Worker 'accessed child service data' without approval

A council worker opened child services records of people they knew without permission, a local authority has said.

The staff member at Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council faced "disciplinary action" following the breach.

The council said data protection rules meant it could not say whether the worker was fired, or left its employment of their own accord.

Bosses reported the incident to the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), which took no action because "the offence was effectively committed against the council".

"The council’s children’s services case management system was accessed by an individual who is no longer employed by the council," a spokesperson for the Labour-led authority said.

"The allegation was that they had accessed the files of people they knew without having a work reason to do so, in contravention of the council’s protocols, so they faced disciplinary action as a result.

"No action was taken by the ICO against the council, with the ICO acknowledging that the offence was effectively committed against the council."

The data breach took place in 2023-24 and was one of three deemed serious enough to be reported to the ICO.

The ICO is the UK's data regulator and can fine organisations up to £17m for serious breaches.

The other two involved personal information mistakenly being sent to the wrong person via email.

Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council said there was no evidence the data sent in the emails had been accessed but it reported the incidents to the ICO as a "precautionary measure".

The ICO took no against the council in either case.

The data breaches were among a total of 83 logged by the local authority last year, one more than the previous 12 months.

Additional reporting by Stuart Arnold, Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Follow BBC Tees on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].