Transparency Information

In common with other public bodies such as government department, local council or state schools, Peterlee Town Council is required to make certain information readily available to members of the public and to respond to requests for information in a prescribed way.

You can view our General Data Privacy Notice here.

There are a number of ways that this happens, including:

  • The Government’s Open and Accountable Local Government rules (2014) introduced new rights to enable members of the public to use modern technology to record and report on council meetings and to see information relating to significant decisions made outside of meetings by officers operating under a specific or delegated power;
  • The Local Government Transparency Code (2015) sets out the minimum data that councils should be publishing, the frequency it should be published and how it should be published;
  • The Freedom of Information Act (2000) creates a public ‘right of access’ to information held by public bodies; and
  • The Data Protection Act (2018) controls how personal information can be used by organisations, including a right for members of the public to get a copy of information that is held about them.

In September 2016 we began a process of reviewing and updating the way that we respond to the various obligations that under these government requirements.

One of our first steps has been to publish a Peterlee Town Council Publication Scheme in line with the Information Commissioner’s Office model scheme.  This is a list of various types of information about the Council and where/how members of the public can access the information.  The list is a work in progress and is updated as and when the information is available.  If you have any comments or concerns please don’t hesitate to contact the Town Clerk by phoning 0191 5862491 or by email clerk@peterlee.gov.uk

We have also published some public guidance on submitting a request for access to information.

From October 2016 the council has also published a disclosure log that provides anonymised data on responses to freedom of information requests received.

If you would like to access information about the Council that isn’t already contained within the publication scheme you can contact us directly to discuss the nature of your request, or you can make ‘formal’ requests through these links:

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