Inquiry into ministers’ use of private communications rather than government accounts will also cover WhatsApp after host of scandals, it is confirmed
- Inquiry will quiz ministers and officials at Department of Health and Social Care
- The news follows revelation that former Health Secretary Matt Hancock was using a ‘private email account’ along with Lord Bethell, a junior health minister
- Concern over use of encrypted messaging apps has been raised by campaigners
- WhatsApp and Signal are among most popular messaging methods in Whitehall
An inquiry into the use of private communications channels by ministers and officials at the Department of Health and Social Care will cover WhatsApp and other phone messaging apps, it has been confirmed.
Concerns over the use of encrypted messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Signal to discuss key policy decisions has previously been raised by campaigning groups.
The Labour party has been pressing for more details about the investigation by the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) after it emerged Health Minister Lord Bethell had recently replaced his mobile phone and that data on the old one may no longer be retrievable.
In a letter to the Good Law Project – which is engaged in legal action against the DHSC over the award of Covid contracts – Government lawyers said the old phone had been ‘broken’ six months ago and that data held on it was not contained on the replacement.
The lost information was reported to have included WhatsApp and SMS messages.
The disclosure came after the Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham announced last month that she was mounting an inquiry into the use of private communications channels at the DHSC.
It followed reports that Lord Bethell and the former health secretary Matt Hancock had routinely used private email addresses to discuss official business.
An inquiry into the use of private communications channels by ministers and officials at the Department of Health and Social Care will cover WhatsApp and other phone messaging apps
Junior health minister Lord Bethell (pictured) said he used the personal email account for work but he insisted he had done nothing wrong
Lord Bethell and Mr Hancock faced a swathe of criticism in the wake of the revelation, as the highly controversial practice means that vital correspondence could be withheld from a public inquiry.
Previously, Foxglove, one of the campaign groups leading a bid for a judicial review, questioned how it would be possible to ‘scrutinise’ the government if crucial decision making was deleted.
Director Cori Crider told the Mail: ‘When most of us send a midnight text on WhatsApp, it’s no-one’s business.
‘When the prime minister WhatsApps the health secretary about the government’s response to a pandemic, it’s history.
‘For hundreds of years, British governments have had rules about how to keep key records safe for the next generation.
‘Government by WhatsApp, with messages that vanish into thin air instead of being put in the prime minister’s red box, threatens the backbone of our democracy. It’s also against the law.’
Concerns over the use of encrypted messaging apps such as WhatsApp and Signal to discuss key policy decisions has previously been raised by campaigning groups
In a letter to Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, the ICO said its inquiry would also cover ‘messenger apps such as WhatsApp and any other private channels that fall outside of the DHSC’s corporate systems.
‘This includes looking at the retention, security and deletion of matters relevant to the corporate record to ensure that these have been handled appropriately.’
Ms Rayner, who has also raised the issue with the Cabinet Secretary Simon Case, said it was essential every effort was made to recover the missing data so the truth about the award of millions of pounds of Covid contracts could finally be established.
Foxglove questioned how it would be possible to ‘scrutinise’ the government if crucial decision making was deleted from encrypted messaging apps
‘A broken phone is a convenient excuse for the Conservatives to avoid scrutiny over yet more sleaze,’ she said.
‘Discussing millions of pounds of taxpayer-funded contracts on a private device is unacceptable. Why did he not use a Government-issued phone for these messages?
‘Every effort needs to be made to retrieve them from the minister’s phone so that they can be presented in court and included in the pandemic public inquiry.
‘These missing messages are vital evidence and bereaved families deserve nothing less than the whole truth.’
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