Local authority loses school catchment surveillance case

Poole Borough Council has apologised to a mother and her family after the Investigatory Powers Tribunal ruled that a three-week period of directed surveillance conducted by the local authority was unlawful.

The council has also announced that, following the landmark ruling, it will no longer use powers under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) in relation to investigations over potentially fraudulent applications for school places.

Jenny Paton and her family were subject to covert surveillance between 10 February and 3 March 2008. Only after the surveillance was completed did Poole inform her of the operation.

The local authority argued that the surveillance was duly authorised under RIPA and lawful. It said the surveillance was necessary for the prevention or detection of crime and that it was proportionate for determining whether information provided by Ms Paton – about the family’s ordinary residence – to the local education authority was genuine.

The ordinary residence was said to be a property in the catchment area of an oversubscribed school to which Ms Paton had applied for a place for one of her children. The investigation was launched after two phone calls were made to the council alleging that the family was not living at that address.

The Tribunal ruled that the authorisation acted on by the council did not comply with the requirements of RIPA – the investigation was not for a proper purpose – and was invalid, and that the complainants had been unlawfully subjected to directed surveillance.

It had also said that, notwithstanding the limited nature of the surveillance, there was a breach of each of the complainants’ right to respect for private life under Article 8.

In a statement Poole said: “The council accepts fully the ruling and would like to apologise to Ms Paton and her family for any distress caused as a result of its actions in this case.”

The council claimed that “overall” its use of RIPA powers had been extremely limited, but acknowledged that it was vital that the public has confidence in the use of surveillance methods by all public agencies, including local authorities.

It said: “The council listened to public concerns about this case and subsequently decided that RIPA powers were no longer an appropriate means of investigating potentially fraudulent applications for school places.

“As the local education authority, the council has a duty to uphold the integrity of the school admission process. The council takes this responsibility very seriously and has always sought to ensure that the process is fair for all families and not open to abuse by those who may seek to exploit the system to the disadvantage of other parents and children.”

Ms Paton’s case was supported by human rights organisation Liberty. Legal officer Corinna Ferguson said: “Intrusive surveillance is vital to fighting terrorism and serious crime but weak legal protections and petty abuses of power bring it into disrepute.

“Former ministers claimed that the innocent had nothing to fear but the sinister treatment of Jenny and her kids proves that these powers need to be far more tightly restricted and supervised.”

The coalition government has already announced that it plans to limit local authority use of RIPA to “stopping serious crime” and only when approved by a magistrate.