Council fury over financial 'Big Brother' move

They face having details of the monthly payments they receive being revealed to government spending watchdogs to make sure none of them is a terrorist.

The massive handover of data also applies to the scores of past members of the local authority since 1974 for which records still exist.

All the council's existing employees, as well as those who have left, will also have their personal information passed on.

The Audit Commission has told the council it will seek to use its legal power to enforce the transfer of information from October 6.

It will pass on the details to bodies such as the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Insurance Fraud Bureau.

The news infuriated members at last week's meeting of the full council.

Labour councillor Tony Squires said: "This is an obnoxious piece of legislation. This is all about invading our human rights.

"We should be asking for a judicial review of this in the UK. Subject to that, we can challenge this by taking it to the European Court of Justice."

Exploring every legal avenue possible to overturn the edict from the commission was one of four actions unanimously agreed by councillors of all political parties.

They will also send a strong letter to the Audit Commission opposing its actions, contact the district's three MPs to seek their support and hold a detailed debate about the matter at their next full meeting in two months.

Councillors also signalled their willingness to lead the way nationally if other local authorities were angry about the proposals. They hoped their workers, through Unison, would speak out strongly as well.

The matter was raised as an emergency item by the council's audit committee chairman, Cllr Barbara Oakley.

She said the Audit Commission had been given the powers by the government to demand payment details.

The reason for the data grab is to match the personal information with recipients of benefits to see if any of them are committing fraud. It stems from laws designed to guard against money laundering and terrorists amassing funds.

"We are not being asked to provide this information. We are being told we have to," she stated.

"This means that we are now assumed to be guilty until proven innocent and that is a travesty of the law."

Cllr Graham Tyler said he was vehemently opposed to the handover of information. "We should be resisting this as strongly as possible," he urged.

Cllr Simon McDougall drew attention to the government's woeful record of keeping personal data safe.

Council solicitor Wendy Ashenden Bax told councillors they had to provide the information by law. Failure to do so could lead to a 1,000 fine.

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