Public complaints procedure

The Place welcomes feedback from the wider community about the provision of education, services and facilities offered as part of our commitment to enhancing the quality of our provision.

Any complaints by members of the public about either the conduct of a staff or student or services provided by The Place should be reported to the Customer Relations email address which you can access here.

Downloads List

For more information, please download our Complaints Procedure & Policy
139 KB PDF

Freedom of Information

London Contemporary Dance School (LCDS) is committed to the principle of making official information accessible. In the spirit of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) we support a culture of openness and accountability to facilitate better public understanding of how public organisations carry out their duties.

Make a freedom of information request

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) gives you the right to request any recorded information held by London Contemporary Dance School, for example minutes of meetings, records of expenditure, and research reports.

The Environmental Information Regulations 2004 give you the right to request environmental information held by LCDS, such as environmental research, information on emissions, or policies on environmental topics.

Is the information you are seeking already available?

Before making a request, save time by checking whether the information is already available. This website includes our index of information we proactively publish under the Freedom of Information Act 2000. You can also search the website by using the search box in the top right corner.

Please note that some information is currently available on request while it is digitised for our new website.

How to submit a request for information

We endeavour to publish information online where listed in the ICO's Model Publication Scheme. Sometimes information usually available online may be temporarily available for download if it is being updated or has yet to be published. For information not available from our published content above, you can submit a request to the Freedom of Information Officer.

A member of the public requiring access to information must make a written request, which can be submitted by post or email:

Freedom of Information Officer
London Contemporary Dance School
16 Flaxman Terrace
London
WC1H 9AT

To assist with processing your request as quickly as possible, please provide as much detail as you can about the information you would like and ensure that ‘Freedom of Information Request’ forms part of the subject line of an emailed request/ letter.

Timeframe

Information requests made under the Freedom of Information Act and the Environmental Information Regulations must be processed within a maximum of 20 working days, not including weekends or bank holidays.

The 20 working days timeframe starts when LCDS receives your request and ends when it sends a response. This 'time clock' may restart if we have to ask you to clarify your request or pause if we have to notify you that a fee is payable.

Fees

On some occasions, London Contemporary Dance School may ask you to pay a fee when we respond to a freedom of information request. Where this is the case we will write to you in advance setting out the fee and how we have calculated it. This will always be in line with the Information Commissioner’s Office guidance on fees that may be charged which can be accessed here.

Our Response

When we communicate with you about your request, our emails will come from the named email address of our Freedom of Information/ Data Protection Officer in the form of: forename.surname@theplace.org.uk

Complaint

If for any reason you are dissatisfied with the service you receive regarding a Freedom Information request you can contact the Freedom of Information Officer – address above.

If you remain dissatisfied with the outcome then you can appeal to the ICO who may investigate on your behalf. You can contact the ICO at:

Information Commissioner's Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
01625 545 745
www.ico.gov.uk

If you have any questions relating to this process, please feel free to contact us.

Get in touch

Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy explains how London Contemporary Dance (The Place) Ltd (trading as The Place) collects, uses, and protects your personal data when you interact with us online, by phone, or in person.

We are committed to safeguarding your privacy in line with the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and the Data Protection Act 2018. This policy may be updated from time to time, so please check it periodically.

1. Our privacy commitment

We will only collect and process your personal data where we have a clear legal basis to do so, and we will always respect your rights and freedoms.

2. Personal Information

When you use our services (e.g. purchasing tickets, joining classes, signing up to our newsletter), we may collect the following:

Name, address, email address, phone number, country of residence
Payment details (processed securely by our payment providers)
Booking history and preferences

How we use this information (lawful basis):

To process bookings and orders (contract)
To send service emails relating to your booking (contract)
To send marketing communications, where you have consented or where we have a legitimate interest to do so (consent/legitimate interest)
To meet legal or regulatory obligations (legal obligation)

We will not share your payment details beyond processing transactions.

3. Log files

Like many websites, our server generates log files that include your IP address, browser type, and referring page. We use this information to:

Diagnose problems
Analyse usage patterns
Keep our systems secure

We do not normally link IP addresses to identifiable individuals.

4. Cookies and similar technologies

Cookies are small files placed on your device to improve your browsing experience and help us understand how our site is used.

We use:

Essential cookies (to make the site work)
Analytics cookies (Google Analytics, see below)
Third-party cookies (from platforms like YouTube, X, Facebook when you view embedded content)

You can control cookies at any time via our Cookie Policy page and by adjusting your browser settings. Non-essential cookies are only set with your consent, collected through our cookie banner.

4.1 Google Analytics

We use Google Analytics to understand how visitors use our site and to report to funders such as Arts Council England. Data is anonymised and not used to personally identify you. Google may process this data outside the UK/EEA; where this occurs, safeguards such as Standard Contractual Clauses apply.

4.2 Third-party cookies

When interacting with embedded content (e.g. YouTube, X, Facebook), those providers may set their own cookies. Please refer to their privacy policies for details.

5. Other websites

Our website contains links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices of those sites. Please check their policies before sharing personal data.

6. Use and disclosure of Personal Information

We may keep a record of correspondence with you. We may also disclose your personal information if required to do so by law, by regulators, or in the event of a business transfer.

7. Use of Third-party Data Processors

We use trusted third-party providers (e.g. website host, CRM, payment processor, mailing list provider). Each acts under contract and processes your data securely on our behalf.

8. How we protect information

Data is stored securely on protected servers
Access is limited to staff and approved contractors who need it
Regular security reviews are carried out

9. Surveys and promotions

From time to time, we may run voluntary surveys or promotions. We will clearly explain how your data will be used. You may also choose whether to receive promotional emails from us.

10. Retention of Personal Information

We will only keep your data for as long as necessary for the purposes for which it was collected, including legal, accounting, or reporting requirements.

Transaction data: retained for 6 years (HMRC requirement)
Marketing data: retained until you unsubscribe or withdraw consent
Other personal data: retained in line with our data retention schedule (available on request)

11. Your data protection rights

You have the following rights under UK GDPR:

To access the personal data we hold about you
To correct inaccuracies in your data
To request deletion of your data (“right to be forgotten”)
To restrict or object to processing of your data
To request a copy of your data in a portable format
To withdraw consent at any time (where consent is the basis for processing)
Not to be subject to automated decision-making without safeguards

To exercise these rights, please contact info@theplace.org.uk.

If you are unhappy with how we handle your data, you also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO): www.ico.org.uk.

12. Users under 18

If you are under 18, please ensure you have your parent or guardian’s permission before providing personal data. For users under 13, we will require verifiable parental consent before collecting any personal information.

13. Contact us

For any questions about this policy, please contact:
Data Protection Lead, The Place
Email: data.protection@theplace.org.uk