PN168 - Volunteer Services Privacy Notice

Torfaen County Borough Council is committed to protecting your privacy when you use our services. This Privacy Notice is designed to give you information about the data we hold about you, how we use it, your rights in relation to it and the safeguards in place to protect it.

TCBC Service Area: Adults & Communities
Work area: Volunteer Services
Contact Details: Gareth.Jones4@torfaen.gov.uk
Privacy Notice Name: Volunteer Services

Data Controller: Torfaen County Borough Council, c/o Civic Centre, Pontypool, NP4 6YB

If you wish to raise a concern about the handling of your personal data, please contact the Data Protection Officer on 01495 762200 or email dpa@torfaen.gov.uk

Volunteering is a key component of the Communities and Wellbeing Strategy in Torfaen County Borough Council helping communities to be healthier, better connected and more equal by 2027 specifically. In addition, Torfaen County Borough Council is a Marmot Council and as such creating a cohesive volunteer framework through the Community Capacity Team to support the development of volunteering within the Council that will provide a range of opportunities to impact positively on the needs of the communities in Torfaen and turning the Marmot principles into practice

The information is gathered through the recruitment of the volunteer’s process and is held throughout volunteer’s engagement with the service.

Who provides your data to the Council?

The personal information we process is provided to us directly by you as a volunteer wishing to engage in volunteering opportunities within Torfaen County Borough Council.

We are also provided with information by referees and in the form of DBS checks

How does the Council collect this information?

Recruitment forms are completed by the volunteer (Electronically or in paper format) as part of the Council’s safe recruitment process. DBS checks and references are also requested/collected electronically.

What information does the Council collect about you?

The Community Capacity Team collects:

Name
Address
Date of Birth
Emergency Contact
Email
Volunteer Mobile Phone Number
Medical needs/disabilities

The following information is also collected by the Community Capacity Team but not retained. It is forwarded to Human Resources to support their processes.

Right to work documents such as: Passports; Drivers Licences; Birth Certificates; Proof of National Insurance.
References
DBS information

The following information is also collected by the Community Capacity Team but not retained. It is forwarded to Creditors to support their process for Torfaen County Borough Council Volunteers where expenses are offered.

Bank details to reimburse volunteers expenses (where applicable)

Why does the Council process your personal data?

Under Article 6 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), the lawful basis we rely on for processing this information is:

(e) We need it to perform a public task

Special categories of personal data

We collect the following special category data:

data concerning health

We collect this under Article 9 of the UK GDPR.

We also collect criminal data:

As part of the DBS process, we ask volunteers if they hold any unspent criminal convictions

we collect this under Article 10 of the UK GDPR regulations.

Who has access to your data?

Your data is shared internally only with the appropriate staff where it is necessary for the performance of their roles.

Minimal data is shared with the UK Sector Priority Fund (SPF) for funding purposes.

Apart from where previously stated, we do not pass your details to third parties unless we are lawfully required do so.

Is the Data transferred out of the UK?

How does the Council keep your data secure?

The Council has internal policies in place to ensure the data it processes is not lost, accidentally destroyed, misused or disclosed. Access to this data is restricted in accordance with the Council’s internal policies and in compliance with the UK GDPR.

Data will be stored securely in:

Secure electronic database or a locked cabinet for paper records

Where the Council engages third parties to process personal data on its behalf, they do so on the basis of written instructions. These third parties are also under a duty of confidentiality and are obliged to implement appropriate measures to ensure the security of data.

How long does the Council keep your data?

The Council will hold your personal data only for the period that is necessary and will follow organisational and Local Authority standards in this area. At the end of the retention period the Council will securely destroy or dispose of the data in line with retention schedules.

The council will hold your personal data for the duration of your volunteering. The periods for which your data is held after the end of volunteering are set out in the relevant retention periods below.

7 years under SPF funding requirements

Are we making automated decisions/profiling with your data?

Your rights

You have a number of Rights you can exercise:

Access - to obtain a copy of your data on request
Rectification – to require the Council to change incorrect or incomplete data
Object, Restrict or Delete - under certain circumstances you can require the Council to delete or stop processing your data, for example where the data is no longer necessary for the purposes of processing
Data portability – to receive and/or transmit data provided to the Council to other organisations (this applies in limited circumstances)
Withdraw your consent at any time (where consent has been given)
To know the consequences of failing to provide data to the Council
To know the existence of any Automated Decision-making, including profiling, and the consequences of this for you.
To lodge a complaint with a supervisory authority (Information Commissioners Office)

If you would like to exercise any of these rights, please contact: (Gareth Jones, Team Leader Torfaen County Borough Council, The Power Station, Blenheim Road, St Dials Cwmbran NP44 4SY Gareth.jones4@torfaen.gov.uk

The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office (Wales), 2^nd Floor, Churchill House, Churchill Way, Cardiff, CF10 2HH. Telephone 0330 414 6421 or e-mail Wales@ico.org.uk.

Last Modified: 08/10/2025 Back to top