Every employee and elected member at Wolverhampton City Council has received training in data protection following concerns raised by inspectors.

The council was ordered to take action in May after the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) found a ‘startling’ lack of urgency over data security.

Despite repeated warnings, two-thirds of staff had not undertaken training and ICO gave it 50 days to comply or the issue would be treated as contempt of court.

Council leader Roger Lawrence 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.’