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'SNOOPER' POWERS COME UNDER ATTACK

9:24am Wednesday 1st April 2009


Surveillance powers designed to tackle terrorism have been used 45 times by Wirral Council .

The controversial Ripa (Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act) has been employed by the town hall to carry out surveillance in “targeted enforcement operations”.

‘Bankrolling town hall spies to act out their James Bond fantasies’

Cllr Leah Fraser

But a councillor has accused the authority of “bankrolling an army of town hall spies acting out their James Bond fantasies”.

Revelations across the UK last week showed councils had used their undercover snoopers to investigate alleged offences including littering, illegal street trading, and taking the fairy lights from a town Christmas tree.

Wirral Council’s use of the Ripa laws will come under scrutiny this week when a report comes before the corporate services overview and scrutiny committee on Thurs-day.

The committee’s chairman, Cllr Leah Fraser, said: “People’s privacy and liberty have been undermined by the disprop-ortionate use of surveillance powers by town halls. “Taxpayers’ money is being wasted on bankrolling an army of town hall spies acting out their James Bond fantasies.

“We know the powers were used 45 times by Wirral last year, but what we don’t know is how many council staff have the power to grant authorisation for the use of Ripa, or which specific Ripa powers our authority employs when conducting an investigation. “These powers should only be used to tackle terror and serious crime.”

Nationally, it has been revealed that Ripa has been used more than 10,000 times by local authorities since it came into force in 2004. Ripa powers have been used on 10,288 occasions since then, but just 9% of those inquiries led to a successful prosecution, caution, or fixed penalty notice.

A Wirral Council spokesman said the authority uses surveillance techniques to assist with targeted enforcement oper-ations against alleged rogue traders and to obtain court orders to tackle anti-social behaviour. In 2007/8 the council granted 45 authorisations for surveillance operations “which produced evidence subsequently used to bring numerous successful prosecutions”.


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Your Say Your Globe

bigfoot, Prenton says...
10:30am Wed 1 Apr 09

So Cllr Foulkes now thinks he's 'M'-dream on sonny!

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Elliott, Wirral says...
2:11pm Wed 1 Apr 09

"We know the powers were used 45 times by Wirral last year..."

Cllr. "F" (for "fail") Foulkes must have a lot of Wirraliban to worry about at night.

Wirral - a hotbed of anarchy & disruption - who'd've thought it?

Shall we all manually uproot the flower arrangements on our roundabouts, or does the council expect us to use explosives to do the job?

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piggymalone, wirral says...
7:16pm Wed 1 Apr 09

I always thought that it was the police and if necessary MI5 who would deal with terrorism, but now we have a bunch of incompetent overpaid idiots pretending to be 007`s snooping. Is it true that MBW now have a high tech unmarked vehicle targeting motorists. If anyone knows the type of vehicle , colour and registration number I am sure the motorists of Wirral would love to know the details

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Bertiebadger, Wallasey says...
10:10pm Wed 1 Apr 09

I am looking for someone to provide me with camera's, long distance microphones and the lend of a couple of vehicles.

It is my intention to follow certain members of the Council and Council officers around and film them etc. I am convinced it would only be a matter of time before we discovered parking offences going unpunished, golf trips when supposed to be working, overtime booked but not worked, Council employees doing their gardens, secret deals going down in distant hotels and the like.

Well if it is okay for them to do it to us then why not vice versa? Anyone up for it?

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bigfoot, Prenton says...
12:31am Thu 2 Apr 09

Bertiebadger wrote:
I am looking for someone to provide me with camera's, long distance microphones and the lend of a couple of vehicles. It is my intention to follow certain members of the Council and Council officers around and film them etc. I am convinced it would only be a matter of time before we discovered parking offences going unpunished, golf trips when supposed to be working, overtime booked but not worked, Council employees doing their gardens, secret deals going down in distant hotels and the like. Well if it is okay for them to do it to us then why not vice versa? Anyone up for it?
Surely not-perish the thought!

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Neil H, Wirral says...
10:21am Thu 2 Apr 09

Will the Wirral Council spokesperson confirm how many successful prosecutions they actually had? Then we will see whether the use of these powers is being abused or nt.

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Elliott, Wirral says...
11:02am Thu 2 Apr 09

piggymalone, I don't know about that, but I do know about this: Google "Pilotless Police Drone Takes Off" (BBC article)

How soon until our Soviet council masters acquire one for taking a peek in our back gardens, for council tax "evaluation" purposes? They know they want to...

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piggymalone, wirral says...
6:13pm Thu 2 Apr 09

One of our drivers reckons he has seen one of those orible little Smart cars with a hydraulic mast on the roof and Wirral council on the side. Oh and it white, could be the snoops!

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piggymalone, wirral says...
6:18pm Thu 2 Apr 09

Elliot, it wouldn`t surprise me if they already can. Just got a feeling that the people of this country have had enough of all this George Orwell stuff out of local and national government and wouldnt take much for the revolution to start

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Christopher, Tranmere says...
7:59pm Thu 2 Apr 09

Now that the Council decide to do something about ASB and Fly tipping you all moan, if they do not do this, you all moan, they use under hand tactics, you all moan, if they do something right, you all moan, where is the money coming from! for ****'* sake stop moaning and post some positive and constructive comments on this site.

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Bertiebadger, Wallasey says...
8:27pm Thu 2 Apr 09

I refer the honourable gentleman to the answers given previously. This is a get it off your chest forum. I.E. We moan our heads off because we can. Thankfully we don't use bad language unlike some!

Okay Christopher or Steve if I may use your real name? Do you honestly think that the Council are actually doing anything about fly tipping when they can't even get the litter picked up in our towns?

I haven't seen much evidence of successfully stopping ASB in my area and judging by the complaints in the Globe etc, neither have a lot of people.
You also stated "When they do something right we moan". Can you let us know what they have done right so we can all be contrite?

If you really think they are so innocent then your are naive in the extreme Mr Foulkes, or you must think we are!

Anyone else noticed the number of "Pro" Council submissions on the forums lately?

Just because I am paranoid doesn't mean they aren't out to get me!

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Jayo, Wallasey says...
8:39pm Thu 2 Apr 09

Its getting to the point where the council are going to be able to kick in your front door and have a mooch around when they feel like it. All the new anti terror laws are eroding our civil liberties. How long before mind control drugs are pumped into the water supply ?

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piggymalone, wirral says...
11:28pm Thu 2 Apr 09

Christopher, can you honestly find anything positive to say about Wirral Council. All they have become is an agency for national government to rip us of for as much money they can screw out of us and to treat us like George Orwell predicted. So if you are happy with their performance, we (moaners and whingers) would love to guided by you as to what we have to congratulate them on.I do not criticise individual council employees but the bufoons at the helm steering the vessel into the tsunami.

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piggymalone, wirral says...
11:36pm Thu 2 Apr 09

And for the council snoops who are monitoring this site, we will find out if you have unmarked snooping vehicles and once we have the information, the details will be circulated to the residents of Wirral

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keef666, wallasey says...
8:52am Fri 3 Apr 09

Our Government must have rubbed there hands together afer 911, at the thought of all the new laws brought in, all under the anti-terrorism banner, and these laws are there to protect them not us.

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Dantealighieri , west kirby says...
9:38am Fri 3 Apr 09

I think I saw this Smartcar Super Snoop in West Kirby the other day. White as described, but this had CCTV written on it, and a couple of pictures of speed cameras. Again as described it had this pole sticking out of its roof by about 12ft with a camera on the top. What I would like to know is just how high can this mast actually go? Until we find out my advice would be to make sure there are no chinks in the bedroom curtains if you decide to have a bit of a cuddle. Otherwise you may find Home Secretary Jacqui Smith's husband parked outside with a packet of crisps and a can of lager settling down to a little late night CCTV monitor viewing.

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djrimmer, Wallasey says...
6:16pm Fri 3 Apr 09

Oh how interesting, big brother strikes again. Well its about time we struck back. I agree with piggy malone, these measures are all about revenue generation and nothing to do with the public safety. So, Wirral residents, be warned MBW have a white smart car fitted with CCTV to spy on you.

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bigfoot, Prenton says...
10:42pm Sat 4 Apr 09

I think I've just found a use fore the garden refuse backs we got some years ago-play mobile hoop-la with the camera car.

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Spiffy, Wallasey says...
10:35pm Mon 6 Apr 09

I wasnt aware that the council had decided to do something about ASB. I think I will reserve judgement until the summer 6 week school holiday has begun, we have all endured it and it is finally over before making any comment on the councils efficiency regarding that.

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djrimmer, Wallasey says...
12:18am Wed 8 Apr 09

OK, we now have confirmation that the council/greystapo`s spy vehicle is indeed a white Smart car with a telescopic mast and CCTV fitted and the registration number is KU57PCY....YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

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