EAST Renfrewshire Council could face a hefty fine over its handling of the Eastwood Leisure Centre consultation.

That was the claim after Independent councillor David Macdonald was handed the results of two General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance tests in May and June.

The tests, carried out by an IT expert in Councillor Macdonald’s constituency, found that the council had collected sensitive data through online tracking using a web address that was not GDPR compliant.

Council officers insisted the results of the consultation, which showed 54 per cent of respondents were in favour of a new £27million centre being built outwith Eastwood, were not undermined.

But in a response to the report, the council’s head of ICT and Digital Enablement, Murray Husband, admitted the new data protection rules had been applied on a prioritised basis.

He said: “The council undertook an extensive organisation-wide programme of activity to meet the requirements of GDPR by May 25, 2018.

“Given the breadth and depth of work required to meet GDPR for a complex organisation such as East Renfrewshire Council, priority was rightly placed on those areas of greatest need and highest risk for our staff and customers.

“With regard, the areas highlighted, which relate to the capture of information through cookies on websites, our interpretation at the time was that the existing approach was sufficient for the initial period and would get further focus following more critical items.”

Under the new GDPR rules, councils could face up to £17.4m in fines for the most serious breaches.

Mr Macdonald said: “In both reports, it showed that the council’s main website and also the URL for the leisure centre failed the GDPR compliance tests.

“My initial reaction was one of shock. Not only was the council in violation of the new law, they were conducting an online consultation that collected sensitive data through online tracking using a URL that was not GDPR compliant. At this stage, the entire consultation should have been immediately suspended.

“I found it very regrettable that East Renfrewshire Council was in violation of the very law that they were telling all their employees at the same time they had to be compliant with.”

It was confirmed that those taking part in the consultation had been able to respond more than once.

Mr Macdonald branded the findings “unsafe” and called for a paper ballot scheme which would take into account the views of residents.

His fellow Independent councillor, Paul Aitken, added: “If it is the case that this survey has been in breach of GDPR, it’s strict liability. It’s millions of pounds that the council can be fined. It’s not something we can brush under the carpet.”

Councillor Stewart Miller, leader of the Conservatives group, said: “This exercise has to be repeated. We cannot have such blatant unlawfulness in this council.”

It was confirmed that 123 responses had been removed from the consultation after being identified as having been part of multiple votes from one person.

Provost Jim Fletcher said: “What we all need to remember is that, ultimately, councillors take a decision. It’s a consultation and it’s up to councillors to listen to that and draw what they want from that.”

And council leader Tony Buchanan added: “Three thousand responses is pretty significant. East Renfrewshire generally polls very highly in the responses we get from residents.

“I think the consultation was a fair one. People have looked at it and responded to it in a fair manner. It’s only right that we note the results of this consultation and move forward.”