The personal information of almost 30 people was lost after an Ealing Council social worker left court documents on the roof of her car and drove off.

Personal data relating to 27 people including 14 children, some of it sensitive, was lost following the blunder in February and have never been recovered.

The council has signed up to a series of measures drawn up with the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) to improve its data protection practices following the incident.

Commenting on the incident, enforcement manager at ICO, Sally-Anne Poole, said the council failed to follow previous advice.

She said: "This council failed to follow our previous advice that it needed to improve training to make sure staff know how to look after personal information.

"Many of us have no choice but to take work out of the office.

"But when that work includes personal data, there is an obligation to ensure it’s kept safe.

"People have a right to expect that will happen.

"Losing personal data – especially sensitive data – can cause damage and distress to the people involved."

A spokesman for the council said: "We regret that this has happened and fully accept the findings and recommendations of the ICO which we have begun to implement."

ICO also found that the council had no record of how many of its temporary staff, who made up 27% of its children's services department, had completed refresher data protection training.

Ms Poole said: "It’s vital that if councils are using temporary staff they make sure they, as well as permanent staff, are up to speed with how to look after people’s personal information."

The measures the council has singed up to includes a series of commitments including improving staff training in data protection and reviewing policies around how documents are protected when taken out of the office.

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