Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask His Majesty's Government what the retention policy is for submissions made to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government during public consultations.

The department retains information from public consultations only for as long as is necessary to fulfil the relevant business need and statutory requirements. The department's standard retention period for public consultation responses is two years from the consultation closing date, although this is a guideline rather than a fixed requirement, and the final retention period is determined on a case-by-case basis.

Retention decisions must comply with data protection principles, including data minimisation and storage limitation, ensuring personal data is kept only for as long as necessary. For example, confidential or sensitive personal information may require a shorter retention period and may be deleted or anonymised once analysis is complete.

The applicable retention period for personal information is normally set out in the published consultation documentation.