Freedoms Bill to curb public bodies investigative and monitoring powers

The government has unveiled the content of the Protection of Freedoms Bill, which will contain measures to restrict the investigative and monitoring powers available to local authorities and crime prevention agencies.

This will include the introduction of a code of practice for CCTV and Automatic Number Plate Recognition Systems to make them more proportionate and effective, and the right for any member of the public to refer a local authority for judicial review if their cameras are being used inappropriately.

A new Security Camera Commissioner will ensure public bodies abide by the new code of conduct, reporting annually to Parliament and naming and shaming those organisations which it considers are not using their cameras correctly.

The government also said that the bill, which is due to be published shortly, will contain measures to restrict the powers of local authorities and other public bodies to enter private homes and other premises for investigations as part of “a crackdown on unwarranted local authority snooping” .

Home Secretary Theresa May said: “The first duty of the state is the protection of its citizens, but this should never be an excuse for the government to intrude into people’s private lives…I am bringing common sense back to public protection.”

The bill will also contain measures to significantly reduce the scope of the Vetting and Barring scheme and lead to the merger of the Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) and the Independent Safeguarding Authority.

The merged body will be responsible for providing a more "proportionate" checking service for those adults that come into contact with children, which will see many of the 4.5m adults covered by the previous scheme removed from the need for checks. Those in regular contact with children will continue to be vetted, but many who do occasional, supervised volunteer work will not.

Other elements of the Protection of Freedoms Bill include:

• an end to the fingerprinting of children in schools without parental consent
• the repeal of powers to hold serious and complex fraud trials without a jury
• the extension of the scope of the Freedom of Information Act and strengthening the public rights to data.

The Bill is being introduced with the aim of gaining Royal Assent by late 2011 or early 2012.