Councils using ‘snooping’ powers to crack down on offenders

Jan 5 2010 by Amy Hunt, The Journal

“We use it to investigate housing benefit fraud, illegal fly tipping, fraudulent trading, anti-social behaviour, fraudulent use of disabled parking permits and complaints of persistent noise nuisance. It helps produce evidence to stop these activities and to prosecute those responsible.

“In Newcastle, authorisations are granted by a handful of well-trained senior officers and only after careful consideration of the need for the proposed activity and the potential intrusion on privacy.”

Last year Local Government Minister John Healey wrote to councils saying he believed the use of Ripa techniques for trivial matters such as dog fouling or putting bins out a day early was wrong. As a result some councils have cut their use of undercover tactics.

Campaign group Big Brother Watch has also been critical of the use of undercover snooping.

Campaign director Dylan Sharpe said: “These figures serve to highlight the mess that local councils are getting into when it comes to using Ripa. The abuse of Ripa is responsible for a major breakdown in trust between the public and their local councils, which won’t be solved until these powers are given a massive overhaul.”

Sunderland City Council said it had “made steady moves away from the covert investigative techniques covered by Ripa, preferring to undertake more overt investigation and enforcement activities as alternatives”.

South Tyneside Council refused our request for information, saying it was not held centrally and finding figures would take longer than was prescribed under the Freedom of Information Act.

Ripa was passed in 2000 to regulate things like video surveillance, undercover investigation and phone tapping to investigate crimes such as terrorism.

Opponents have dubbed it the “snoopers’ charter”.