Issue - meetings
Covert investigation under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
Meeting: 28/07/2016 - Standards Advisory Committee (Item 5)
5 Covert investigation under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 PDF 98 KB
Consider and comment upon the information provided in the report.
Minutes:
The Interim Service Head, Legal Services, introduced the report which provided an update on covert surveillance activity undertaken by the Council under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) in the previous three quarterly periods.
The following were noted:
· The Councils policies on the use of forms of covert surveillance were approved in 2012 and have now been reviewed. These will be submitted for approval by Cabinet in autumn 2016.
· One application in each quarter, Q3 2015/16 and Q4 2015/16 were made by the Council under this legislation to investigate illegal tobacco sale and fraudulent social housing claim respectively. No applications were made in Q1 2016/17.
· Following a change to the initial regulations relating to RIPA, applications for surveillance under these powers must be authorised by a magistrate.
· Fireworks regulations require that category 2 and 3 fireworks can only be purchased by an adult and therefore the powers under RIPA may be applied if necessary.
RESOLVED
That information provided on the use of covert surveillance powers and the comments of the Committee be noted