Powers of Entry etc. Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 2: 2: Clause 2, page 1, line 18, at end insert— ““( ) For the purposes of this Act, the photography of activity on private land or premises, or the purchase or commissioning of photographs, by a public authority exercising the powers specified in subsection (1)(a) above shall be considered an entry and the code of practice in Schedule 2 of this Act shall be complied with, unless compliance with the code would defeat detection of an imprisonable offence.”” The noble Lord said: I do not intend to detain your Lordships too long other than to make one small reference on this matter. There is a great deal of intrusive activity by the state and local authorities which does not involve physical entry; for example, photographing of private premises, use of aerial photographs of premises by evaluation officers or potential revaluation by the local council, even though revaluation has not been approved by Parliament. There is also surveillance by local authorities of people’s entry into their homes for the purposes of enforcing schools’ admission policies et cetera. All of this seems a bit Big Brother-ish and should be controlled by the Act. I beg to move.