Hundreds of Council Officials Can Enter Homes Without a Warrant
Checking for illegal acts of hypnosis, or that your PLANT has a passport - just two of the reasons by which more than 500 council officials in Leeds can gain access to your home or business.
The outdated laws have been uncovered by privacy campaign group Big Brother Watch, which says there are over 1,000 of them in total.
Its spokesman Daniel Nesbit says changes are needed:
“In the first instance we’d like to see every council official requiring a warrant to gain access.
“Secondly we’d like the councils and central government to have a look at the number of council officials that have these powers with the view to reducing it, and review the necessity of these powers.”
In total, 527 council officials in Leeds have the power to access your home. That’s the second highest in the UK.
“They can range from relatively sensible reasons to ones that clearly aren’t,” says Daniel.
“For example, to check if there are dancing bears on the premises.”
The report found that across the UK, there were 19,375 civil servants with these powers at the end of 2012.
Staff allowed access without a warrant include environmental health officers and planning officers.