The Isle of Wight council has carried out ten investigations into indecent images being found on council computers in the last five years.
This resulted in undefined disciplinary action being taken in all ten cases. One member of staff was dismissed and four members of staff resigned during the disciplinary process.
The council’s Electronic Communications Policy defines ‘indecent images’ as “any material of a sexual nature”. The policy doesn’t appear to be publicly accessible.
FOIA response
Below is the reply given to Isle of Wight Radio to a Freedom of Information request that the reply say they made on 14 March 2012. IW Radio ran the story yesterday under the headline “Council Staff Disciplined After Indecent Images Found On Computers”.
The reply is dated 19 June, 2012. FOIA states that responses under the Act must be made within 20 working days.
A statement given to VB by the council is below.
How many investigations has the council carried out into allegations of indecent images being found on council computers in the last year? (I know the Council investigates all incidents – if there is no record of this – why not?)
– There have been ten investigations carried out over the last five years, one of which was in the last 12 months.
Could you also supply the figures for the last five years.
– Please see above.
Of the incidents investigated, how many resulted in disciplinary action?
– Out of these ten investigations, all of them moved to disciplinary action and there was one dismissal within the last five years. However, four members of staff resigned during the disciplinary process.
How many members of staff have been disciplined in the last year for having indecent images on their computer? Could you also supply the figures for the last five years.
– Please see above.
How many members of staff have been dismissed from the authority for having indecent images on their computer in the last year? Could you also supply the figures for the last five years.
– Please see above.
Does the authority have/use a definition of what is regarded to be an indecent image? If not, why not?
– The definition can be found within the Council’s Electronic Communications Policy which states – obscene means material which is offensive, indecent or pornographic, which means any material of a sexual nature. As there can be no possible legitimate business use for accessing or transmitting sexually explicit materials at work, all such material is prohibited.
Council statement
The council has strict guidelines concerning the use of council computers, internet and email and this policy is rigorously enforced.
Given the council is a large organisation of upwards of 5,000 people, it is clear the instances of misuse are extremely rare.
When a breach is suspected a thorough investigation is carried out and the appropriate disciplinary action taken.
Though each of these incidents breached the council’s code of conduct regarding appropriate us of electronic communication, there is no evidence of any illegal activity.
The great majority of the cases involved computer use out of work time and using private email or internet accounts. We do expect appropriate use of our computers and systems and we will continue to enforce the highest standard of security and take swift and appropriate action where required.
Image: thenicestguy under a CC BY-SA 2.0 license
