South Ayrshire Council email revealed free school meal applicants

South Ayrshire Council has apologised after sending out an email revealing the identities of people applying for free school meals and clothing grants.

The email, which included names and email addresses, was sent to hundreds of recipients last Wednesday before it was recalled a short time later.

The council said it was investigating the incident.

The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) confirmed it had now received a report of a data breach.

It is possible to apply for free school meals or clothing grants if a parent or guardian receives qualifying benefits.

This information is confidential and South Ayrshire Council uses a cashless system in schools which anonymises children who receive free school meals.

After the email was sent out last Wednesday, the council’s benefits and revenues team issued an apology the following day.

The team confirmed the previous message was a “genuine email from the council”.

It read: “Regrettably, due to an administrative error, the email was issued to multiple email addresses rather than to you individually. Please accept my sincere apologies for this error.

“I have informed the council’s data governance team that a data breach has occurred, and this will be investigated by them.

“I can confirm your application has been approved however please now delete the original email from your email account.”

A South Ayrshire Council spokesperson said: “We are aware of a potential data breach and are taking the appropriate action.

“We have been in contact with those affected. The matter was reported to the ICO.”

A spokesperson for the ICO said it was assessing the information provided in the report.

Additional reporting by local democracy journalist Kevin Dyson.