Written question asked by Countess of Mar (Crossbench), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Rooker (Labour) on Thursday, 27 March 2008.

Environment Agency Wales

Question: asked Her Majesty's Government:Upon what authority and on whose instructions e-mail correspondence from Mr Douglas Gowan to individuals in the Environment Agency, the Environment Agency Wales, Members of the House of Lords and others was intercepted and on occasions diverted; whether specific instructions were issued to three engineers to set up a gateway to facilitate the interception on or around 30 October 2007; and whether such interception was legal.

Answer: The Environment Agency has not intercepted or diverted e-mail correspondence from Mr Douglas Gowan to Members of the House of Lords or others. The Environment Agency has, since November 2007, filtered e-mail correspondence sent by Mr Gowan to various Environment Agency e-mail addresses into a centrally managed Environment Agency e-mail account. On or about 30 October 2007, the Environment Agency confirms that it instructed its e-mail gateway provider to set up this arrangement. How the Environment Agency chooses to manage the communications sent to and received by its members of staff is an internal and entirely legitimate operational matter.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 2263; 700 c114WA
Session: 2007-08
Subjects: Electronic surveillance Environment Agency Email Peers Brofiscin Quarry Environment Agency Wales
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk