My website does not automatically capture or store personal information, other than logging the user’s IP Address or the location of your computer or network on the Internet, for systems administration and troubleshooting purposes.

My website contains links to other websites for which I am not responsible for the content or privacy practices of these websites.

Your rights:

You have several rights in relation to your personal information and the opportunity to choose how it is used.

You can:

• Request copies of the personal information I hold about you (known as a “subject access request”)
• Request that I correct or update any personal information held about you
• Ask that I erase or restrict the way in which I use your information
• Request that personal information you have given your consent for me to use is provided in an electronic format, so it can be transferred to another data controller (also known as “data portability”)

You may opt out of receiving further communications from me in any medium at any time and I aim to deal with all unsubscribe requests within a month.

If you wish to exercise your rights in respect of your personal data that I hold or have any concerns about how your data is used, please don’t hesitate to contact me by email: