Confidential protection documents found in city

Letters related to Hinckley children and others

CONFIDENTIAL child protection documents relating to children in Hinckley have been found blowing around a Leicester street.

Paperwork relating to the cases of 20 children, babies and unborn youngsters was found by a city councillor.

The documents were invites to child protection conferences - meetings between social workers, police, medical staff and probation officials when it is believed a child is at risk of harm.

Now the Probation Service is investigating how this “serious data breach involving some of the most sensitive material” could happen.

Former Liberal Democrat city councillor John Fitch discovered the letters - all marked confidential - on the corner of Beaumanor Road and Thurcaston Road in Belgrave last week.

He handed the material into our sister paper the Leicester Mercury before it was handed onto Leicester City Council.

The letters were related to children in Hinckley, Leicester, Harborough and Coalville. They were all sent to the Leicestershire Probation Service.

Each was dated between 2010 and 2011 and carried the names and addresses of the children at risk and their relatives.

They did not have any details of allegations of actual harm.

There were also details of a GP, a solicitor and police involved in the cases.

Mr Fitch said: “They were just scattered around. They were being trodden on and driven over.

“I recognised the city council logo on some of them and I started gathering them up.

“I picked up all of the ones that are visible but there could be more that I didn’t see.

“I have no idea how they got there but they should not have been there.

“They were old documents. Perhaps they should have been destroyed. If so it should have been done securely.

“They could have fallen out of someone’s car - you can only guess.

“However they have got there it is a serious data breach involving some of the most sensitive material. “It’s really not good enough.” A Probation Service spokesman said: “We are urgently investigating with the help of Leicester City Council and Leicestershire County Council.”

A city council spokesman said: “We are very concerned that confidential letters sent by the city council to Leicester Probation Service were found by a member of the public in this way.

“We have every confidence that a full investigation will now be carried out by Her Majesty’s Prison & Probation Service, and we will provide any support and assistance required as part of this.”