Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act

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Dear Mr Tillman,

I am requesting the following information under the Freedom of Information Act;

1. I believe Carmarthenshire Council has a policy on the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act/Surveillance which has recently been revised. I am requesting a copy of both the original and revised policies.

2. Who are the Council Officers who can authorise the use of Covert surveillance methods under RIPA.

3. When did the Commissioner last inspect Carmarthenshire Council’s use of RIPA and I am requesting a copy of the Commissioners Report.

4. Please provide dates of occasions when a report was presented to members on the Council’s use of covert intelligence and RIPA.

5. In the last 3 years how many requests for RIPA were made.

6. In the last 3 years how many were granted, and what was the purpose for which they were granted i.e Environmental Crime/Housing Anti Social behaviour/General ASB/Drugs/School allocation/Housing Benefit and or Council Tax/Other. Please provide full details.

7. Of the authorizations granted, how many resulted in a criminal offence being identified and or detected/offender prosecuted.

8. Of the authorizations granted how many were considered to be ‘collateral intrusion’ impacting on the privacy of a third party not under investigation.

9. How many authorizations were there in the last 3 years involving the use of CHIS’s (Covert Human Intelligence Sources) and who authorised the use and for what purpose.

10. In the last 3 years how often have the council/other agencies (please identify 'other agencies') requested the use of Carmarthenshire Council's CCTV cameras for the purpose of ‘targeted intelligence’ (targeting a known individual or groups of individuals)

Please contact me through this site if you require further clarification of my request, in a timely manner to avoid unecessary delay.

I expect the response to be made in full, on this site. However, in this case I am giving you the option of reponding via email but I add that I reserve the right to publish the information released elsewhere.

If you wish to respond via email please give full reasons why you do not wish to use the What Do They Know site.

I understand you may already have my email address but if it is not to hand, please contact me through this site and I will provide it.

Thank you

Jacqui Thompson

FOIA, Carmarthenshire County Council

Dear Mrs. Thompson

Thank you for your request for information, which was received on 13th
November, 2011 and is being dealt with under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000/Environmental Information Regulations 2004. We are therefore
required to provide you with a response within 20 working days, which
will be on or before 9th December, 2011.

If we require any clarification or further details, we will contact you
as soon as possible - if this is the case, then the timescale for
response specified above may be subject to change.

In the meantime, if you have any queries, please do not hesitate to
contact me, remembering to quote the reference number provided above in
any communications.

Yours sincerely

John Tillman

Swyddog Gwybodaeth a Diogelu Data

Adran y Prif Weithredwr

Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin

Information & Data Protection Officer

Chief Executive's Department

Carmarthenshire County Council

Mewnol/Internal: 4127

Allanol/External: 01267 224127

show quoted sections

FOIA, Carmarthenshire County Council

4 Attachments

Dear Mrs Thompson,

I refer to your request for information, which was received on 13^th
November, 2011 and has been dealt with under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000.

I will respond to your request in the order it was presented.

1. I believe Carmarthenshire Council has a policy on the Regulation of
Investigatory Powers Act/Surveillance which has recently been revised. I
am requesting a copy of both the original and revised policies.

These documents are attached.

<<RIPA policy version 4.pdf>> <<RIPA policy version 5.pdf>>

    

2. Who are the Council Officers who can authorise the use of Covert
surveillance methods under RIPA.

    

The Chief Executive (as required by law)

The Head of Public Protection

The Head of Housing

The Head of Planning

The Head of Policy – Technical Services Department

The Legal Services Manager

The Revenue Services Manager

3. When did the Commissioner last inspect Carmarthenshire Council’s use of
RIPA and I am requesting a copy of the Commissioners Report.

    

April 2010. A copy of the report is attached.

<<Surveillance.pdf>>

4. Please provide dates of occasions when a report was presented to
members on the Council’s use of covert

intelligence and RIPA.

    

The Authority’s policy provides that reports are taken to an Executive
Board member and this was referred to and approved by the Surveillance
Commissioner in his April 2010 report.   Full annual reports were
presented on 24^th September, 2010 and 20^th September, 2011. 

Reports by memo were also made on 12^th January, 2011, 4^th April, 2011
and 14^th July, 2011 advising of any operations that had occurred since
the last report.

5. In the last 3 years how many requests for RIPA were made.

2011 – 4

2010 – 2

2009 – 6

2008 – 3

6. In the last 3 years how many were granted, and what was the purpose for
which they were granted i.e Environmental Crime/Housing Anti Social
behaviour/General ASB/Drugs/School allocation/Housing Benefit and or
Council Tax/Other. Please provide full details.

Please refer to the attached table.

<<3912.pdf>>   

7. Of the authorizations granted, how many resulted in a criminal offence
being identified and or detected/offender prosecuted.

Of the above authorisations, three have resulted in individuals being
prosecuted and convicted of criminal offences.  One case

resulted in sufficient evidence being gathered to prosecute an individual,
but that person agreed to undertake restorative

justice and this was considered to be an acceptable alternative
disposal.   In relation to one other, authorisation sufficient

evidence was gathered to show offences had been committed but the
Authority took action using civil powers rather than

criminal prosecution, as it was felt that this was a more effective method
of resolving the issues identified.

    

8. Of the authorizations granted how many were considered to be collateral
intrusion’ impacting on the privacy of a third party not under
investigation.

All the authorisations referred to above identified a potential risk for
collateral intrusion into the private lives of innocent third parties. 
The authorisations therefore set out measures designed to minimise that
intrusion.  Because of the nature of the operations some degree of
collateral intrusion could not be avoided.

    

9. How many authorizations were there in the last 3 years involving the
use of CHIS’s (Covert Human Intelligence Sources) and who authorised the
use and for what purpose.

    

The Authority has not issued any authorisations for the use of covert
human intelligence sources in the last three years.

10. In the last 3 years how often have the council/other agencies (please
identify 'other agencies') requested the use of Carmarthenshire Council's
CCTV cameras for the purpose of ‘targeted intelligence’ (targeting a known
individual or groups of individuals)

There have been no requests in the last three years by any agencies for
the purpose outlined above.

Yours sincerely

John Tillman
Swyddog Gwybodaeth a Diogelu Data
Adran y Prif Weithredwr
Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin

Information & Data Protection Officer
Chief Executive's Department
Carmarthenshire County Council

Mewnol/Internal: 4127
Allanol/External: 01267 224127

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