Revenue and Customs: Surveillance

Mr. Stewart Jackson
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many authorisations under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 have been (a) made and (b) refused by the authorising officer in HM Revenue and Customs in each year since the Act came into force.

Mr. Timms
The information requested is provided in the following table since the formation of HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC) in April 2005.

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|    |Made|Refused|
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|2005|6480|109    |
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|2006|3201|105    |
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|2007|3828|85     |
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|2008|5364|83     |
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|2009|5633|141    |
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The statistics include applications made for assigned matters such as drug and arms smuggling that have now been transferred to either the Serious Organised Crime Agency or the UK Borders Agency.

No central records exist for applications made in the former HM Customs and Excise and Inland Revenue prior to their merger in 2005; collating this information could be done only at disproportionate cost.