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Fears as North councils snoop on public

Mar 29 2009 by William Green, Sunday Sun

SURVEILLANCE powers designed to tackle terrorism have been used by North councils hundreds of times . . . for minor crimes such as littering and dog fouling.

Councils in the region invoked the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) on 456 occasions in the last five years to investigate offences ranging from benefit fraud, dog fouling, littering and under-age drinking, according to details disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act.

Darlington Council used the powers 154 times, compared to 55 occasions in Gateshead and in 68 cases in Northumberland over that period.

The powers were deployed 46 times by Easington Council compared to 13 occasions by Berwick, 23 by Derwentside and in 14 cases by Teesdale.

Council chiefs in Wear Valley and Blyth each used RIPA in 15 investigations, while the powers were deployed 53 times in Hartlepool.

But there were just 20 resulting sanctions across the region.

Across England and Wales, a survey of 182 district and unitary councils showed Ripa has been used 10,288 times — although less than one in 10 inquiries resulted in any form of penalty.

The Liberal Democrats, who obtained the details, warned Ripa was becoming a “snooper’s charter”.

But Local Government Association vice chairman Sir Jeremy Beecham last night defended the action.

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