Concerns raised over new council policy surrounding capture of ‘whats app’ messages

Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council’s corporate committee signed off on a new communications paper ahead of formal talks with employee groups.

The local authority is set to command disclosure of council related data from all messaging platforms causing councillors to highlight issues around Freedom of Information requests and demands on non-employees including the public.

Councillor Jessica Bamford said: “While we support the aim of transparency, the policy creates new obligations for staff on their private phones and links any breaches to disciplinary action.

“Has the policy been through trade union consultation? Because the policy relies on self-reporting for staff to identify what is significant and capture it, policies like this tend to fall hardest on the frontline workers who are the easiest to pick up for a breach, while senior decision making is harder to check. How will compliance be monitored?”

Currently the council officially communications through a Microsoft ‘Teams’ platform for meetings and dedicated phones for calls and messages.

Councillor Ryan Carlin said: ”I think we need to run this by trade unions before committing to a policy like this.

“But, my real question is, what has stimulated this policy now…what has kicked this off?

“My main concern would be around Freedom of Information requests and whether data is traceable if staff are using other forms of communication.”

Councillor Uel Mackin added: ”I am looking at how this can be applied to people who are not employees as it does mention contractors, consultants and all kinds of people, who we have no control over.

“I don’t see how this policy can be enforced to be honest.”

The issue over WhatsApp messages being discoverable was highlighted during the UK Covid inquiry (published July 2026) when it was heard that some Stormont ministers’ phones had been wiped, despite head of the Civil Service Jayne Brady stating, “explicit and clear” instructions had been given not to do so.

Councillor Gary Hynds said: “I do have some questions around the likes of safeguarding.

“A previous FoI I sent in showed that a former mayor’s communications were wiped as soon as he lost office, which is policy.

“Will that now also be reviewed as there is potentially a flaw there."

Committee chairperson Paul Porter added: “Are we saying that if information came to us from a private source, that we will have to force them to actually give that information up?”

A council officer responded: “It has been previously agreed that any policy would come to committee first before we would consult formally with trade unions and we would look to do that towards December.

“What we are identifying now, through FoI’s and data requests, is that we have staff and the public asking for any information that may be captured on non-corporate communication channels.

“Therefore it is most appropriate to put a policy together on it.

“If any significant changes are put forward by the trade unions they will be brought back to the committee for approval.”