Decision details

The Committee agreed that Item 6 be brought forward on the agenda. The Chair welcomed Laura Sales, Director Legal, Democratic and Governance; and Tony Haslam, Lead Officer Trading Standards.

The Committee was informed that the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) provided a framework for certain public bodies, including local authorities, to use "covert surveillance" to gather information about individuals without their knowledge for the purposes of undertaking statutory functions in connection with the prevention or detection of crime. The use of RIPA by a public authority provided protection against a claim of infringement of the right to respect for a private and family life, home and correspondence.

It was noted that local authorities were subject to inspections every three years undertaken by the Office for Surveillance Commissioners (OSC). The most recent OSC inspection took place on 28 February 2017. The resulting report from the inspection was considered in June 2017 by Cabinet.

In discussing the report, it was noted that part of the inspector's recommendation was that guidance/training on the use of social networking be widened to include other services and councillors, and that in relation to the use of social networking sites and the challenges faced by investigative teams around new technologies, a briefing note would be circulated to members.

Resolved: That the report be noted.