Steve Rotheram – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Home Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Steve Rotheram on 2014-02-25.
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many warrants to undertake surveillance on British nationals were issued by her Department between 1989 and 1992.
James Brokenshire
As indicated in the debate on 12th February 2014, Official Report, column 858, both the
Independent Police Complaints Commission and the Investigatory Powers Tribunal
provide an avenue for investigating concerns in this area.
As a matter of long-standing practice, we do not routinely comment on the
detailed use of interception and surveillance, or provide a breakdown of the
number of warrants signed in relation to specific circumstances or
nationalities.
Figures for the overall number of interception warrants authorised by the Home
Secretary during the period 1989-1992 were published in the Annual Report to
the Prime Minister by the Interception Commissioner under the legislation then
in force (the Interception of Communications Act 1985). The published figures
are as follows:
Figures for the overall number of interception warrants authorised by the Home Secretary under the Interception of Communications Act 1985 during the period 1989-1992 are shown in the tables below. They provide separate figures for warrants covering telecommunications (which exclude letters), warrants covering letters (letters were relatively more important as a mode of communication than they would be today), and a total for both categories of these warrants.
Warrants (a) in force on 31 December 1988 and b) issued during the course of 1988:
|
Telecommunications |
Letters |
Total |
||||
|
Warrants |
(a) |
(b) |
(a) |
(b) |
(a) |
(b) |
|
225 |
412 |
75 |
48 |
300 |
460 |
|
Warrants (a) in force on 31 December 1989 and b) issued during the course of 1989:
|
Telecommunications |
Letters |
Total |
||||
|
Warrants |
(a) |
(b) |
(a) |
(b) |
(a) |
(b) |
|
232 |
427 |
59 |
31 |
291 |
485 |
|
Warrants (a) in force on 31 December 1990 and b) issued during the course of 1990:
|
Telecommunications |
Letters |
Total |
||||
|
Warrants |
(a) |
(b) |
(a) |
(b) |
(a) |
(b) |
|
225 |
473 |
52 |
42 |
227 |
515 |
|
Warrants (a) in force on 31 December 1991 and b) issued during the course of 1991:
|
Telecommunications |
Letters |
Total |
||||
|
Warrants |
(a) |
(b) |
(a) |
(b) |
(a) |
(b) |
|
239 |
670 |
50 |
62 |
289 |
732 |
|
Warrants (a) in force on 31 December 1992 and b) issued during the course of 1992:
|
Telecommunications |
Letters |
Total |
||||
|
Warrants |
(a) |
(b) |
(a) |
(b) |
(a) |
(b) |
|
265 |
756 |
72 |
118 |
337 |
847 |
|
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