Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s Annual Report 2019
The overall structure of the report is much the same as last year. As I have indicated, there are
new sections covering the work of OCDA this year and the separate chapter on the Consolidated
Guidance has been removed. Instead, oversight of this activity is now addressed in the chapters
relating to the relevant agencies, where it more logically sits alongside other powers. Last year, we
set out some of the challenges we had received from an NGO in relation to the absence of statistics
on the operation of the Consolidated Guidance. This year, I am pleased that it has been possible
to agree that some data should be published although I underline the very clear caveats which
surround the figures. This material can be found in Chapter 19.
Whilst the focus of this report is appropriately on what happened in 2019, it is important to take
this opportunity to mention the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the work of IPCO and OCDA
in 2020. The need to change our ways of working, almost overnight, has led to some imaginative
thinking about how we can meet our statutory functions in different ways, particularly as, for
obvious reasons, we had to suspend our normal programme of face to face inspections in March.
We have been able to trial a number of different formats for remote inspections and, although it
will continue to be important for inspection visits to be able to take place in person, I hope that we
will be able to apply at least some of this innovation for the longer-term.
Fortunately, Parliament swiftly enacted some important provisions for IPCO in the Coronavirus Act
2020. As a result, I was able to appoint a number of temporary Judicial Commissioners who were all
under the age of 70 and, therefore, not subject to the same lockdown restrictions as almost all of
the original cohort of Judicial Commissioners. I am very grateful to them (and to Sir Adrian Fulford
whom the Prime Minister also re-appointed as a Judicial Commissioner) for putting themselves
forward for this additional work; their commitment has ensured that the authorisation process has
continued unabated during this period.
I am also very grateful to all of those in IPCO and OCDA who continued to attend the office to
ensure that our critical work was done, and to those who adjusted their ways of working to ensure
that we have been able to continue to meet our statutory functions while working from home. This
has not been easy for anyone, but I have been impressed by the commitment across both teams,
many of whom were also juggling caring and other responsibilities at the same time.
The impact of COVID-19 on public authorities also means that it is likely that they will make slower
progress in addressing our previous recommendations many of which are discussed in this report.
The aspirations expressed in relation to our inspections and other activities have also been affected.
Suffice to say that we will continue to monitor progress closely and will return to the impact of the
pandemic and the necessary consequential changes to our practices in the 2020 Annual Report.
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