The local authority was forced to isolate its systems for nearly four months after being targeted by cyber criminals. The outage left the council unable to process applications or complete land charge searches, causing significant delays for homeowners and developers across west London.
Following advice from the Met Police and the National Cyber Security Centre, the council confirmed the threat has been contained. Systems were switched back on today on a phased basis.
However, a massive recovery effort is now underway:
- 1,700 planning applications are currently in the backlog
- 600 land charge searches are waiting to be processed
- Phone lines will remain closed so staff can focus entirely on clearing cases.
“Our planning systems going live is a critical moment in our recovery and while we are very pleased we’re at this stage, we expect there to be bumps in the road. I know it has been incredibly frustrating for residents and developers waiting to move their planning applications and land charge searches forward. Officers won’t be able to reply to individual enquiries, because we believe good customer service right now is about efficiency and speed. We are focusing the resources we have on clearing the backlog of cases as quickly as possible. We’re hiring more staff and will be holding longer planning committees to hear more cases. But I have to stress this is going to take time and we’re grateful for our residents’ patience and cooperation.”
To manage the surge, the council is hiring more staff and will be holding longer planning committees to hear more cases. Residents and developers are being asked for their continued patience as the council prioritises speed and efficiency over individual enquiry responses.