Social service council bungle

Hampshire County Council has been fined £100K for carelessly leaving social services papers in a disused building.

Social care files, along with 45 bags of confidential waste, were found at Town End House in Havant. The papers, which featured “highly sensitive information” about adults and children in vulnerable circumstances, were discovered by the new owners of the building soon after it was purchased in August 2014, according to a statement by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).

Steve Eckersley, the ICO's head of enforcement, described the council’s failure to dispose of confidential papers as “irresponsible”. “It not only broke the law but put vulnerable people at risk,” Eckersley said. “Organisations must implement effective contingency plans to protect personal data when decommissioning buildings.” ®