Shapps Told Aides to Suppress Emails That Showed He 'Misled MPs'

A government department spent thousands of pounds attempting to suppress emails showing that civil servants believed their minister may have misled MPs.  Officials in the CLG battled for nearly a year to prevent the release of internal correspondence relating to the former Housing minister Grant Shapps. When they were finally forced to back down by the Information Commissioner and release the emails they showed that civil servants believed Mr Shapps, who is now Conservative Party chairman, had made inaccurate statements about the number of affordable homes being built in Britain.  Read more on the Independent website.

ALMO Told To Release Report

England’s largest ALMO has been ordered to publish a document outlining reasons why it should not be scrapped.  The Information Commissioner’s Office has ruled that Sheffield Homes was wrong to keep secret details of the business case for retaining the ALMO.  The 42,000-home organisation refused a request from an unnamed individual under the Freedom of Information Act asking for documents from its annual general meeting. It also rejected requests from the complainant to release the full minutes of the meeting.  Following a ballot of tenants, it was decided the ALMO should be axed from April 2013, when Sheffield Council will take the management of its homes in-house to save £1.2 million a year. However, the ICO ruled the ALMO was wrong to withhold information about the case for continuing with the ALMO and ordered it to provide the minutes within 35 days.  Read more on Inside Housing.

Cause for Concern

A recent security breach highlights why social housing providers should consider how they handle data.  Data security breaches are a concern for all organisations that store, handle and transmit large amounts of personal data. For registered providers, who in England collectively hold personal information on more than eight million tenants, the importance of data protection is paramount. The failure to protect against data security breaches can lead to serious consequences for housing associations and could lead to the Information Commissioner’s Office imposing fines of up to £500,000. A recent security breach at a housing association is the latest in a series of high profile data protection breaches in the social housing sector over the last year. The ICO has made it clear that the social housing sector is very much on its radar and associations would be well advised to take the opportunity to review and consolidate their data protection policies and procedures.  Read more on Inside Housing.