Anti-terror laws used against dog foulers

[Peter]

It seems that every time a new 'anti-terror' bill is passed here, the new powers are immediately applied to the surveillance, detention and prosecution of ordinary citizens.  I become more and more disgusted with the UK every time I read the news.

Spy law 'used in dog fouling war'

A survey of UK councils has found some are spying on litter louts and people who let dogs foul public places, using laws to track criminals and terrorists.

Some local authorities have used the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) more than 100 times in the last 12 months to conduct surveillance.

The findings, obtained by the Press Association news agency, come from 46 of the 468 local authorities in the UK.

Privacy campaigners called for a "root and branch review" of the law.

Earlier this month it emerged that Poole Borough Council in Dorset used Ripa to spy on a family for three weeks to find out if they were really living in a school catchment area.

The council said the case was treated as potential criminal activity, which justified the use of the act.

Less serious offences

Home Office guidance says Ripa allows "the interception of communications, carrying out of surveillance and the use of covert human intelligence sources" to help prevent crime, including terrorism.

The Press Association contacted 97 councils to find out how they were using the powers.

The 46 who responded said they had used the act a total of 1,343 times, mainly against rogue trading, benefit fraud and anti-social behaviour like criminal damage.

But some said the law was also used to find out about other less serious offences, such as:

    * Derby City Council, Bolton, Gateshead and Hartlepool used surveillance to investigate dog fouling.

    * Bolton Council also used the act to investigate littering.

    * The London borough of Kensington and Chelsea conducted surveillance on the misuse of a disabled parking badge.

    * Liverpool City Council used Ripa to identify a false claim for damages.

    * Conwy Council used the law to spy on a person who was working while off sick.

The survey found the biggest user of Ripa was Durham County Council, which used it 144 times in the last 12 months.

The council said it did not consider the use to be directed at members of the public, but against traders it had suspected of crime.

'Petty and vindictive'

Simon Davies, director of campaign group Privacy International, called for a review of Ripa.

"Ripa put physical surveillance on a legal basis but that doesn't make it right or morally right - it just covers the back of local authorities, but at huge expense," Mr Davies said.
   There are strict rules to protect people from unnecessary intrusion
Sir Simon Milton
Local Government Authority

"Local authorities can be very petty and vindictive and they can become obsessed with issues like dog fouling and there can be a lack of judgment.

"In the case of dog fouling it's almost morally justifiable to bring these people to book, but you have to ask the question is the response an overkill?

"There are better ways to achieve the objectives without using counter-terrorism laws."

Shami Chakrabarti, director of human rights group Liberty, said: "You don't use a sledgehammer to crack a nut, nor targeted surveillance to stop a litter bug.

"You can care about serious crime and terrorism without throwing away our personal privacy with a snoopers' charter.

"The law must be reformed to require sign-off by judges not self authorisation by over-zealous bureaucrats."

Sir Simon Milton, Local Government Association chairman, said councils were using the law to protect people against rip-off merchants, fly-tippers and benefit fraudsters.

"It's wrong to suggest that these are specifically anti-terror powers," he said.

"There are strict rules to protect people from unnecessary intrusion, and whenever a council applies to use these powers they must prove that it is both necessary and proportionate to the crime being investigated."

Out of the 97 councils contacted, 16 said they did not use the act at all, 19 asked for the request to be submitted under the Freedom of Information Act and 16 did not respond.

Family's shock at council spying

Jenny Paton on the council's 'outrageous' action

A couple have spoken of their shock after their local council spied on them to see if they had been cheating the school catchment system.

Tim Joyce and Jenny Paton and their children were put under surveillance by Poole Borough Council for more than two weeks without their knowledge.

Miss Paton said this kind of scrutiny was "hugely disproportionate".

The council has defended its actions, carried out under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA).

The council admitted using RIPA laws, which were designed to track criminals and terrorists, on six occasions in total.

Miss Paton, from Parkstone, said: "We all know there has to be scrutiny of applications but they could carry it out without resorting to anti-terror legislation and spying.

"The fact they are going to continue this is outrageous.

"I feel that this kind of scrutiny is hugely disproportionate to the circumstances to being able to scrutinise a school application.

   We have a duty to make sure... the application is fair
John Nash, Poole Borough Council

"They could have come back to us and asked for utility bills, they could have come back to us and asked for telephone bills instead."

The couple had applied to have their three-year-old daughter accepted into Lilliput CE First School - described by inspectors as "outstanding" and heavily over-subscribed - which one of their children already attends.

The couple has two addresses and they waited until after the council deadline for school applications had passed before moving from one address to the other.

But after two weeks of surveillance the couple were exonerated and their daughter was awarded a place.

Miss Paton admitted they had played the system.

She said: "We had some uncomfortable feelings about that, in that we had two addresses and we were able to do it.

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Liberty's Alex Gask describes the use of powers as 'ridiculous'

"They [the council] produced a very detailed document of our movements.

"They weren't forthcoming with that until asked by a direct question and it took us by huge surprise.

"However, by the end of the meeting it was clear that the surveillance had shown we weren't lying."

Poole council has admitted that it has spied on families three times over suspected fraudulent school place applications. It said two offers of school places were withdrawn as a result.

RIPA legislation allows councils to carry out surveillance if it suspects criminal activity.

On its website, the Home Office says: "The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) legislates for using methods of surveillance and information gathering to help the prevention of crime, including terrorism."

'Ridiculously disproportionate'

Human rights pressure group Liberty called the spying "ridiculously disproportionate" and "intrusive".

James Welch, legal director for Liberty, said: "It's one thing to use covert surveillance in operations investigating terrorism and other serious crimes, but it has come to a pretty pass when this kind of intrusive activity is used to police school catchment areas.

"This is a ridiculously disproportionate use of RIPA and will undermine public trust in necessary and lawful surveillance."

Poole council said surveillance was carried out by a council officer who was fully trained and authorised to exercise RIPA powers, once it had decided it may be a criminal matter.

John Nash, the council's strategic director for children's services, said: "Where the main criteria for entry is to live in the catchment area then we have a duty to make sure, where there is a complaint or concern expressed by somebody else, that the application is fair."

Mick Brookes, of the National Association of Head Teachers, said the council's actions appear "a little over the top".

He added: "I would have thought that if there was a doubt about where parents were living then the school would actually get in touch with them to check their address was right, not least because if there was an emergency."

[Callaway]

That's completely insane, Peter.

We aren't even that bad here, but only because we don't have video cameras covering the country, or else they would probably be misused just like they are there.

It's nuts to use anti-terrorism laws to do weeks of surveillance to see if parents really live in the attendance zone of a school or to see who isn't picking up after their pets!

[Parts]

Well I heard that terrorist are going to start carrying dog shit instead of guns so it must be justified