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HOUSING, HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT POLICY ADVISORY COMMITTEE |
11 JULY 2023 |
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Revisions to the Covert Surveillance and Access to Communications Data Policy and Guidance Notes |
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Will this be a Key Decision?
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No
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Urgency |
Not Applicable |
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Final Decision-Maker |
Cabinet Member for Housing and Health |
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Lead Head of Service |
Claudette Valmond – Head of Legal Services |
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Lead Officer and Report Author |
Gary Rowland – Senior Legal Advisor and RIPA Co-ordinating Officer |
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Classification |
Public |
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Wards affected |
All |
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Executive Summary |
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The Council’s Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (‘RIPA’) Co-ordinating Officer is required to review and revise the Council’s Covert Surveillance Policy (‘the Policy’), where necessary, every year. Apart from grammatical and formatting revisions, there are only a few minor suggested amendments to the existing policy which are set out in the report and highlighted at Appendix 1.
This report seeks approval of the revisions to the Policy, set out at Appendix 1.
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Purpose of Report
Recommendation to approve. |
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This report makes the following recommendation to the Committee: |
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1. That the Committee recommend approval of the revisions to the Covert Surveillance and Access to Communications Data Policy by the Cabinet Member for Housing and Health. |
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Revisions to the Covert Surveillance and Access to Communications Data Policy and Guidance Notes |
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1. CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS
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Issue |
Implications |
Sign-off |
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Impact on Corporate Priorities |
We do not expect the recommendation will by themselves materially affect achievement of corporate priorities. However, they support the Council’s overall achievement of its aims by updating the Council’s approach to RIPA as required by legislation and the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office. |
Senior Legal Advisor |
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Cross Cutting Objectives |
The four cross-cutting objectives are:
The report recommendation supports the overall achievement of all the cross-cutting objectives by ensuring that the Council is complying with statutory requirements when undertaking investigations and surveillance.
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Senior Legal Advisor |
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Risk Management |
The risk implications are set out in section 4 of the report. |
Senior Legal Advisor |
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Financial |
The proposals set out in the recommendation are all within already approved budgetary headings and so need no new funding for implementation.
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Head of Finance |
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Staffing |
No additional staffing. |
Senior Legal Advisor |
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Legal |
Accepting the recommendation will fulfil the Council’s duties under Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and meets the requirements of Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office.
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Team Leader – Corporate Governance and Contentious MKLS |
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Information Governance |
The recommendation does not impact personal information (as defined in UK GDPR and Data Protection Act 2018) the Council Processes. |
Senior Information Governance Officer |
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Equalities |
The recommendation does not propose a change in service therefore will not require an equalities impact assessment.
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Equalities & Communities Officer |
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Public Health
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No implications. |
Senior Legal Advisor |
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Crime and Disorder |
Accepting the recommendation ensures that the Council complies with its obligations under RIPA, which are important in the Council’s role in controlling crime and disorder.
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Senior Legal Advisor |
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Procurement |
No implications. |
Senior Legal Advisor |
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Biodiversity and Climate Change |
No implications.
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Senior Legal Advisor |
2. INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND
2.1 The RIPA Co-ordinating Officer is required to review and revise the Policy, where necessary, every year. Apart from grammatical and formatting revisions, there are only a few minor suggested amendments to the existing policy which are set out at section 2.2.
2.2 The Home Office Covert Surveillance and Property Interference Revised Code of Practice 2018 makes it a requirement that the authority’s elected members should review the authority’s Policy at least once a year.
The Policy, which has been highlighted for ease of reference at Appendix 1, has been revised as follows:
· Page 1 - The Scope has been expanded to include further detail on the specific types of surveillance covered within the Policy and highlight that the Policy is supplementary to other legislation and guidance;
· Page 2 – The Contents page has been revised to include sub-headings;
· Page 3 – Whilst the Policy references the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and the Investigatory Powers Act 2016 throughout, links to these Acts have been added;
· Page 6 – Section 1.15(d) has been revised to highlight potential risks to officers;
· Page 7 – Section 1.27 has been revised in relation to asking members of the public to record information on the Council’s behalf;
· Page 9 – Section 1.33 has been revised to include more up to date social networking sites;
· Page 9 – Section 1.35 has been revised to highlight potential risks to officers; and
· Page 10 – Section 2.4 has been revised to show that Angela Woodhouse has been appointed as an Authorising Officer and Deputy Senior Responsible Officer and Georgia Hawkes has been appointed as an Authorising Officer. Both will attend relevant training sessions as and when required.
3. AVAILABLE OPTIONS
3.1 Recommend approval of the revisions to the Policy.
3.2 Do not approve the suggested revisions to the Policy.
3.3 The preferred option is to recommend approval of the revisions to the Policy as the Council is required by the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 and associated Codes of Practice to have a Policy in place. The content of the Policy is steered by the recommendations made by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office.
4.
RISK
4.1 Currently the risk implications are low as the Council has not authorised any activity under RIPA for some time. However, there is risk of litigation and challenge if authorisations are incorrectly given in the future without proper understanding of the current requirements. The actions recommended within this report will mitigate any such risks.
5. NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION
5.1 Once the suggested revisions have been approved, the revised Policy will be uploaded to the Council’s website and officers will be notified and reminded to familiarise themselves with the Policy.
6. REPORT APPENDICES
The following documents are to be published with this report and form part of the report:
· Appendix 1: Draft Covert Surveillance and Access to Communications Data Policy and Guidance Notes.
7. BACKGROUND PAPERS
N/A