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Direct Communications Unit

2 Marsham Street, London SW1P 4DF

Switchboard 020 7035 4848 Fax: 020 7035 4745 Textphone: 020 7035 4742

E-mail: [Home Office request email] Website: www.homeoffice.gov.uk

[FOI #15627 email]

Mr P John

Our reference: T13860/9 4 August 2009

Dear Mr John,

Thank you for your e-mail of 31 July in which you asked for the Home Office to disclose any statistics it holds for 2008 and 2009 on people arrested for offences under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (`RIPA').

There are three broad types of offences under RIPA:

unlawful interception (such as `tapping' someone's phone without relevant authorisation;

disclosure of safeguards (such as revealing without authority that someone's communications are being intercepted); and

offences relating to encryption provisions under Part III of RIPA (such as failing to comply with a decryption notice).

I can confirm that the Home Office does not hold any statistics on a) or b). Although we do not routinely collect or store figures on c), the figures below were obtained by the Home Office in connection with a Parliamentary Question earlier this year which provides some of what you seek.

“Official statistics are not available, but we understand that there have been 15 occasions where a s49 notice has not been complied with. To date this has resulted in charges of non compliance being brought in 9 cases and three convictions.”

Alternative sources of information are:

the Ministry of Justice (which produces annual statistics on convictions);
the Chief Surveillance Commissioner's Report for 2008-09 (particularly para 4.11); and
the Interception of Communication Commissioner's report for 2008.

Yours sincerely,

A S COOPER

Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism