CHAPTER 7: PRACTICE
(b)
Environmental health functions (e.g. food hygiene, retail health and safety,
noise nuisance, fly-tipping) rest with District Council.
Communications data is more likely to be useful in the enforcement of trading
standards than it is in the context of environmental health.
7.57.
A further complicating factor is the tendency since 2010 to centralise enforcement
functions amongst authorities. In some cases, national specialist teams have been
set up in local authorities: for example the National e-crime Team (based in North
Yorkshire County Council trading standards department) and the National Illegal
Money Lending Team for England (based within Birmingham City Council). There are
also regional Scambusters teams to deal with enforcement in relation to such matters
as doorstep crime and fraud.
7.58.
As a result, it is necessary to approach any apparent trends in local government
activity with caution.
7.59.
Local authorities are only permitted to receive subscriber and service use data, whose
principal use is in identifying a suspect from their telephone calls. Some examples of
the use of communications data by local authorities are at Annex 13 to this Report.
7.60.
NAFN is used by local authorities to provide a shared SPoC service from two centres
in Tameside and Brighton. It was funded from 1997 by the DWP to strengthen the
fight against housing benefit fraud. It continues to provide data and intelligence
sharing and an investigatory educational service, encouraging the appropriate use of
communications data to support investigations. Since 2008 it has provided a SPoC
service under RIPA. NAFN is now funded by its members, 90% of which are local
authorities, but it is open to all organisations which manage public assets. It continues
to act as the authorising officer for obtaining communications data under the Social
Security Fraud Act 2001 and other social security powers. It has been compulsory
since 1 December 2014 for local authorities to use NAFN to obtain communications
data under RIPA.46
7.61.
I discuss the present and future use of communications data by local authorities at
9.96-9.100 below.
Computer network exploitation
7.62.
As set out at 6.24-6.31 above, CNE was first avowed in the UK by the publication in
February 2015 of the Draft Equipment Interference Code.
7.63.
While no specific use is avowed in the Draft Equipment Interference Code, it is applied
(by its para 1.6) to the following activities, any of which could (without authorisation
under the ISA 1994) infringe the Computer Misuse Act 1990:
(a)
46
obtaining information from equipment in pursuit of intelligence requirements;
Acquisition Code, para 3.86.
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