Trevor Ivory has expressed grave concern at the news that Government and town hall inspectors now have over 1,000 powers that allow them to enter people’s homes and premises. Despite Gordon Brown’s pledge last year to cut back these powers, sixteen new laws are being pushed through Parliament to entrench or extend powers of entry.

The Government has recently published a full list of the powers of entry that are now in force. There are now a total of 1,043 different powers of entry, including some 430 new powers created by Labour since 1997.

The new powers of inspection and entry created by Labour include:

·         Invading your home to see if your pot plants have plant pests or to check whether it has a so-called ‘plant passport’ (Plant Health England Order 2005).

·         Surveying your home and garden to see if your hedge is too high (Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003).

·         Checking that accommodation being given to asylum seekers is not being occupied by people who are not asylum seekers (Immigration and Asylum Act 1999).

·         Carrying out inspections for the presence of rabbits (Pests Act 1954).

·         Raiding a house to check if unlicensed gambling is taking place (Gambling Act 2005  and Inspection Provision of Information Regulations 2007).

·         Checking and seizing fridges which do not have the correct energy rating (Energy Information Household Refrigerators and Freezers Regulations 2004).

·         Allowing state-sponsored bailiffs to enter your home and seize goods, using reasonable force if necessary (Tribunal Courts and Enforcement Act 2007)

In a speech last October, Gordon Brown pledged to curtail such laws with a new ‘liberty test’. He pledged that any change to entry powers would be accompanied by new guidance on their use and on the rights of members of the public to stop their abuse. But the sixteen new laws that are before Parliament do not have this guidance.

Conservatives are also warning that yet more intrusion is being actively planned by Labour. A cadre of council tax inspectors are being trained and an Orwellian computer database is being created for a council tax revaluation in England. Householders will be fined £500 for obstructing these inspectors.

Trevor Ivory said, “Under Labour, the rights and liberties of law-abiding citizens are being eroded. Their plans for ID Cards and the forty-two day detention period are just two of the more high profile ways that this Government is interfering in our lives and taking away our civil liberties. There has been a huge surge in powers of entry under Labour and we are becoming a surveillance state.

“We need measures to tackle genuine crime and terrorism. But the abuse of surveillance powers by town halls in some parts of the country shows the real danger of ‘function creep’ by state bureaucrats. Conservatives will cut back these unnecessary powers of the state to enter homes, starting off with abolishing council tax inspectors’ rights of entry.”