Purpose

1.    To seek amendment of:  

·       Wiltshire Council’s Corporate Policy and Procedures Document on Covert Human Intelligence Sources;(Appendix A) 

·       Wiltshire Council’s Corporate Policy and Procedures Document on Directed Surveillance; (Appendix B) 

And adoption of:  

·       Guidance on the use of Social Media and Social Networking Sites for Children’s Services(Appendix C). 

Decision

This decision was published on 19 April 2023 and will come into force on 27 April 2023.

Reasons for the decision

Approval of the proposed amendments to ensure that the Council’s policies are updated to incorporate the Data Safeguards contained within the 2022 Code of Practice for Covert Human Intelligence Sources and the 2018 Code of Practice for Covert Surveillance and Property Inference.

Alternative options considered

There are no alternative options, adoption of the updated CHIS and Directed Surveillance policies is necessary to comply with the recommendation of the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, following the Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Remote Inspection and resulting report dated 20 April 2022.