Spies snooped Councils misuse terror powers

This legislation was not designed to allow local authorities, like Hambleton Council in North Yorkshire, to spy on staff on sick leave, or for covert operations against dog owners whose pets have fouled public areas.

Yet it is precisely what happened, according to a survey undertaken by the Big Brother Watch

campaign group which argues, rightly, that

Britain's so-called "surveillance state" has become too oppressive.

After being criticised by the House of Lords, New Labour promised to remedy these abuses – but no mention of this was forthcoming in Gordon Brown's election manifesto.

It is, therefore, welcome that the new coalition Government intends to force local authorities to obtain a court warrant before they use the RIPA's powers in the future – and that the Act's scope will be limited to serious crimes.

This is a common sense approach that should reassure residents, and

does not jeopardise the work of the security services in their ongoing counter-terrorism work.

If, also, the alleged wrongdoing is serious enough to merit covert surveillance, then it should, in all probability,

be a matter for the police rather than the council concerned.