Contact: Val Pitman, Pauline Hoult, ext 6612/6522

1 Introduction

The purpose of this report is to update the Governance Committee following an inspection visit by the Office of Surveillance Commissioners (OSC) and to note the proposed changes to some of the Council's working procedures when carrying out covert surveillance.

The Inspector, Clare Ringshaw-Dowle, met with senior officers including the Monitoring Officer, the Data Protection Officer and Trading Standards Manager, Andrew Slee. Having reviewed policy and training documents, visited the CCTV control room in Elizabeth II Court, checked the central register and several authorisations, she commended current practices relating to covert surveillance and the general good understanding across the Council of the requirements of the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA).

2 Suggested changes to existing procedures

In order to fully comply with the updated Code of Practice recently published by the Office of Surveillance Commissioner she recommended the following changes.

· To increase the information recorded in the central register which is currently held in manual form.

· A central numbering system for RIPA authorisations should be considered, to enable clear audit and accountability checks.

· To review and reduce the number of designated Authorising Officers (A.O.'s)

· To reduce the number of copies of authorisations in circulation ensuring the security of the information contained therein.

· To pay particular attention to the safety and welfare of the Covert Human Intelligence Source (CHIS) when authorising their use as part of a covert surveillance operation. Risk Assessments need to be brought to the attention of the A.O. as part of the process and more detailed information may also be necessary in order to complete the processing of the application.

An action plan is attached as Appendix I. This sets out the changes required in our guidance documentation and in particular the need to amend the forms currently in use to accommodate the recently published recommendations by the Home Office. Andrew Slee, Trading Standards Manager, is making changes to the forms and revising our procedures, as recommended by the Inspector.

An electronic register has now been created to include all the additional information required. This includes a central register number and was completed in March 2006. Procedures are in place to ensure the regular back up of Data Security.

A revised list of A.O.'s has been circulated and agreed. The number of A.O's have been significantly reduced following discussions with senior officers on the practical implications to departments. (Appendix II).

A review of the number of copies of authorisations has been carried out and will in future only be provided where necessary.

Guidance provided by the Inspector in relation to planning operations using more than one CHIS has been noted and will be considered when operations are being planned.

3 Training

Refresher training is planned for July 07 2006 for A.O.'s and will include guidance on completion of the updated forms and our amended procedures.

Recommendation:

1. That the Governance Committee note changes have been made to the Council's policy and procedures when the use of covert surveillance is being considered and is in accordance with the recommendations made by the Inspector of the Office of Surveillance Commissioners..

2. That a copy of this report be sent to the Office of Surveillance Commissioners for their information.