It's never been repaired, but it's costing £2,000 a year - Cllr Joe Anderson at his computer - Picture: COLIN LANE (200)
LIVERPOOL City Council has issued an apology to the leader of the opposition after admitting it trawled through his mobile phone records during a leak investigation.
Labour leader Cllr Joe Anderson said the way the council had behaved was akin to a “tin-pot state or dictatorship”.
He has demanded to know who authorised the search of his mobile phone records as part of an internal investigation into the leaking of a report to the media about the soaring costs of Sir Paul McCartney’s concert at Anfield – held earlier this month.
Last night, the council said officials had meant to request permission to check Cllr Anderson’s telephone records but had “omitted” to.
The council said it had taken steps to make sure this could not happen again and has now referred the matter to the Infor-mation Commissioner’s Office.
Last night, Cllr Anderson’s solicitor, Rex Makin, said it appeared that his human rights had been violated.
As a senior city politician, Cllr Anderson has a mobile phone provided by the council, but pays £45 a quarter to cover any personal calls he may make.
During the leak investigation, a number of officials and councillors were asked to co-operate with the inquiry which involved checking email accounts.
Cllr Anderson said he had been suspected because of his vocal criticism of how the council managed its finances, particularly with regards to Capital of Culture, but that the investigation had found no evidence he was responsible.
He said: “I co-operated with the inquiry and gave permission for officials to look at my emails while they were investigating this.
“I was absolutely taken aback and shocked to find that not only had they abused their position by looking at my telephone calls they had actually monitored who I had called. It is totally unacceptable that my phone calls have been looked at in this way.
“It is now in the hands of my solicitor, who has demanded an explanation as to why this outrage has taken place. People will be shocked the leader of the opposi-tion can have his phone calls monitored in carrying out his normal duties. People expect this sort of behaviour in a tin-pot state or dictatorship, not in the heart of Liverpool.”
He said he wanted to know who had authorised the checking of his telephone records.
A council spokesman confirmed the authority had reported the matter to the Office of the Information Commissioner. A city council spokesman said: “Following the unauthorised leaking of a highly confidential and commercially sensitive report, a number of officers and members were asked to co-operate with an internal investigation into the breach, which involved e-mails being checked.
“However, we omitted to notify the individuals concerned that it also included mobile phone records.
“We have apologised to Cllr Anderson for the error and have taken steps to ensure this cannot happen again.”
Last night, Mr Makin added: “One would have thought the council would have learnt a lesson with regards to this matter as the Information Commissioner’s Office condemned a breach of the data protection act towards a former employee.
“It also seems the council is not acting in a transparent way – information that should be made public is being inappropriately with held.”
