Council’s data blunder branded ‘sloppy’ by FoI expert

Roger Gill originally submitted a Freedom of Information (FoI) request to Horsham District Council after receiving no response to a complaint about Acorn Plus refuse lorries reversing in his Horsham road.

However, after a lengthy email exchange with council staff he was then sent the sensitive information that the council has admitted breached the Data Protection Act 1998.

Embarrassingly Mr Gill is a civil servant who has had substantial involvement in the Freedom of Information Act and data protection policy.

He said the whole process ‘has been executed sloppily and with contempt’.

Mr Gill said: “It just shows there’s no quality controls in place. It’s all knee-jerk and sloppy. It’s just not good enough. It’s sloppy and embarrassing.”

A spokesperson for Horsham District Council admitted its reply contained some driving licence numbers that should not have been disclosed.

The spokesperson said: “We already have a number of procedures in place that should stop this from happening and these have been tightened and reinforced as a result of this incident.”

The incident started when Mr Gill’s seemingly innocuous question about bin lorries was ignored after a lamppost was knocked down.

He said: “I’m genuinely concerned watching these things speed around.