All employees and councillors at Wolverhampton City Council have completed training in how to protect people's data and information.

The council trained 5785 employees and all 60 councillors following concerns raised by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) in May.

The ICO gave the council until the beginning of July to ensure adequate data protection training had been provided.

The ICO was informed on 27 June that the training had been completed and has since confirmed it was satisfied the council had done what it asked and the matter was now closed.

The ICO has also said it is encouraged at the additional measures the council had put in place to tighten up its procedures in data protection which were above and beyond what it required.

Councillor Roger Lawrence, Leader of Wolverhampton City Council, said: "We have gone above and beyond what the ICO wanted us to do and hopefully that demonstrates how importantly the council takes the issue of data protection.

"Rather than simply getting staff to be trained in data protection, we have taken steps to embed the issue into the culture of the organisation."

Keith Ireland, the council's strategic director for delivery, said: "The council acknowledges that in the past it has not treated the protection of people's information as well as it should.

"However, we have ensured that all managers and employees now understand how vitally important data protection is. We have got all our workforce and elected members to complete training, we have also ensured that protecting information is at the top of the agenda in team meetings, in briefings with frontline staff, in our internal communications and in our staff inductions."

  • released: Tuesday 8 July, 2014