Department for Transport Department for Transport Powers of Entry Review: Final Report Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to section 42(1)(c) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 Department for Transport Powers of Entry Review: Final Report Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to section 42(1)(c) of the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 © Crown copyright 2014 You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence v.2. To view this licence visit www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/ or email [email protected] Where third party material has been identified, permission from the respective copyright holder must be sought. This publication is available at www.gov.uk/government/publications Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to us at [email protected] Print ISBN 9781474102230 Web ISBN 9781474102247 Printed in the UK by the Williams Lea Group on behalf of the Controller of Her Majesty’s Stationery Office ID P2638336 11/14 Printed on paper containing 75% recycled fibre content minimum Contents Introduction by the Secretary of State ................................................................... 4 Executive Summary ................................................................................................. 5 Powers of entry which are to be repealed/revoked ............................................... 7 Powers of entry to be retained with additional safeguards ................................ 11 Powers of entry to be retained but consolidated ................................................ 41 Powers of entry to be retained unchanged .......................................................... 44 Annex ...................................................................................................................... 86 3 Introduction by the Secretary of State The Government is committed to preserving the rights of individuals in their homes and businesses from unnecessary intrusion – this is a key element of respect for human rights. Our intention is clear: powers of entry must achieve the right balance between the need to enforce the law and ensure public protection and to provide sufficient safeguards and rights to the individual. The outcome of this review is that public authorities will have less extensive powers to enter people’s homes and the privacy and rights of homeowners and businesses will be protected and strengthened. The Protection of Freedoms Act 2012 was passed to ensure that this balanced approach is reflected in the day to day enforcement activities of public authorities. I am equally clear that the public are entitled to expect that stringent safety and security measures are in place in the sectors for which my Department is responsible, particularly for rail, aviation and maritime services. With these aims in mind this report sets out the outcome of the Department for Transport’s review of the 99 powers of entry in its area of responsibility and what action it proposes to take to remove those that are no longer needed and add safeguards to others. The Rt. Hon. Patrick McLoughlin MP Secretary of State for Transport November 2014 4 Executive Summary Under section 42 of the Protection of Freedoms Act 20121, each Minister of the Crown who is a member of the Cabinet must review relevant powers of entry and relevant associated powers for which the Minister is responsible with a view to deciding whether to make an order under section 39(1), 40 or 41 in relation to any of them. Each Minister must prepare a report of that review and lay a copy of the report before Parliament. Our approach The Department for Transport is responsible for a considerable number of powers of entry. Much of the statute law relating to transport has its origin in legislation dating from mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. Policy officials and lawyers carried out a robust validation exercise to test the scope for removing powers of entry, consolidating them or adding safeguards. A number of themes emerged. Many of the powers in the transport field relate to security and safety and to maintaining transport infrastructure. The review concluded that many of these were justified and should be retained. In other cases particular powers were enacted for reasons other than security or safety, such as checks on record keeping, although they are sometimes sensibly grouped together with powers that are more directly related to security or safety. Poor record keeping, for instance, can have safety or security implications. A number of these powers allow entry to dwellings when this does not seem justified, or at least not justified without judicial authority. For example following the review it is proposed that entry to a dwelling for the purposes of investigating an air, sea or rail accident that has occurred should require a judicial warrant, unless this is likely to undermine the purpose of obtaining entry. Although the review has concluded that about two thirds of the current powers of entry will be retained, the Department does not consider that people will regard this as an intrusion into their civil liberties. Indeed the public rightly has very high expectations of government to protect them from harm in the field of transport. The risk of catastrophic failure if there are not stringent safety and security measures in place, particularly for rail, aviation and maritime services, means that the public will continue to support appropriate powers of entry to reduce that risk. They may, however, have a lower tolerance for powers of entry related to, say, issues around parking controls or minor environmental matters. The Department has reflected this level of public caution in proposing changes to security and safety measures (including accident investigation) in those sectors. Even where security and safety is not at risk, businesses generally support the effective enforcement of standards so as to prevent unscrupulous traders from undermining fair competition. In the interests of efficiency inspectors often carry out inspections at transport-related premises using a number of different powers which are designed to aid the 1 2012 c.9. 5 enforcement of different requirements applicable to the place of inspection. It is important that there is consistency in the different powers of entry – it would not make sense for one power of entry to have certain safeguards whereas another power of entry which will be used by the same inspector at the same premises to have a different set of safeguards. This may make consolidation of powers desirable, but could lead to complexity where the need remained to differentiate between different situations. The importance of consistency is particularly relevant to security regimes. It is relevant to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency, for example, who often carry out a number of checks on the same premises at the same time. For instance, a check on records relating to drivers’ hours might be undermined by a requirement to seek a warrant if this resulted in the destruction of incriminating evidence, compromising road safety, but it would not be efficient to visit on a different occasion from one involving checks on other routine matters. Outcome This report sets out the results of the Department’s review of its powers of entry and where possible sets out what action will be taken. The table below sets out the number of powers of entry owned by the Department and a breakdown of action that will be or has been taken. Total powers of entry in scope of review 99 1. Total powers of entry to be repealed 5 2. Total powers of entry to be retained with additional safeguards 36 3. Total powers of entry to identified for consolidation 4 4. Total powers of entry to remain unchanged 54 Net Total 92 Next steps It is our aim to publish a consultation document setting out more detail about the powers of entry which the Department is proposing to amend. This will be made available on www.gov.uk/dft, setting out more clearly a timetable detailing when we will be able to begin making the proposed changes to the powers of entry listed. Action will be taken when resources permit. 6 Section 1 Powers of entry which are to be repealed/revoked Total powers of entry in scope of review 99 1. Total powers of entry to be repealed 5 2. Total powers of entry to be retained with additional safeguards 36 3. Total powers of entry identified for consolidation 4 4. Total powers of entry to remain unchanged 54 Net Total 92 1. The Land Powers (Defences) Act 1958, section 9(3) The Land Powers (Defences) Act 19582 terminates and substitutes certain emergency powers for the purposes of defence. The emergency powers relate to the use of land and sea for defence purposes. Section 9(3) of the Land Powers (Defences) Act 1958 gives a power of entry onto land for the purposes of survey, but it only applies in respect of orders made under section 15 of the Requisitioned Land and War Act 19453. In order to make an order under section 15, the land must have originally been stopped-up or diverted in exercise of emergency powers. There are powers in the Highways Act 19804 which could be used to stop-up or divert highways and the Department is not aware of the powers in section 15 having been exercised. It is therefore proposed to repeal this power of entry in due course, subject to further consultation with the Ministry of Defence. 2. International Road Haulage Permits Act 1975, section 1 The International Road Haulage Permits Act 19755 allows regulations to be made to require specified documentation to be carried in respect of lorries registered in the United Kingdom, trailers drawn by such lorries and other trailers within the United Kingdom on journeys which pass through the United Kingdom or which begin or end in the United Kingdom.