My Lords, I thank all noble Lords who have spoken in this debate. I know that the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, would not expect me to respond to the case that he brought before the House this afternoon, but I would be happy to sit down and discuss it with him, if he would like. I think what he wants from Amendment 79 is to require a review of all criminal conduct authorisations to be undertaken by a High Court judge, with the review to be commenced six months after the Act has come into force.
The IPC, supported by judicial commissioners, already has oversight of all criminal conduct authorisations. He and his judicial commissioners have all held high judicial office and are entirely independent of the Government. The commissioners are supported by expert inspectors and others, such as technical experts, who are qualified to assist them in their work. They are responsible for inspecting the full range of agencies and departments that will use this power and will ensure that they are complying with the law and following good practice. This includes investigating systems and processes, checking records and paperwork, interviewing key staff and investigating any known errors.
The frequency of these inspections is decided by the Commissioner, and the inspectors must have unfettered access to documents and information to support the Commissioner’s functions. This allows inspectors to undertake thorough and robust investigations of each police authority’s use of the power, covering the entire chain of events and decision-making.
A report is issued after each inspection that sets out IPCO’s conclusions and recommendations and identifies any areas of vulnerability or non-compliance. It also identifies areas of good practice which may be of interest to other similar organisations. The report will enable organisations to take action on the basis of IPCO’s recommendations. This process provides for systemic review of all public authorities’ use of the power and allows for continuous improvement in the authorisation and management of the capability.
Amendments 75A and 75B seek to put obligations on the IPC to report conduct to other bodies. Criminal conduct authorisations will be subject to the existing error-reporting processes for investigatory powers, which require public authorities to report all relevant errors
to the IPC. This would include situations where undercover operatives’ conduct has taken place without lawful authorisation or there has been a failure to adhere to the necessary safeguards. Where it amounts to a serious error, the IPC must inform the person of an error relating to them where it is in the public interest.
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As I have said, the IPC is entirely independent of government. He has wide-ranging powers to carry out his oversight functions, as set out in the Investigatory Powers Act. This includes the ability for judicial commissioners
“to provide advice or information to any public authority or other person in relation to matters for which a Judicial Commissioner is responsible”.
This is subject to various considerations such as consulting the Secretary of State where providing that advice or information might be contrary to, for example, national security. I should add that the primary responsibility for reporting agent crime falls on the public authority, which has its own specific policies to deal with this. However, IPCO could advise the public authority that it ought to refer criminal conduct to the appropriate authorities or ultimately report it itself, subject to the statutory process set out in the Investigatory Powers Act. These amendments are therefore not considered necessary.
The noble Lord, Lord Paddick, talked about the problems with the iOPS system at the Greater Manchester Police, which resulted in crimes not being followed up or certainly not being reported. I know that the GMP has said that it will robustly look into this matter. It is absolutely not acceptable but the force is taking measures to deal with it.
The noble lord, Lord Rosser, asked me to look further at the real-time oversight that the IPC could provide. I have undertaken to work with the noble Lord, Lord Anderson, and others on that. I therefore hope that noble Lords will withdraw or not move their amendments.