Agenda item

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

The Committee considered a report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place) which updated procedural Guidance on Regulation of Investigatory Powers (RIPA) Covert Surveillance and Covert Human Intelligence Sources (RIPA Procedural Guidance).

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) governs the acquisition and disclosure of communications data and the use of covert surveillance by local authorities.

The Council uses powers under RIPA to support its core functions for the purpose of prevention and detection of crime where an offence may be punishable by a custodial sentence of 6 months or more, or are related to the underage sale of alcohol and tobacco. The three powers available to local authorities under RIPA: the acquisition and disclosure of communications data; directed surveillance; and covert human intelligence sources (CHIS)

The Act sets out the procedures that Coventry City Council must follow if it wishes to use directed surveillance techniques or acquire communications data in order to support core function activities (e.g. typically those undertaken by Trading Standards and Environmental Health). The information obtained as a result of such operations can later be relied upon in court proceedings providing RIPA is complied with.

The Council’s compliance with RIPA is monitored by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (formerly by the Office of Surveillance Commissioners, which was abolished in 2017) who conduct inspections on roughly a bi-annual basis.  The last inspection at Coventry City Council was December 2016.

The Home Office Code for Covert Surveillance and Property Interference recommends that elected members, whilst not involved in making decisions or specific authorisations for the local authority to use its powers under Part II of the Act, should review the Council’s use of the legislation and provide approval to its policies.  The Council adopted this approach for oversight of the authority’s use of Parts I and II of the Act.

The report outlined the updates and amendments made to the Council’s RIPA Procedural Guidance following the Inspection by the Office of Surveillance Commissioners in December 2016 and their subsequent inspection report, dated December 2016; and the introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) on 25 May 2018.

In addition, separate guidance on the use of Social Media (also known as Social Networking Sites or SNS) has been produced and was attached at Appendix 2 to the report.  Reference to the Use of Social Media in Investigations Guidance (the Social Media Guidance) has also been made in the RIPA Procedural Guidance at paragraph 7.  The Social Media Guidance states that repeated viewing of Social Media could be classed as “surveillance” and as a consequence a RIPA authorisation should be sought to carry this out where the RIPA criteria are met (please see paragraph 1.1 and 1.2 of this report) or further advice should be sought from the Information Governance Team in the event that the activity falls outside of the RIPA criteria.

The Committee noted that the guidance on the use of social media was just guidance, as it was a developing area and as such there was no case law. However, it was acknowledged that the use of social media for intelligence gathering was on the increase and it was important to ensure that officers worked within the stipulated guidelines and did not stray into what could be classed as direct surveillance which required authority under RIPA.

RESOLVED that the Audit and Procurement Committee having considered the updated and amended RIPA Procedural Guidance requested that the Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities ensures that appropriate publicity is undertaken in relation to the use of social media.