Jacqui Smith pledges to curb town hall bin snoopers

HOME Secretary Jacqui Smith today promised to rein in the powers being used by town hall bureaucrats to catch trivial offenders.

Ms Smith said the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act would be reformed so that local authorities could no longer use anti-terrorism legislation to deal with dog fouling or putting bins out on the wrong day. Under the reforms, all but council chief executives will lose the power to authorise investigations which use covert measures to catch people out.

Currently low-ranked council workers can launch surveillance operations and use hidden cameras without seeking the permission of their bosses.

Half of town halls have admitted using the powers to spy on those suspected of putting their bins out on the wrong day or dropping rubbish. A wholesale nursery was spied on to see if it was selling pot plants to gardeners.

Ms Smith said: "I don't want to see these powers being used to target people for putting their bins out on the wrong day, for dog fouling, or to check whether paper boys are carrying sacks that are too heavy."

She will also review the number of "public authorities" - such as the Coastguard and NHS trusts - which have powers to spy under the Act, introduced in 2000.