- This topic has 14 replies, 8 voices, and was last updated August 18, 2008 at 6:18 pm by lilmstrixta.
-
AuthorPosts
-
August 13, 2008 at 2:57 pm #1045200
More than 7.5 million people who claim a 25-per-cent discount on their council tax bill because they live alone could be forced to prove that they do not share their life with another adult by opening their home to inspectors.
Until now, most councils have been reluctant to use powers given to them by central government to inspect residents’ bedrooms for signs of occupancy by more than one person over the age of 18.
Eric Pickles, shadow communities and local government spokesman, warned that as a result of “function creep”, however, increasing numbers of householders will have to submit to inspections in future in order to claim the discount.
One local council, Thurrock in Essex, already requires those applying for the single person exemption to sign a declaration agreeing that they will allow council officials to enter their home as part of an inspection.
A letter accompanying the form reads: “You currently receive a 25 per cent discount on your council tax because you are the only adult living in your home.
“The Government requires the council to review all households receiving such discounts. Therefore I need to check that your discount should still apply.
“If you do not do so, we will have to cancel your discount and send you a revised bill for the increased amount”
Residents must then sign a form, which reads: “To be completed and returned immediately if you wish to continue to claim single person discount.
“I authorise the Council or its agents to make enquiries to corroborate this claim.
“I will permit the Council or its agents to inspect the property on request.”
Mr Pickles said that these inspections would “inevitably” involve checking bedrooms to find evidence of a secret partner.
He went on: “Day by the day under Labour, the rights and liberties of law-abiding citizens are being undermined, with more and more state officials trying to enter and spy on people’s homes.
“It may be appropriate for local authorities to check that council tax discounts are not wrongly claimed.
“But it is wholly disproportionate to threaten higher council tax bills if residents do not allow state officials into their bedrooms.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2547763/Councils-snooping-into-residents-bedrooms.html
August 13, 2008 at 3:03 pm #1177595Councils have been told to snoop on people’s telephone records more often by the head of Britain’s spying watchdog.
Sir Paul Kennedy, the Interception of Communications Commissioner, said councils could ‘make much more use’ of their powers.
Direct surveillance was introduced under new laws in 2004, but the Commissioner said only 154 out of Britain’s 410 councils used it last year.
He said: ‘Very few local authorities have used their powers to acquire itemised call records in relation to the investigations which they have conducted.
‘Indeed our inspections have shown that generally the local authorities could make much more use of communications data as a powerful tool to investigate crime.’
The phone records could be used to identify criminals who ‘persistently rip off consumers, cheat the taxpayer, deal in counterfeit goods and prey on the elderly and vulnerable’, he said.
However, local authorities are allowed to spy on people if they are suspected of ‘crimes’ such as benefit fraud, skipping work, fly-tipping and dog fouling.
Councils would not require clearance to use automatic number plate recognition software and CCTV on public buildings.
It would also not be required for commissioning covert recording or bugging of a house or car, or using thermal or X-ray surveillance of a building.
Last night a Downing Street spokesman told the Daily Mail: ‘Councils must balance the rights of indiviudal citizens with measures taken for their security.’
August 13, 2008 at 3:17 pm #1177590they were doing all of these things in the 1980s and 1990s, The only difference (other than technology) is that the government is actually admitting to doing so, in Thatchers and Majors day they just went ahead and did it without apology or filling in paperwork first – and it was people in activist groups what exposed it rather than the ministers openly discussing tactics.
Of course the surveillance was directed at “unpopular” groups such as squatters, travellers and drug users so normal people like Torygraph readers just sat back and let it happen or in some cases even welcomed it…. now they feel threatened by it for some reason they are whinging..
August 13, 2008 at 7:25 pm #1177594@General Lighting 230993 wrote:
Of course the surveillance was directed at “unpopular” groups such as squatters, travellers and drug users so normal people like Torygraph readers just sat back and let it happen or in some cases even welcomed it…. now they feel threatened by it for some reason they are whinging..
they also did it to left wing political campaigners, environmentalists etc
August 13, 2008 at 7:28 pm #1177589Anonymous
you wana see the injunction i got served in berkshire in the 90s theyd been spying n photographing us without us knowing it for about a month.
August 13, 2008 at 7:45 pm #1177599I think I’m being spied on. Someone in a mac keeps standing outside mine taking pictures. once i caught him up a tree with one hand down his trousers. scary times we live in eh!
August 13, 2008 at 7:47 pm #1177591globalloon;231038 wrote:they also did it to left wing political campaigners, environmentalists etcyep and I don’t recall the daily mail (this is london) or the Torygraph complaining back then (nor do the media admit to the covert and unauthorised use of celebs phone call records obtained through disgruntled employees at telecoms companies…)
The Tories plans are even worse, just returning to the blanket authorisation for cops to use surveillance..
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/aug/12/conservatives.police
August 13, 2008 at 8:15 pm #1177602Spying on people for skipping work???
Is that just for council employees or all ???August 13, 2008 at 8:42 pm #1177597They’d been doing it recently where I live; my mates flat (now being evicted) is in town centre with a balcony n thers always been loads of people round/music etc, spoke to the police the other day n they said they had gathered enough evidence to give everyone asbos and all our faces were known on cctv n were tracked us all on camera around town! all with no-one knowing and no knwon trouble makers or anything :you_crazy
August 13, 2008 at 8:55 pm #1177592lilmstrixta;231061 wrote:Spying on people for skipping work???
Is that just for council employees or all ???it would have to be just for council employees – for anyone else its a civil matter between their employers and the individual… private employers have to deploy their own surveillance resources, why would the council subsidise this?
incidentally whilst everyone makes all this fuss about the public sector there is 20 times more surveillance in the private sector..
for instance if I wish I can monitor every telephone call in my office and have access to the records, although I only do this if its necessary (its a new phone system and there are teething problems/technical issues – plus sometimes people try to make foreign calls and if they don’t get through I help them find out why…
lots of other companies just record every call routinely (the system I built can do this but I can’t be arsed to activate it as apart from the legal/moral issues thats a ton of extra data I would be responsible for looking after…)
August 13, 2008 at 9:00 pm #1177593spangle;231067 wrote:They’d been doing it recently where I live; my mates flat (now being evicted) is in town centre with a balcony n thers always been loads of people round/music etc, spoke to the police the other day n they said they had gathered enough evidence to give everyone asbos and all our faces were known on cctv n were tracked us all on camera around town! all with no-one knowing and no knwon trouble makers or anything :you_crazymany of the companies making CCTV control equipment are based around Reading, a lot of them diversified from the broadcast industry when the budgets got cut for telly companies…
but the feds can’t just give you asbos because they see you on a balcony, or gather in a house – it also means the neighbours have whinged to them and made a statement and alleged they have been distressed by your behaviour….
August 14, 2008 at 10:48 am #1177598General Lighting;231078 wrote:many of the companies making CCTV control equipment are based around Reading, a lot of them diversified from the broadcast industry when the budgets got cut for telly companies…but the feds can’t just give you asbos because they see you on a balcony, or gather in a house – it also means the neighbours have whinged to them and made a statement and alleged they have been distressed by your behaviour….
Yeh maidenhead is now like reading pretty much covered by CCTV, and right opposite the balcony there’s a big turning one that they could watch us on! To be fair they said they had sufficient evidence but were just warning us to keep it down a bit, which is understandable considering and we know for a fact one of the neighbours had been complaining, and we saw the women from the flats oppostite talking to em too. Shame they been evicted though was a well nice flat!
August 14, 2008 at 2:36 pm #1177600smash every camera you see
August 14, 2008 at 4:34 pm #1177596alot of the cctv people-tracking/face recognition tecnology is bein trialled an developed in china, with the help of western companies, i read a horrific article bout it.
the amazin thing is they think that its ok to keep quiet about wot the tecnology they are using can do…
that’ll be the anti-terrorism bullshit bein used again, i imagine.
it is orwellian, no question :hopeless:
August 18, 2008 at 6:18 pm #1177601smash every camera you see and then there will be no more cameras
-
AuthorPosts
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.