Issue - meetings

To provide Cabinet with an opportunity to approve the Council’s new Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act Policy and confirm the process for its annual review via the Governance and Audit Committee.

Purpose of report

To provide Cabinet with an opportunity to approve the Council’s new Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act Policy and confirm the process for its annual review via the Governance and Audit Committee.

Decision

That Cabinet:

1.    Approves the new Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act Policy.

2.    Recommends that the Governance and Audit Committee undertakes an annual review of the Council’s Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act Policy.

3.    Delegates authority to the Chief Executive to make any changes to the Policy following the externally facilitated training on RIPA scheduled to be held later this year if she deems that any element of the Policy could be strengthened, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Corporate Governance and Licensing.

Alternative options considered and rejected

To retain the existing RIPA policy.

To have suggested any further amendments to the RIPA policy.

Reasons for decision

The revised RIPA Policy ensured that the Council was compliant with the requirements of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and Investigatory Powers Act 2016. The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) enabled Local Authorities to carry out certain types of surveillance activity, as long as specified procedures were followed. The information obtained as a result of surveillance operations would be relied upon in court proceedings providing RIPA was complied with. Such activity can include:

-                       Directed Surveillance (covert surveillance conducted as part of a specific investigation likely to result in obtaining private information about an individual or individuals).

-                       Use of Covert Human Intelligence Sources (CHIS) (a person who maintains a personal or other relationship with a person for the covert purpose of obtaining or gaining access to information).

There were certain legal procedures that needed to be followed, and these were contained within the Policy. The Policy had been used once in the previous three years.

There was a requirement to publish the Policy.