Dear Sir or Madam,

I would like to know the following information about the Council's
use of the powers granted to it under the Regulation of
Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000:

- The number of times that the use of {directed surveillance} has
been authorised under the RIPA by an officer of the Council.

- The number of times that the use of {covert human intelligence}
has been authorised under the RIPA by an officer of the Council.

- The total number of each type of request where the investigation
or operation was deemed likely to result in obtaining {confidential
information} (as defined in the Home Office Covert Surveillance
Code of Practice).

- The total number of each type of request in which it was
determined that a risk of {collateral intrusion} existed (as
defined by the Home Office Covert Surveillance Code of Practice).

- The total number of requests for each type of surveillance that
have been rejected by an officer of the Council.

- A statement on the type of investigation for which each request
for surveillance was made (or an indication of the criminal offence
evidence of which was being sought by means of the surveillance).
For example, "benefit fraud investigation", "immigration
investigation". If it would be less burdensome to do so, this
information could be provided in aggregate (for example, "12 of the
requests were made in support of benefit fraud investigations").

I believe this data should be cheap to obtain by virtue of the
requirement for central record-keeping in the Home Office Code of
Practice; and its disclosure is in the public interest in the light
of recent media reports of the use made of the RIPA by Borough
Council's across the UK.

Yours faithfully,

Number 6

Dear Number 6

Re: Freedom of Information

Thank you for your request dated 01/09/2008 for the following information:

6 Questions about the Council's use of RIPA 2000 (full details below)

Section 10(1) of the Freedom of Information Act requires that we process your
application within 20 working days of the date we received your request, therefore we
will respond to you by 29/09/2008. If we are unable to meet this deadline we will inform
you of this and the reasons why.

If the information is already available to you through the Council’s publication scheme we
will advise you of this. We will advise you whether we hold the information you have
requested and if you are able to access it. In some cases where exclusions apply we will
not be able to provide you with the information you have requested. If we are unable to
provide the information you request we will contact you and inform you of the reasons why.

In some cases there may be a charge for the information you have requested. We will
keep charges to a minimum and will inform you as soon as possible of any charges that may apply.

If you are unhappy with the Council’s decision you can make a complaint via the
Council's complaints procedures and this will be looked into. If you are not happy with
this decision you may then appeal to the Information Commissioner.

Regards

Rachael Steel
Information Management Officer
Tel: 01375 652592
Email: [email address]

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Dear Number 6,
Re: Freedom of Information
Thank you for your request for the following information:

1. The number of times that the use of {directed surveillance} has been authorised under the RIPA by an officer of the Council.

Between January 2003 and June 2008 inclusive - 76

2. The number of times that the use of {covert human intelligence} has been authorised under the RIPA by an officer of the Council.

Nil

3. The total number of each type of request where the investigation or operation was deemed likely to result in obtaining {confidential information} (as defined in the Home Office Covert Surveillance Code of Practice).

No data available at the current time - more to follow asap.

4. The total number of each type of request in which it was determined that a risk of {collateral intrusion} existed (as defined by the Home Office Covert Surveillance Code of Practice).

No data available at the current time - more to follow asap.

5. The total number of requests for each type of surveillance that have been rejected by an officer of the Council.

No data available at the current time - more to follow asap.

6. A statement on the type of investigation for which each request for surveillance was made (or an indication of the criminal offence evidence of which was being sought by means of the surveillance). For example, "benefit fraud investigation", "immigration investigation". If it would be less burdensome to do so, this information could be provided in aggregate (for example, "12 of the requests were made in support of benefit fraud investigations").

50 Benefit Fraud Investigation
4 Social Services
3 Trading Standards Investigation
14 Anti-social Behaviour Investigation
5 Licensing

The information above has been supplied in response to your letter for the above mentioned information. We hope the information supplied satisfies your original request.
If you are unhappy with the Council's decision you can make a complaint via the Council's complaints procedures and this will be looked into. If you are not happy with this decision you may then appeal to the Information Commissioner.
Information supplied in response to your request is the copyright of Thurrock Council. The information has been supplied for your personal use. Except for permitted acts under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, the information supplied may not be copied, distributed, published, or exploited for commercial purposes or financial gain without the explicit written consent of Thurrock Council.

Regards

Rachael Steel
Information Management Officer
Tel: 01375 652592
Email: [email address]

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