Council's family spying 'minimal'

A council "minimally" invaded the privacy of a family it spied on 21 times to see if they lived in a school catchment area, a tribunal has heard.

Jenny Paton has taken Poole Borough Council to a tribunal over its use of investigatory powers legislation.

The mother-of-three claims a council official documented her movements and those of her partner Tim Joyce.

The Investigatory Powers Tribunal heard the council used the act to spy on other families on two other occasions.

It is claimed the council used its investigatory powers to find out whether Ms Paton and Mr Joyce lived at an address in the catchment area for Lilliput First School.

'Outstanding school'

Ben Hooper, representing the local authority, told the tribunal Ms Paton had applied for a school in Poole that was "educational gold dust".

He said: "[The surveillance] was minimally invasive of privacy.

"I say that it was a very successful state school where, in June of this year it reported, as being outstanding in every one of the areas it had been examined."

Mr Hooper said the authority had used Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (Ripa) powers on only three occasions in relation to school admissions, including Ms Paton's family.

"There are 3,600 school places to allocate each year in the borough," he stressed.

On Thursday the tribunal heard Ms Paton was spied on 21 times over a three-week period in February last year.

Gordon Nardell, representing her family, told the hearing the case was about "liberty" and the "extraordinary powers" of local authorities.

He described Poole Borough Council as "playing fast and loose" and said that investigators had watched the "comings and goings" from the family's home address and followed vehicles.

The Ripa powers, which set the parameters of public bodies' use of surveillance and dubbed a "snooper's charter", were introduced in 2000.

The tribunal panel - led by Lord Justice Mummery - retired to consider its judgment, which is not not likely to be for several weeks.

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