Agenda item

(a)  That the revised policy and guidance be approved,

(b)  That the RIPA applications and activity during 2022/23 be noted, and

(c)  That the Monitoring Officer be authorised to update the Policy as may be required, in consultation with the Lead Member, to reflect either changes in the Authorising Officers or relevant legislation.

A report was considered that sought approval of the updated RIPA policy and guidance which covered covert surveillance and the acquisition and disclosure of communications data.

The use of powers under RIPA by the Council was rare, however, it was important that the Council had an appropriate and up-to-date policy in place.  The Home Office Code of Practice required that the RIPA policy be subject to annual review and submitted to elected Members for approval.  In addition to the operational need, the policy review provided assurance that the Council was complying was the RIPA legislation and provided the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (IPCO) assurance that the Council was operating within the required legal parameters.  The Council was required to submit a self-assessment of RIPA to IPCO by 31^st July 2023 and this included confirmation that that policy had been reviewed.  The policy that the Cabinet was asked to approve was set out at Appendix 1 to the report.

Councillor Mann was invited to address the Cabinet and she asked officers to explain why there had been a three-year gap between reviews of the RIPA policy given the stated requirement for an annual review.  The Lead Member, Councillor Muvvala, stated that the 2020 policy refresh did not go through either Cabinet or the Audit & Corporate Governance Committee as it did not contain any significant changes and that many of responsible officers during that period had now left the authority.  He highlighted that the policy as presented to Cabinet reset the commitment to effective governance of the RIPA policy.  The requirements of the IPCO triennial inspection were summarised.  It was noted that the had not been in any RIPA authorisations during the period.

At the conclusion of the discussion the revised RIPA policy was approved.

Resolved –

(a)  That the revised policy and guidance be approved,

(b)  That the RIPA applications and activity during 2022/23 be noted, and

(c)  That the Monitoring Officer be authorised to update the Policy as may be required, in consultation with the Lead Member, to reflect either changes in the Authorising Officers or relevant legislation.