Published: Wednesday 1 July 2026
Residents can now access the majority of services as 94 per cent of all Council systems are back online following last year’s cyber attack.
Video: Cyber recovery update
- Transcript of this video
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Last December, our Council suffered a major cyber attack, requiring us to take all our systems offline, which has caused significant disruption to our residents. Since then, we have been working around the clock to restore our systems, and I want to thank you for bearing with us. I'm pleased to announce that 94% of our services are now back online. We expect that to reach 100% by the end of the summer. In the meantime, we're also working through the service backlogs that this has caused in several areas from planning to housing to council tax. We've brought in additional resource to do this as quickly as possible and have already made significant progress. Finally, you should know that we're not just rebuilding what we had before. We're using this as an opportunity to build simpler, more secure, and more intuitive systems in order to make it as easy as possible for all our residents and businesses to interact with the Council.
Work is continuing to restore the remaining systems and we remain on track to complete the recovery by the end of the summer. We are also tackling service backlogs and hope to have these cleared by the end of 2026.
We are taking this opportunity to improve and modernise online services, redesigning services around residents and making them easier to access. This work is making us more resilient and strengthening security.
Staff have worked tirelessly to support the recovery effort and get things back up and running for residents. This includes housing, licensing, enforcement, parking, planning and complaints services.
We know that it has been frustrating for many residents who have been unable to access data or perform the simplest of tasks, and we would like to thank you for your patience.
The final phase of our recovery focuses mainly on internal systems and supporting processes rather than essential resident services. Work to make our web forms available is also ongoing.
Cllr Tom Bennett, Lead Member for Modernisation and Change, said:
"Since the cyber attack our staff have been working hard to restore services for residents and businesses. While recovery remains our priority, we are also looking ahead. We are not just rebuilding what existed before, but are using this opportunity to create a more secure, modern and resident-focused Council.
"We are committed to making it as easy as possible for residents and businesses to interact with us. This means reducing bureaucracy where we can, and making all necessary contact as quick and simple as possible. We recognise the disruption this incident has caused and will continue supporting residents and clearing remaining backlogs.”
What you can do to protect yourself
Protecting residents' information remains a priority. We are working carefully with national cyber experts to understand the full impact of the data theft, notify affected individuals and provide support where needed.
We encourage you to remain vigilant about scams or unexpected contact. You can read and follow National Cyber Security Centre advice on keeping your data safe and what to do if you are worried about a data breach.