Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to authorise the use of unmanned aerial vehicles for intelligence gathering by UK law enforcement agencies; and if she will make a statement. [155035]

Damian Green, Minister of State for Policing and Criminal Justice: Use of unmanned aerial vehicles would need to comply with existing Civil Aviation Authority regulations. Covert use by a public authority likely to obtain private information, including by any law enforcement agency, would be subject to authorisation under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000.

That Act requires that covert investigatory techniques are used only if they are necessary and proportionate for purposes such as preventing or detecting crime or in the interests of national security. It makes deployment subject to independent overview, inspection and right to redress in case of individual complaint. Any overt use of a surveillance camera system in a public place in England or Wales will be subject to a new code of practice prepared under the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012, on which the Home Office is currently considering its response to statutory consultation.

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