Agenda item

To advise Members of any RIPA regulatory activity in the last 12 months and any work needed to ensure arrangements across the Partnership remain up to date and provide assurance that our legal obligations are effectively managed (report of the Assistant Director - Regulatory and Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for RIPA enclosed).

Consideration was given to the report of the Assistant Director – Regulatory and Senior Responsible Officer (SRO) for RIPA which advised members of any RIPA regulatory activity in the last 12 months and any work needed to ensure arrangements across the Partnership remained up to date and provided assurance that the council’s legal obligations were effectively managed.

The Group Manager Public Protection introduced the report on behalf of the Assistant Director – Regulatory and SRO for RIPA who had given his apologies, which included:

• Background to the report;
• That no RIPA activity (covert activity) had been undertaken by Partnership councils within the last two calendar years;
• That the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 Partnership Policy was up to date and therefore did not require any revisions;
• A new Partnership Body Worn Camera Policy and a new Partnership CCTV Policy were being developed during 2025/26; and
• Details in respect of officer training.

Members considered the report and made the following comments:

• Members queried why there had not been any RIPA activity over the last two years.
  • The Group Manager Public Protection responded that:
    • Whilst criminal investigations were regularly undertaken, RIPA only applied to directed surveillance activity (for covert operations) which required authorisation from the Magistrates Court;
    • Prior to authorisation, the Magistrate would need to be satisfied that overt means of surveillance had been exhausted;
    • Most cases could be addressed through the availability of the many overt means of surveillance, such as freely available information on the internet or overt CCTV cameras;  and
    • The use of directed surveillance remained a useful mechanism and would be pursued if considered proportionate to an investigation.

• Members noted the current three-year rolling programme of RIPA training for officers and asked how this worked for new officers.
  • The Group Manager Public Protection responded that:
    • Internal E-Learning RIPA training was accessed for officers; and
    • The subject of criminal investigations was integral to the professional qualifications of some roles, such as Environmental Health Officers, which involved an understanding of wider criminal processes including RIPA.

• Members queried why the new policies, and therefore associated improvements, were taking so long to implement.
  • The Assistant Director – Wellbeing and Community Leadership responded that the cautious considerations of policy content regarding utilisation of advanced technology required due preparation and production time to ensure a correct balance was achieved for communities. 

• Members queried whether the CCTV cameras had face recognition function.
  • The Assistant Director – Wellbeing and Community Leadership responded that:
    • Face recognition technology was installed in some of the newly installed cameras, but the function was not yet activated. The Partnership was keen to apply caution regarding the deployment of advanced technology relating to CCTV face recognition and the new policy needed to ensure that face recognition technology was correctly and usefully utilised. Where available, the clothing identification function had been activated which had provided positive outcomes; and
    • The council worked collaboratively across infrastructures with the Office for the Police and Crime Commissioner and Lincolnshire Police.

AGREED:

That the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000 update be noted.