Question by Dan Daley to Gary Cooke, Cabinet Member for Corporate & Democratic Services

"How many Kent County Council employees and how many councillors have had their emails monitored in each of the past 3 years and for what purpose?"

Answer

To ensure the security and safety of the KCC network, there is continual electronic monitoring of the e-mail system.

In terms of individuals' accounts, between 2013 and 2015, over the past 3 years, KCC has monitored 108 employee accounts. There have been no requests to monitor any Members' email accounts.

Kent County Council's ICT Acceptable Use policy reserves the right for KCC to monitor the use of its ICT systems. As part of this employees are advised that emails may be disclosable and they are reminded that emails on a KCC account are not private.

Access to accounts will have been either to establish whether an investigation into a matter is required or as part of an ongoing investigation to help determine whether there has been any conduct of concern.