An apology for absence was received from Cllr Greta Goatley and Cllr Harold Craske attended as her substitute.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 20 November 2014 were signed by the Chair.

No declarations of interest were made.

that the Data Quality Policy (April 2014) be approved subject to the amendments proposed by the Committee.

Further to Minute 40 (17.09.2012), the Performance & Policy Manager advised that it was agreed that the Data Quality Policy be reviewed every two years.  Whilst it had not been quite two years, it was felt prudent to bring the Policy back to the Committee as it had been reviewed in line with the recently adopted revised Corporate Plan mid?term review document which built upon the five strategic objectives adopted by the Council in June 2013 and reviewed the performance measures and information indicators used by the Council.

The Committee considered the draft Data Quality Policy and highlighted the following for inclusion:-

·         reference be made to providing effective training for staff;

·         reference be made to the suite of policies which link to the Data Quality Policy, for example those policies that refer to the Council’s data security arrangements in terms of corruption, recovery and continuity;

·         paragraph 2.1 be amended to read ‘Everyone has a responsibility for data quality.  This includes all officers, Members and individuals and organisations that the Council works with to deliver services’; and

·         paragraph 2.2 be amended to state that Members also scrutinise and interpret the data.

Cllr Leslie Hills requested information on data relating to Council Tax Base.

Officers advised that they would arrange for a response to be sent to Cllr Leslie Hills as his question could not be answered immediately.

            It was agreed by the Committee and ratified by Portfolio Holder that the    Data Quality Policy (April 2014) be approved subject to the amendments       proposed by the Committee.

The Assistant Director (Governance and Law) and the Service Manager (IT Services) gave a detailed presentation on the European Union changes on Data Protection 2014/15 and beyond.

The main topics covered by the presentation were:-

·         Agenda for Change;

·         General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR);

·         Key GDPR Changes;

·         Other Changes;

·         Data Protection Officers;

·         Consent;

·         Enhanced Citizen Rights;

·         Lifecycle Data Protection Management (LDPM);

·         Safe Harbor;

·         Issues; and

·         Communications-Electronics Security Group(CESG).

The Committee was advised that the changes were in the final stages of adoption by the European Union and that the Committee would receive an update when deemed necessary.

The Assistant Director (Governance & Law) and the Service Manager (IT Services) responded to the questions raised by Members.

Members acknowledged the extent of the changes and the impact that they will have.

The Committee thanked the Assistant Director (Governance and Law) and the Service Manager (IT Services) for an informative presentation.