Agenda item

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services submitted a report proposing that the Council’s Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) Policy, which had not been reviewed since 2010, be revised and updated taking into account significant legislative changes which have occurred in the intervening decade; and that a new Use of Social Media in Investigations Policy be adopted in order to deal specifically with investigations carried out by these means.  The proposals followed an inspection of the Council in November 2019 by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Office (IPCO), whose resulting report gave a recommendation of ‘critical’, outlining several areas where the Council was not meeting legal requirement; and actions that were required by May 2020 to address these.  

Councillor Cutting, Executive Member for Corporate Services, welcomed the rapid and professional way in which the IPCO’s recommendations had been addressed.  The new policies would be kept under constant review, with an annual report being made to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Snowdon felt that the proposed new policies were robust but asked how the unsatisfactory position highlighted by the IPCO had arisen.  Councillor Cutting stated that this had predated both his appointment and that of the Head of Legal and Democratic Services, but action had been taken to address the situation as soon as it was brought to the Councils attention.  The Head of Legal and Democratic Services stated that he understood there had been a turnover of staff in certain areas that may have contributed to the Council ‘taking its eye off the ball’ as the IPCO Inspector had put it.  The current proposals, which had been developed in line with the IPCO’s deadline, would rectify this situation and ensure that the Authority would be fully compliant going forward. 

Councillor Frecknall and Councillor Goldspink wished to recognise the role undertaken by the Head of Housing and Health, who as Interim Head of Legal and Democratic Services had started the work to get the Council back on track.  In relation to the proposed Use of Social Media in Investigations Policy, Councillor Frecknall also asked whether an individual simply failing to set their privacy settings sufficiently high would be opening him or herself up to intrusive surveillance.  The Head of Legal and Democratic Services stated that an occasional look at, for example an individual’s Facebook profile was acceptable but regular and repeated checking in order to build up a picture of the user’s life and habits could represent a breach of the policy.  He further noted that the Council had not undertaken any surveillance operations for some time and did not anticipate doing so frequently. 

Councillor Crofton commented that previous postholders’ had not addressed this area of work adequately but he therefore found it surprising that the IPCO had not referred the matter to the Leader of the Council of Chief Executive earlier than they did.

It was moved by Councillor Goldspink and seconded by Councillor Snowdon, that the recommendations in the report be approved.  After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, this motion was declared CARRIED. 

RESOLVED – that the revised Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) Policy and the new Use of Social Media in Investigations Policy be reviewed and the Executive Member for Corporate Services and the Head of Legal and Democratic Services be requested to give consideration to the matters raised by the Committee prior to the final proposed versions and accompanying report being sent for adoption by the Executive.