Council finds no one to blame for disclosure of secret documents

An investigation into why a confidential document was left out in public during a council meeting has proved inconclusive.

During an inquiry into the conduct of Cllr Keith Aspden – now leader of City of York Council – a secret settlement agreement with the person who made the main allegations was left out.

Cllr Aspden was cleared of everything but a minor misdemeanour at that meeting in January

During the hearing the document, marked ‘confidential’ and dated 19 July 2017, was left out and unattended.

It was tweeted out by local democracy campaigner Gwen Swinburn and the council launched an investigation.

Data breach

This was a clear data breach but the internal investigation has found no specific person responsible, and no action against any individual has been taken.

Ian Floyd is director of customer and corporate services and deputy chief executive.

He told YorkMix:

• Any potential data breaches are reviewed by a senior officer.

  In this case, it was not possible to identify the particular circumstances of the breach, however recommendations were made around the need to remind officers/members to ensure that confidential documents are dealt with appropriately.
  

The investigation into Cllr Aspden cost the council £84,000.