‘Concern’ over Gove department emails

The Information Commissioner has contacted the top civil servant at the Department for Education (DfE) after claims that sensitive information was being kept away from the department’s own civil servants and the public.

It has been reported that communication through private emails meant civil servants were then unable to find this correspondence when asked to retrieve them under Freedom of Information laws.

The allegations follow an email sent in February from Dominic Cummings, the Education Secretary’s chief political aide, who wrote to colleagues stating that he “will not answer any further emails to my official DfE account”.

It added: “I will only answer things that come from gmail accounts from people who I know who they are.

“I suggest that you do the same in general but thats obv up to you guys – I can explain in person the reason for this....”

Mr Gove’s aides stressed the email was about political issues rather than Governmental business and did not breach the rules.

Sources close to the Education Secretary said: “The email quoted was sent by Mr Cummings to Conservative Party advisers.

“The email did not refer to Department for Education official business but to Conservative Party business only.”

Andy Burnham, Shadow Education Secretary, called for Mr Gove to make an urgent statement.