Use of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (c. 23)

Kaihsu Tai made this Freedom of Information request to Oxford City Council

The request was successful.

From: Kaihsu Tai

6 February 2009

Dear Madam or Sir,

This request pertains to the use of the Regulation of Investigatory
Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) by your council. Would you please provide:

1 A current list of council employees who have authority to make a
request for powers under RIPA and under what circumstances.

2 Details of the use of powers under RIPA by your council since the
Act came into force: who made the request, the purpose thereof, the
intention for the request, and date and outcome of request.

Thank you very much.

Sincerely,

Dr Kaihsu Tai

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From: HUGHES Martin
Oxford City Council

24 February 2009

Dear Dr. Tai,
Thank you for your Freedom of Information enquiry dated
February 6th. I have set out the answers to your questions below:

1 A current list of council employees who have authority to make a
request for powers under RIPA and under what circumstances.

12 Heads of Service, 2 Executive Directors and the Chief Executive. The
delegation sits with the post, not the individual occupying it.

2 Details of the use of powers under RIPA by your council since the Act
came into force: who made the request, the purpose thereof, the
intention for the request, and date and outcome of request.

Since the Act came into force (October 2000), the Council has issued 25
authorisations for directed surveillance. This can be broken down as
follows:

Benefit Fraud - 6
Crime & Disorder (including anti-social behaviour) - 14
Internal Disciplinary Investigations - 5

The requests for directed surveillance were made by the investigating
officer in each case. Since I only receive a copy of the application
form, the review form (if applicable) and the closure form, I am not
able to confirm the outcome of each investigation.

I hope this assists, but if you disagree with any part of this response
you are entitled to ask Oxford City Council for an internal review of
the decision(s) made. You may do this by writing to The Monitoring
Officer, Oxford City Council, The Town Hall, Blue Boar Street, Oxford,
OX1 4EY. If, after the result of an internal review, you are still not
satisfied, you may ask the Information Commissioner to intervene on your
behalf. You may do this by writing to The Information Commissioner's
Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Hughes

Project Manager & Acting Freedom of Information Officer

Oxford City Council
St. Aldate's Chambers
St. Aldate's
Oxford
OX1 1DS

Tel: 01865-252669

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From: Kaihsu Tai

24 February 2009

Dear Mr Hughes,

Thank you for your response.

Sincerely,

Kaihsu Tai

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Ganesh Sittampalam left an annotation (24 February 2009)

The answer to part 2 of your request is woefully inadequate - he's ignored most of the questions and if he doesn't know the outcomes of the investigations himself he needs to see if anyone else in the council does.

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From: Kaihsu Tai

25 February 2009

Dear Mr Martin,

Regarding my question 2: ‘Details of the use of powers under RIPA
by your council since the Act came into force: who made the
request, the purpose thereof, the
intention for the request, and date and outcome of request’, would
you please confirm that all information the Council holds regarding
these has been released in your reply to me of 24 February 2009? If
not, would you please either release the information (with details
for each of the 25 authorizations), or indicate which exemption the
Council is claiming?

Again, many thanks.

Sincerely,

Kaihsu Tai

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From: HUGHES Martin
Oxford City Council

26 February 2009

Dear Dr. Tai,
Thank you for your further enquiry. I am finding out if
this information is available and will e-mail you again as soon as I
can.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Hughes

Project Manager & Acting Freedom of Information Officer

Oxford City Council
St. Aldate's Chambers
St. Aldate's
Oxford
OX1 1DS

Tel: 01865-252669

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From: HUGHES Martin
Oxford City Council

6 March 2009

Dear Dr. Tai,
In response to your further enquiry, I have set out the
details of the cases below:

Case 1:
Tenancy Services Manager
08.04.04 directed surveillance
Internal investigation
22.04.04 authorisation cancelled no evidence of misconduct

Case 2:
ASBO Co-ordinator
10.05.04 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged crime & disorder/anti-social behaviour
25.05.04 authorisation cancelled sufficient information gathered

Case 3:
Business Manager Neighbourhood Renewal
25.06.04 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged crime & disorder/anti-social behaviour
12.07.04 authorisation cancelled alleged suspects identified

Case 4:
Business Manager Neighbourhood Renewal
13.10.04 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged crime & disorder/anti-social behaviour
30.11.04 authorisation cancelled intelligence passed to Police

Case 5:
Strategic Director Corporate Services
05.01.05 directed surveillance
Internal investigation
19.01.05 authorisation cancelled no evidence of misconduct

Case 6:
Customer Services Business Manager
16.03.05 directed surveillance
Internal investigation
23.03.05 authorisation cancelled no evidence of misconduct

Case 7:
Audit & Risk Business Manager
15.04.05 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged housing/housing benefit fraud
27.04.05 authorisation cancelled evidence of alleged fraud

Case 8:
Strategic Director for Housing, Health & Community
23.05.05 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged crime & disorder/anti-social behaviour
10.06.05 authorisation cancelled evidence gained to support possession
proceedings

Case 9:
Strategic Director for Housing, Health & Community
26.10.05 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged crime & disorder/anti-social behaviour
09.11.05 authorisation cancelled insufficient evidence to support
allegation

Case 10:
Business Manager Neighbourhood Renewal
01.03.06 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged crime & disorder/anti-social behaviour
09.06.06 authorization cancelled sufficient information to substantiate
complaints

Case 11:
Business Manager Neighbourhood Renewal
23.06.06 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged crime & disorder/anti-social behaviour
30.06.06 authorisation cancelled sufficient information to substantiate
complaints

Case 12:
Business Manager Neighbourhood Renewal
25.07.06 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged crime & disorder/anti-social behaviour
04.10.06 authorisation cancelled tenant evicted

Case 13:
Business Manager Neighbourhood Renewal
17.08.06 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged crime & disorder/anti-social behaviour
04.10.06 authorisation cancelled tenant vacated premises

Case 14:
Strategic Director for Housing, Health & Community
21.11.06 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged crime & disorder/anti-social behaviour
28.11.06 authorisation cancelled sufficient evidence to support
allegation

Case 15:
Business Manager Neighbourhood Renewal
13.12.06 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged crime & disorder/anti-social behaviour
08.01.07 authorisation cancelled tenant vacated premises

Case 16:
Business Manager Neighbourhood Renewal
07.02.07 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged crime & disorder/anti-social behaviour
14.02.07 authorisation cancelled no evidence to support allegation

Case 17:
Business Manager Neighbourhood Renewal
03.05.07 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged crime & disorder/anti-social behaviour
17.05 07 authorisation cancelled sufficient evidence to support
allegation

Case 18:
Fraud Investigation Manager
17.09.07 directed surveillance
Internal investigation
07.12.07 authorisation cancelled no evidence of misconduct

Case 19:
Fraud Investigation Manager
07.01.08 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged benefit fraud
18.02.08 authorisation cancelled sufficient evidence to support
allegation

Case 20:
Fraud Investigation Manager
07.03.08 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged benefit fraud
11.04.08 authorisation cancelled investigation discontinued

Case 21:
Fraud Investigation Manager
18.06.08 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged benefit fraud
16.07.08 authorisation cancelled no evidence to support allegation

Case 22:
Fraud Investigation Manager
04.07.08 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged benefit fraud
16.07.08 authorisation cancelled sufficient evidence to support
allegation

Case 23:
Fraud Investigation Manager
17.07.08 directed surveillance
Internal investigation
05.08.08 authorisation cancelled no evidence of misconduct

Case 24:
Fraud Investigation Manager
16.10.08 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged benefit fraud
24.11.08 authorisation cancelled sufficient evidence to support
allegation

Case 25:
Head of Housing & Community Development
14.11.08 directed surveillance
Investigation into alleged crime & disorder/anti-social behaviour
21.11.08 authorisation cancelled sufficient evidence to support
allegation

I hope this assists, but if you disagree with any part of this response
you are entitled to ask Oxford City Council for an internal review of
the decision(s) made. You may do this by writing to The Monitoring
Officer, Oxford City Council, The Town Hall, Blue Boar Street, Oxford,
OX1 4EY. If, after the result of an internal review, you are still not
satisfied, you may ask the Information Commissioner to intervene on your
behalf. You may do this by writing to The Information Commissioner's
Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire, SK9 5AF.

Yours sincerely,

Martin Hughes

Project Manager & Acting Freedom of Information Officer

Oxford City Council
St. Aldate's Chambers
St. Aldate's
Oxford
OX1 1DS

Tel: 01865-252669

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From: Kaihsu Tai

7 March 2009

Dear Mr Hughes,

Thank you for your response.

Sincerely,

Kaihsu Tai

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Things to do with this request

Anyone:
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