Bedfordshire council published details of pupils online

The council has apologised after personal details of dozens of children were accidentally released as part of an FOI response

A council has been accused of "incompetence" after it published personal details of dozens of special educational needs (SEND) pupils.

Central Bedfordshire Council included the details in a Freedom of Information (FOI) request response on Monday.

The response had been published on a public website that helps people submit FOI requests.

The council has apologised and referred itself to the Information Commissioner.

A spokesman for the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) said the council had made it aware of an incident and the information was being assessed.

'Catastrophic mistake'

The Central Bedfordshire SEND action group, which made the FOI request about school places for SEND children for the upcoming September terms, said they were "extremely concerned" about the data breach

They said it included the names of "dozens and dozens" of children and called the breach a "catastrophic mistake".

The group alerted the council to the information and it was taken down.

The action group said: "We were extremely concerned, yet unsurprised to learn about the data breach.

"It is the latest in a long history of incompetence and disregard for the law in relation to SEND families."

A council spokesman said: "Our officers worked swiftly to get the information removed.

"We are extremely sorry to all of those affected and we are in the process of contacting all of the families affected to apologise directly."