Business leaders clash with town council over ‘threatening’ email

Tensions were running high at a meeting on Thursday evening as members of Whitchurch Business Group (WBG) demanded an apology over the email exchange, which they said had caused some members to leave the group.

The fallout began earlier this month when WBG contacted the mayor and deputy mayor to complain about a lack of communication from the council, claiming calls to the Civic Centre were not answered, emails were not responded to and meeting information was not available on the council’s website.

However a response from the locum clerk, Luke Trevaskis, said the group had breached data protection legislation as it had referenced personal data relating to council staff.

Mr Trevaskis’s email – which was copied to more than 60 businesses in the town and the Information Comissioner’s Office (ICO) – said the business group “has no legal right to obtain, disclose, procure or retain any personal information” on council employees.

It said the group’s email complaint had breached the 2018 Data Protection Act and warned that “each business involved in this data breach could be held equally and severably responsible” should the ICO impose a fine.

At Thursday’s meeting, WBG representatives insisted they had acted within the law and said the email had left some members so shaken up they had quit the organisation.

Fiona Wilson and Hilary Seward from the group told councillors that Mr Trevaskis had himself breached data legislation by copying so many individuals – some of whom were not even WBG members – into his response.

Ms Wilson said the email had caused “absolute astonishment and disgust” and was “very threatening”.

She said: “I would like an apology for the distress it’s caused to me and my voluntary group.

“This is completely unnecessary, it’s aggressive and unprofessional.

“I want to know how it was sent and who authorised it.”

Ms Seward added that the email should never have been passed to the clerk as it was a complaint about him.

Mr Trevaskis said he had composed the email after taking advice from Shropshire Council, and that his job role involved dealing with all complaints.

He said: “Whether the email was addressed to me personally or individual councillors personally or not, the council has an obligation and a legal duty to protect the data of its employees.

“The legal department of Shropshire Council agreed that the content of the correspondence was not only inappropriate but unlawful.

“The information that was circulated pertained to medical records and terms of contracts of employees and resignations of employees, and all that is personal information that, as a data controller, we have an obligation to protect.”

Mr Trevaskis denied breaching data protection laws himself by copying individual businesses into his response, saying their contact details were available online.

Ms Seward responded: “We have taken legal advice and there was nothing in the content of our letter that breached GDPR.

“There was no need to be nasty and aggressive.”

Mayor John Sinnott said he “totally agreed” with the group’s complaints about the Civic Centre not being manned effectively, adding he did “not see anything wrong” with the initial complaint from a data protection perspective.

Councillor Sinnott said: “I don’t see why we need to have a row with Whitchurch Business Group, we should be trying to work with them not against them.

“I think we need to mend fences, not make things worse.”

However other councillors questioned whether the mayor had been involved in the complaint, having attended a meeting of WBG before the email was sent.

Councillor Jack Thornton said Councillor Sinnott had “orchestrated” the “witch hunt” against the clerk, while Councillor Matt Phipps asked: “Did you write that letter?”

The mayor denied any involvement in writing the letter.

Deputy mayor Andy Hall said: “I am very saddened that it’s come to this. I have been a big supporter of Whitchurch Business Group.

“I would like to think in the new year bridges can be built and we can all be on the same wavelength again.”