Quit call over CD details of children

Angry parents say the CD-Roms could easily have fallen into the hands of complete strangers and put the safety of their children at risk.

One mother, Jennifer McGregor, last night demanded that Donald Mackay, Midlothian Council’s director of education, should quit over the mix-up.

She said: "I was horrified to find that all this information was being copied and put in the public domain. Surely it was not beyond the means of the council to blank out the personal information that identifies the children.

"Donald Mackay must take full responsibility for this appalling error. His professional standing with the council must surely be untenable and he should do the honourable thing and resign as director of education."

The CD-Roms were first distributed on 14 May as part of Midlothian Council’s response to the consultation exercise, which was launched after the local authority unveiled its plans to close Cranston, Borthwick, Temple, Cousland and Howgate primary schools.

Mrs McGregor, whose son Callan is due to attend Cousland Primary, said letters which children had sent urging the council to change its plans were included with their names and addresses clearly visible on the disks.

Some letters also included photographs of some of the children, while the parents of two youngsters had included medical details explaining why they benefited from being taught in a small, rural school.

Mrs McGregor said: "One of the parents said to me, ‘My own mother doesn’t even know what’s wrong with my child’, and yet now the details have been distributed around Midlothian.

"These disks could have fallen into anybody’s hands because they were publicly available and they are also very easy to copy so they could be handed out to all and sundry. I am horrified that this could happen."

Council officials were alerted about the mix-up and Mr Mackay has written a personal apology to the children concerned.

But Mrs McGregor said she was still angry that the mistake could have been allowed to happen. She said: "All through the consultation process it has been apparent that Mr Mackay has had little regard for our children’s education. Now it is clear that he has even less regard for their welfare and protection.

Trevor Muir, the chief executive of Midlothian Council, insisted the CD-Rom was only sent out to those involved in the consultation exercise and that following the complaints, no more were being produced.

He said: "The council was keen to be as open and transparent as possible in acknowledging the concern of parents, pupils and other interested parties who contacted the council to register their views.

"The CD was issued as a record of these comments along with the committee papers to relevant interested parties."

Mr Muir added: "When we received the objection, we immediately stopped issuing further copies pending investigation of the matter. It was then decided to withdraw copies of the CD and a replacement version, without the names and addresses of children, is being prepared.

"The council has apologised to those who have expressed their concern."