The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA) provides
for, and regulates the use of, a range of investigatory powers by a
variety of public authorities. The Act deals with a number of
areas:
- Updating the law on the interception of communications – to
take account of technological change such as the growth of the
internet
- Putting other intrusive investigatory techniques on a statutory
footing for the first time
- Providing new powers dealing with encryption – to help combat
the threat posed by criminal use
- Ensuring that there is independent judicial oversight of the
powers in the Act.
Some of the areas are wholly or partially not applicable to the
London Borough of Redbridge. However, there are a number of
issues arising from the Act that our Authority needs to deal
with. Part II of the Act is relevant to the London Borough of
Redbridge and includes Directed Surveillance and Covert Human
Intelligence Sources.
Redbridge Council uses all powers at its disposal to investigate
fraud and criminal matters. The powers under RIPA have only
been used after careful consideration and strictly in accordance
with the act. The use of these powers has resulted in a number of
successful conclusions to benefit fraud and criminal
investigations.
We have summarised the outcomes of the Authorisations issued by
the Authority since January 2006.