Councils Face Surveillance Restrictions

Councils in England and Wales may face restrictions on the use of CCTV to monitor "trivial" offence, the Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has said.

Town Hall officials have been criticised for using surveillance powers for offences like littering and dog fouling.

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) gives far-reaching powers for local authorities to use surveillance to intercept phone and e-mail correspondence and use CCTV to spy on suspected criminals.

However, RIPA has been condemned as "Bin Stasi" for using powers to target minor offences.

It has also been accused of being an extension of the "surveillance state".

The Conservatives have said the Government had allowed RIPA to become a "snooper's charter" and has called for the use of powers to be restricted to offences that carry a prison sentence.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Gryling said RIPA was "supposed to be there to tackle terrorism and serious crime".

He added: "Instead it's being used by both the Government and hundreds of local authorities to pry into all kinds of different parts of people’s lives. It has to stop."

The Home Secretary said it was right they could be used to combat crimes like fly-tipping and rogue traders, as well as serious crime and terror.

She said: "Our country has a proud tradition of individual freedom. This involves freedom from unjustified interference by the State. But it also includes freedom from interference by those who would do us harm.

"The government is responsible for protecting both types of freedom. In order to do this, we must ensure that the police and other public authorities have the powers they need. But we must also ensure that those powers are not used inappropriately or excessively."

Miss Smith added: "The government has absolutely no interest in spying on law-abiding people going about their everyday lives. I don't want to see these powers being used to target people for putting their bins out on the wrong day or for dog fouling offences."

(JM/BMcC)