A code of practice for CCTV and Automatic Number Plate Recognition systems is proposed, overseen by a new Surveillance Camera Commissioner. The aim is to make CCTV cameras more proportionate and effective.
That’s one part of the Protection of Freedoms Bill. It’s being introduced by the Home Office with the aim of gaining Royal Assent by late 2011 or early 2012.
Other parts of the proposed law include –
ending what the Home Office calls town hall snoopers checking their bins or school catchment area
the scrapping of Section 44 powers, which have been used to stop and search hundreds of thousands of innocent people
the permanent reduction of the maximum period of pre-charge detention for terrorist suspects to 14 days
DNA samples and fingerprints of hundreds of thousands of innocent people deleted from police databases
thousands of gay men able to clear their name with the removal of out-of-date convictions for consensual acts
and motorists protected from what the Home Office called rogue wheel clamping firms.
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.
‘Snooping on the contents of families’ bins and security checking school-run mums are not necessary for public safety and this Bill will bring them to an end.
‘I am bringing common sense back to public protection and freeing people to go about their daily lives without a fear that the state is monitoring them.’
The Protection of Freedoms Bill follows the review of counter-terrorism and security powers and the scrapping of ID cards as the Coalition government (in its words) delivers on its agreement to put traditional British freedoms at the heart of the Whitehall agenda.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said: ‘This is a landmark Bill which will result in an unprecedented rolling back of the power of the state. The Protection of Freedoms Bill brings together a huge range of measures to restore the hard-won British liberties that have been lost in recent years.
‘Freedom is back in fashion – 2011 will be the year that the coalition government hands people their liberty back. I have campaigned for this for many years and I am delighted that we have been able to deliver the Freedoms Bill in government.’
Other elements of the Protection of Freedoms Bill include:
an end to the fingerprinting of children in schools without parental consent
restrictions on the powers of government departments, local authorities and other public bodies to enter private homes and other premises for investigations and a requirement for all to examine and slim down remaining powers
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
Alongside the Bill, draft emergency legislation on pre-charge detention of terrorist suspects was also laid. The draft, which is in line with the commitment given in the review of counter-terrorism and security powers, will allow for parliamentary scrutiny should pre-charge detention need to be increased in an emergency.
