Council and democracy
Home > Council and Democracy > Decision details
Decision Maker: Leader of the Council
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
To review the Council’s use of powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.
Matter for Decision: A Code of Practice
introduced in April 2010 recommended that Councillors review their authority’s
use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) and set its
general surveillance policy at least once a year.
Decision of the Leader
The Leader resolved to:
i.
Review
the Council’s use of RIPA set out in paragraph 5.1 of the officer's report.
ii.
Note
and endorse the steps described in paragraph 5.1 and in Appendix 1 of the
officer’s report as amended to ensure that surveillance is only authorised in
accordance with RIPA.
iii.
Approve
the amended general surveillance policy in Appendix 1 of the officer’s report
as amended.
Reasons for the
Decision: As set out in the officer’s report
Any alternative
options considered and rejected: As set out in the officer’s report
Scrutiny
Considerations:
The committee received a report from the Head of Legal
Services.
In response to member’s questions the Head of Legal Services
said the following:
i.
Whilst the City Council had never used this course
of action, access to communication data would be covered by the RIPA
regulations.
ii.
Whilst fraud investigations were currently
carried out internally by City Council staff, RIPA regulations would still
apply for any outsourced investigations.
iii.
Routine overt CCTV operations were not covered
by RIPA regulations.
At the request of Councillor Bick the Head of Legal Services
proposed the following amended wording for the RIPA Procedure Guide at Appendix
1 of the officer’s report (deletions struck through and additions underlined):
Section 7: Directed
Surveillance and Social Media
Any activity likely to interfere with an
individual’s Article 8 rights should only be used when necessary and
proportionate to meet the objectives of a specific case. If your proposed use
of social media in connection with an investigation amounts to covert directed
surveillance within the scope of RIPA by electronic means, an authorisation in
accordance with the procedure set out in section 9. Where an investigator may
need to communicate covertly online, for example contacting individuals using
social media websites, a CHIS authorisation should
be considered is likely to be needed and the Head of Legal Service
should be consulted.
The Scrutiny Committee considered the amendment and endorsed
it unanimously.
The Scrutiny Committee considered the recommendations and
endorsed them unanimously.
The Leader approved the amended recommendation.
Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Leader (and any Dispensations
Granted):
Not applicable.
Publication date: 13/07/2015
Date of decision: 15/01/2015