Croydon LBC and Norfolk CC have been fined a total of £180,000 by the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO), following serious data breaches involving vulnerable children's case files.

The data watchdog meted out to Croydon a £100,000 penalty, after a social worker's unlocked bag – containing papers relating to the care of a child sex-abuse victim – was stolen from a London pub in April 2011. An investigation found that although Croydon had made data protection guidance available, the borough failed to actively communicate this to staff, and monitor if it had been read and understood.