Government plans to curb council ‘snooping' has sparked calls for caution against Draconian measures which may leave local authorities impotent. Home secretary, Jacqui Smith, has launched a consultation on the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) with a view to reform, as demanded by the Tories and Lib Dems. She said: ‘I don't want to see these powers being used to target people for putting their bins out on the wrong day or for dog-fouling offences.' It follows a string of exposés in which councils were found to have used surveillance for possible minor offences such as fraudulent school applications. But think-tank, the New Local Government Network (NLGN), has urged the Government not to ‘throw the baby out with the bathwater' as it clamps down on council surveillance powers. An NLGN-commissioned study of councils' use of the powers found 61% thought local authorities should have flexibility over the use of surveillance. Report authors, Nick Hope and James Hulme, said: ‘A new contract of understanding is required between local authorities and their residents to better ensure surveillance powers are used proportionately and only on issues that have a high priority in the local area. ‘But, if the Government is not careful, it risks throwing the baby out with the bathwater and limiting the ability of locally-elected councils to combat crime and anti-social behaviour.' The research also found citizens would like greater input from the local police on how surveillance should be used. Town hall leaders claim councils must work to rebuild public confidence in the way surveillance powers are used. But it wants government restraint to allow councils flexibility over use. LGA safe communities board chairwoman, Cllr Hazel Harding, said: ‘All the public bodies which have carried out surveillance operations under RIPA must now demonstrate that these have been necessary to crack down on the serious criminal.' But, she added: ‘Without these powers, it wouldn't be possible to provide the level of reassurance and protection local people demand and deserve.'
