Anti-Terrorism powers used 33 times by North Somerset Council

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Fri 3rd Apr 2009

Town hall snoopers have been using powers designed to fight terrorism to track one of their own employees.

The worker was monitored by eagle-eyed bosses over a potential theft from the workplace, before being suspended and later resigning.

Such surveillance is permitted under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act and has been used by the unitary authority 33 times in the last five years.

The act allows the council to use secret filming and undercover officers to trail suspects and monitoring of computers.

The council has used the act ten times to investigate suspected benefit fraud, and in 10 cases by trading standards.

Suspected rogue taxi drivers have also been examined by officers on eight occasions.

One case of fly-tipping and another planning enforcement issue have also been investigated.

Ten members of staff are allowed to use the powers prescribed in the act, four of whom are below senior management level.

Carrying out the roles prescribed in the act has only resulted in a conviction three times.

A North Somerset Council spokesman confirmed it had used the powers and said sometimes surveillance was needed as part of investigations.

The council received a complimentary report from the Office of Surveillance Commission following an assessment in June 2008, which identified 'good practice'.

The spokesman added: "We are confident that our low-level use of surveillance is both fair and proportionate."

The figures were obtained under the Freedom of Information act by Liberal Democrat prospective parliamentary candidate for Weston-super-mare Mike Bell.

He said: "This Government sees civil liberties as little more than a temporary inconvenience. Slowly but surely freedoms have been eroded. We're now in a situation where relatively junior council officials in our Town Hall can authorise surveillance activities on members of the public with no judicial oversight at all.

"When RIPA was passed, only nine organisations, including the police and security services, were allowed to use it. Now a total of 795 bodies, including all 475 local authorities, can use powers that were originally designed to prevent terrorism.

"Unless RIPA is reformed it risks becoming a snoopers' charter. Surveillance powers should only be used to investigate serious crimes and must require a magistrate's warrant."