UPDATE! City Hall is spying on noisy neighbours

10.26.06am BST (GMT +0100) Tue 24th Jun 2008

Noisy neighbours have been secretly taped by Norwich City Council using laws brought in to help fight terrorism, it was revealed today.

From the Norwich Evening News:

City Hall is spying on noisy neighbours

DAN GRIMMER

24 June 2008 07:00

Noisy neighbours have been secretly taped by Norwich City Council using laws brought in to help fight terrorism, it was revealed today.

Councils are able, through the Regulation of Investigatory Powers legislation, to access telephone and e-mail records and use surveillance to detect or stop a criminal offence.

But after a spate of councils using the powers for "trivial matters" such as dog-fouling and litter-dropping, local government bosses warned councils not to be "over zealous".

Norwich City Council revealed between March last year and April this year the powers were used three times to record noisy neighbours.

Recording devices were placed in the homes of people who had complained their neighbours were regularly creating a din through arguing, shouting and banging.

The cases were all instances where the complaint could not be proved without resorting to using recording devices.

While the people who had complained were aware the recording devices were being placed in their homes, the people they were complaining about did not know the council was taping them.

Amy Lyall, spokeswoman for Norwich City Council said: "We use the act in some anti-social behaviour and licensing cases, and our environmental health team use it occasionally.

"However, this legislation is designed to be an absolute last resort - it is implicit in the law that it can only be used when other methods fail, so we do not use it often. In the year 2007/08, it was used three times.

"In light of the concerns expressed by the head of the Local Government Association, we will be looking carefully at how we use it."

Under the powers, councils can conduct surveillance if they suspect criminal activity, they can also ask for subscriber details of internet and telephone bills but they cannot tap phones or intercept e-mails.

But the Local Government Association said some councils were being "over-zealous" and its chairman Sir Simon Milton yesterday said the surveillance powers should only be used for serious cases such as cracking down on fly-tippers, rogue traders and council tax or housing benefit cheats.

Rosalind Wright, Liberal Democrat councillor for Eaton ward, said: "We need to find a balance. Powers granted in the RIPA were meant to tackle terrorism and serious crime and that's what they should be used for. Local councils should not be conducting covert surveillance operations to tackle petty offences. Most residents are good, honest, hardworking people and they deserve privacy and respect.

"Over-zealous bureaucrats in local councils cannot be allowed to play James Bond; any use of these powers should go through to senior management, elected members or Judges to ensure it is legal, proportionate and justified."

David Peel, spokesman for South Norfolk Council, said: "We only use CCTV cameras to catch fly-tippers. We have only got a couple and we certainly couldn't spare them to catch dog foulers." Broadland District Council said it had not used the powers.

Controversy over "surveillance Britain" mounted after a family in Poole in Dorset were tracked covertly for nearly three weeks to check they lived in a school catchment area.

Poole Council also snooped on fishermen to see whether they were illegally catching shellfish.

Four councils - Derby City, Bolton, Gateshead and Hartlepool - have used surveillance to investigate dog fouling, with Bolton also using the act to find out about littering.

Kensington and Chelsea conducted surveillance in regard to the misuse of a disabled parking badge.