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Telecommunications: Security

Volume 716: debated on Tuesday 5 January 2010

Question

Asked by

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many warrants have been issued for telephone intercepts in each of the last five years; and whether the number is forecast to increase over the next five years. [HL847]

The figures for the number of interception warrants issued for each of the last five years are shown in the attached table. These are taken from the Interception of Communications Commissioner’s annual reports and do not distinguish between telephone intercepts and other communications. On the basis of these figures we do not anticipate any significant changes to the number of warrants issued over the next five years.

Period

Issued by Home Secretary

Issued by Scottish Executive

1 January 2008 to 31 December 2008

1508

204

1 January 2007 to 31 December 2007

1881

145

11 April 2006 to December 2006

1333

102

1 January 2005 to 31 March 2006

2243

164

1 January 2004 to 31 December 2004

1849

124