2011 Annual Report of the Interception of Communications Commissioner
For the purposes of this scrutiny I select in advance from the lists of current and cancelled
warrants supplied by the FCO. My selection may include some warrants already examined, or to
be examined, at agency inspections as well as other warrants not reviewed elsewhere.
In relation to the FCO, lists of relevant material were sent to my office in May and November
2011. My formal inspection visits were held in early June and December respectively. Once again,
I was satisfied with both the information provided to me at the FCO and the levels of oversight
and compliance shown by those officials I met.
Meeting with Foreign Secretary
I met with the Foreign Secretary in mid December to discuss the discharge of my oversight role
in relation to the intelligence agencies (GCHQ and SIS) for whom he is responsible. In broad
terms we were able to have a fruitful discussion on agency compliance with RIPA, and he gave
his views on the level and depth of information within submissions he signs. We were also able
to discuss the proposed structure of my annual report, the Justice and Security Green Paper
and other policy matters. It was clear from this meeting that the Foreign Secretary takes very
seriously his responsibilities for authorising interception applications from SIS and GCHQ.
6.5.8. Ministry of Defence
My formal inspection visits at MoD took place in late June and late November. I was able to
scrutinise the MoD interception warrants and was satisfied that they were properly authorised
and up-to-date. I was also briefed in-depth on the basis of these warrants during a visit to the
Defence Science and Technical Laboratory (DSTL) in Porton Down in August 2011.
6.5.9. Northern Ireland Office (NIO)
As part of my oversight function I also visit the Northern Ireland Office in order to inspect lawful
intercept warrants signed by the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland. In relation to the NIO,
lists of relevant material were sent to my office in May and November. My formal inspection visits
took place in early June and late November.
In broad terms I was briefed on the following during the inspection visits
• Policy and legal matters in relation to selected warrants
• National security and political update from senior NIO officials
• Broad interception techniques
• Errors reported to me in the preceding six month period
Meeting with Secretary of State for Northern Ireland
I met with the Northern Ireland Secretary in mid November 2011. We covered a wide range of
topics during the discussion, including NI political and security situation, his assessment of the
quality of authorisations submitted to him for signature, Olympics planning, my annual report and
whether there were occasions when he refused to sign authorisations. It was clear to me that
the Secretary of State took his responsibilities for authorising potentially intrusive acts seriously.
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