Written question asked by Lord Pickles (Conservative) on Wednesday, 12 November 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 17 November 2008. It was answered by Lord Coaker (Labour) on Thursday, 20 November 2008 on behalf of the Home Office.

Local Authorities: Surveillance

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many local authorities were authorised to intercept communications data in the last year for which figures are available according to records held by the Interception of Communications Commissioner.

Answer: Local authorities cannot intercept communications under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 (RIPA), but they can use the communications data provisions to make requests to communication service providers for service use and subscriber data under s21(4) (b)(c) RIPA. The figures published in the interception of communications commissioner's annual report shows that 154 local authorities made use of their powers to acquire communications data in 2007.

Secondary information