Cookies are small anonymous text files which are placed on your computer by websites you visit.
The council is committed to only using cookies that are either essential (this means they are required to make something on our website function properly) or that help us to make your experience of using the website better. The following cookies are used on this website:
We use a few different cookie messages on our website to advise you of our cookie policy.
Cookies may be stored on your computer to indicate you have muted our cookies messages.
We are working to harmonise our different messages to use a single message.
| Name | Description | Expiry |
|---|---|---|
| banes-cookie-accept | Used to remember that you accepted the cookie message. | 1 year |
| cookieconsent_dismissed | Used to remember that you accepted the cookie message. | 1 year |
| cookieconsent_status | Used to remember that you accepted the cookie message. | 1 year |
We use Google Analytics on many of our websites to collect information about how you use this site. We do this to make sure it meets your needs, and to understand how we can make the website work better.
Google Analytics stores information about which pages on this site you visit, how long you are on the site, how you got here and what you click on while you are here.
| Name | Description | Expiry |
|---|---|---|
| _ga | Used to distinguish users | 2 years |
| _gid | Used to distinguish users | 1 day |
| _gat | Used to throttle request rate. If Google Analytics is deployed via Google Tag Manager, this cookie will be named _dc_gtm_<property-id>. |
1 minute |
| __utma | Used to distinguish users and sessions. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and no existing __utma cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. | 2 years from set/update |
| __utmb | Used to determine new sessions/visits. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and no existing __utmb cookies exists. The cookie is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. | 30 mins from set/update |
| __utmc | Not used in ga.js. Set for interoperability with urchin.js. Historically, this cookie operated in conjunction with the __utmb cookie to determine whether the user was in a new session/visit. | End of browser session |
| __utmt | Used to throttle request rate. | 10 minutes |
| __utmz | Stores the traffic source or campaign that explains how the user reached your site. The cookie is created when the javascript library executes and is updated every time data is sent to Google Analytics. |
6 months from set/update |
Hotjar uses cookies to help us track behaviour across pages, and to create visitor polls. The cookies carry no personally identifiable information. We do not collect or store any other personal information (such as your name or address), so we cannot use this data to identify who you are.
| Name | Description | Expiry |
|---|---|---|
| hjClosedSurveyInvites | This cookie is set once a visitor interacts with a survey invitation pop-up window. It is used to ensure that the same invitation does not reappear again if it has already been shown. | 1 year |
| _hjDonePolls | This cookie is set once a visitor completes a poll using the Feedback Poll button. It is used to ensure that the same Poll does not reappear if it has already been filled in. | 1 year |
| _hjMinimizedPolls | This cookie is set once a visitor minimizes a Feedback Poll window. It is used to ensure that the window stays minimized when the visitor navigates through our site. | 1 year |
| _hjDoneTestersWidgets | This cookie is set once a visitor submits their information in the Recruit User Testers window. It is used to ensure that the same form does not reappear if it has already been filled in. | 1 year |
| _hjMinimizedTestersWidget | This cookie is set once a visitor minimizes a Recruit User Testers window. It is used to ensure that the window stays minimized when the visitor navigates through our site. | 1 year |
| _hjDoneSurveys | This cookie is set once a visitor completes a survey. It is used to only load the survey content if the visitor hasn't completed the survey yet. | 1 year |
| _hjIncludedInSample | This cookie is set to let Hotjar know whether that visitor is included in the sample which is used to generate data such as heatmaps, funnels, or recordings | 1 year |
| _hjShownFeedbackMessage | This cookie is set when a visitor minimizes or completes Incoming Feedback. This is done so that the Incoming Feedback will be minimized immediately if they navigate to another page. | 1 year |
| Name | Description | Expiry |
|---|---|---|
| ASP.NET_SessionId | This temporary cookie is essential for secure use of the democracy web pages. It enables you to securely log on, subscribe to notification emails, and to submit information to the council. This cookie is not used for any purpose other than securing your logon session. | end of Session |
Cookies set by third party websites
We sometimes embed video, images or other content from websites such as Vimeo, YouTube, Flickr and Twitter. We may also allow you to use 'Share' buttons to link to content on our site from other websites.
As we have no control over the cookies set by these websites, please look at their guidance on cookie use for more information.
Change cookie settings for this website
Most web browsers allow some control of cookies through your browser settings. Find out more about cookies, including how to see what cookies have been set, and how to manage and delete them.