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What is the Data Protection Act and what does it mean for you?
The Data Protection Act 1998 came into force in March 2000 to provide protection and rights to individuals about whom data is held by other individuals and organisations.
The Act requires organisations like Lancashire County Council to tell individuals, except in certain circumstances, what personal data is held about them, how it is used, and to provide a copy of personal data within forty days of a written request. It also requires that personal data is held securely, used responsibly and only kept for as long as necessary.
The Data Protection Act gives you the right to see any information held on you within Lancashire County Council. This is known as a 'subject access request' and should be directed to the Data Protection Officer, County Hall, Preston, PR1 0LD for Lancashire County Council.
Effective records management is essential for compliance with this legislation. The Records Management Service undertakes county-wide searches for records on behalf of the Data Protection Team.
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What is the Freedom of Information Act and what does it mean for you?
The Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) 2000 came into force in January 2005. The Act gives individuals a general right of access to all types of ‘recorded' information held by a wide range of public bodies, including local authorities like Lancashire County Council, subject to various exemptions.
Public sector organisations need to be able to ‘confirm or deny' the existence of records, supply information and have Publication Schemes in place where certain information is routinely published and readily available.
The Act places a further obligation on public authorities to maintain their records in accordance with a (External) Code of Practice . The key to effective compliance is records management: knowing what information is held and where, what is already published, what requests are being or have been dealt with, what exemptions apply and having retention, destruction and preservation policies.
The FOIA encompasses the Environment Information Regulations Act 1992 - SI3240 (as amended by the Environmental Information (Amendment) Regulations 1998) requiring public authorities to provide access to information about the environment.
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What are we doing within the Records Management Service in relation to the Data Protection and Freedom of Information Acts?
The latest government proposals to aid compliance with the Data Protection Act and Freedom of Information requirements encourage the installation of Electronic Records Management Systems across organisations.
Within Lancashire County Council we are moving away from the existing computerised records management system, which controls the disposition and control processes for paper-based records, to one which can handle information in any format. The proposed Electronic Records Management System (ERMS) will manage Lancashire County Council's paper and electronic records in a hybrid system and provide a better audit of the Council's information.
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