Gloucester Council planning site still disrupted from cyber attack

The malware is understood to have got in via an email sent by a third party to a council officer

A council's planning portal is still facing disruption after a cyber attack last year.

Gloucester City Council's services were hit on 20 December, after malware was sent to a council member by email.

At the time, the website's benefits, house sales and planning application sections were all affected.

Eight months on, Cllr Jeremy Hilton said the council needs to "get its act together". The council declined to comment on the latest issues.

Most of these issues have been fixed but the council is yet to restore its planning portal to how it was before the cyber attack.

It is currently not possible to view historic planning application details or submit comments through the online portal.

To view current plans residents have to click on the relevant ward and find the application in a list.

Liberal Democrat Cllr Hilton told the Local Democracy Reporting Service "the planning portal must be fully restored as matter of urgency".

He said: "The public and councillors cannot read the written representations that have been sent in and they have to rely solely on the officer report, which is published a few days before the planning committee meets. This isn't good enough."

'Delays to service'

Gloucester City Council's website says: "It is not currently possible to view historic planning applications on our website and we are not able to email or post plans to customers.

"Please note that as a result of the cyber incident and the new processes we have put into place there may unfortunately be delays to our service.

"We are working hard to address these issues and will update our website as soon as we have more information."

Gloucester City Council has not given a timeframe for when the issue will be resolved.