Dear Sir or Madam,

Please provide answers to the following questions :

1) The number of times powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000) have been employed by officers of the Council in the execution of their duties, in each of the years since the powers have been available to the Council.

2) The particular power(s), including but not limited to telephone subscriber checks, telephone call records, directed surveillance etc., employed on each occasion.

3) The purpose of the investigation for which the power(s) was/were invoked.

4) The rank of the Council officer authorising the use on each occasion.

5) The result of the investigation - whether it was pursued to a successful prosecution or abandoned.

6) If the investigation was abandoned, please provide a brief explanation why.

Yours faithfully,

Dear Mr. Ellis

Thank you for your "Freedom of Information" requests concerning RIPA and
CCTV. These have been passed to the relevant Departments to deal with
and they will be replying within 20 working days.

Kind regards
Linda Judd
Legal Services
Ext: 8402(pm)

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Ellis

Thank you for your information request of 5th June 2008.

The answers to your queries are as follows:

1) Two authorisations for surveillance pursuant to RIPA have been given
as follows:

* September 2006
* April 2007

2) Directed surveillance

3) Both were in relation to possible disciplinary matters and were
cancelled by the end of 2 weeks.

4) In each case an Authorised Officer who reports to a head of service

5 & 6) I am unable to give you any more information in relation to
these authorisations as it is subject to the provisions of the Data
Protection Act 1998

If you have any complaints in respect of your information request,
please write to the Complaints Monitoring Officer at the above address
or complete the on-line complaint form that can be found at
www.testvalley.gov.uk. If your complaint is not resolved to your
complete satisfaction, you have the right to apply to the Information
Commissioner for a decision.

Yours sincerely

Susan Tovey

Susan Tovey
Solicitor
Head of Legal Services
Test Valley Borough Council
Tel: 01264 368401
HPSN 991 8401
<mailto:[email address]>

The information in this e-mail is confidential. The content may not be
disclosed or used by anyone other than the intended recipient. If you
are not the intended recipient, please notify the Council's Data
Protection Administrator immediately on 01264 368231. Test Valley
Borough Council cannot accept any responsibility for the accuracy or
completeness of this message as it has been transmitted over a public
network. If you suspect that the message may have been intercepted or
amended, please call the Data Protection Administrator on the above
phone number.

Dear Ms. Tovey,

Further to your response on 9th June 2008 to the FOI request of 5th June 2008, I wish to clarify parts of the original request.
Please provide the following information :
1) In accordance with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Directed Surveillance and Covert Human Intelligence Sources) Order 2003; No. 3171,
the rank or position of the Authorising Officers of each investigation.
2) Under section 28 (3) (b) of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, the purpose of each of the investigations.
3) The tools employed in each of the investigations (e.g. video camera, tape recorder, binoculars, vehicles etc.).
4) The Section(s) of the Data Protection Act 1998 under which you are claiming an FOI exemption for questions 5 and 6 of the original request.
Thank you

Yours sincerely,

Dear Mr Ellis

Thank you for your e-mail of today.

The answers to your questions are as follows:
1) In accordance with the Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Directed
Surveillance and Covert Human Intelligence Sources) Order 2003; No.
3171, the rank or position of the Authorising Officers of each
investigation.

In each case an officer reporting directly to a Head of Service who was
among the officers authorised for the purpose by the Council

2) Under section 28 (3) (b) of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers
Act, the purpose of each of the investigations.

Preventing or detecting crime or of preventing disorder - the only
purpose available to local authorities.

3) The tools employed in each of the investigations (e.g. video camera,
tape recorder, binoculars, vehicles etc.).

Personal observation from a vehicle and of the content of a personal
computer.

4) The Section(s) of the Data Protection Act 1998 under which you are
claiming an FOI exemption for questions 5 and 6 of the original request.

The information relates to members of the Council's staff and is
personal data. The Council does not release information about
disciplinary proceedings or investigations in connection with them. In
the circumstances I will not give any further information than I have
already. I would however add that as a result of a decision of the
Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT/03/32/H) drawn to my attention by an
Inspector appointed by the Office of the Surveillance Commissioner there
is considerable doubt as to whether there was any need for a RIPA
authorisation in either case.

Yours sincerely

Susan Tovey

Susan Tovey
Solicitor
Head of Legal Services
Test Valley Borough Council
Tel: 01264 368401
HPSN 991 8401
<mailto:[email address]>

The information in this e-mail is confidential. The content may not be
disclosed or used by anyone other than the intended recipient. If you
are not the intended recipient, please notify the Council's Data
Protection Administrator immediately on 01264 368231. Test Valley
Borough Council cannot accept any responsibility for the accuracy or
completeness of this message as it has been transmitted over a public
network. If you suspect that the message may have been intercepted or
amended, please call the Data Protection Administrator on the above
phone number.