Section 41: Secretary of State authorisations
230.Subsection (1) provides that the Secretary of State shall not grant such authorisations unless an application is made by a member of the intelligence agencies (Security Service, Secret Intelligence Service and GCHQ), an official of the Ministry of Defence, the Armed Forces, or a specified individual within a public authority designated for this purpose by order of the Secretary of State (subsection (3)). Such an order would be subject to the affirmative procedure. For these purposes, the three service police forces are not treated as members of the armed forces (subsection (7)); instead, their use of intrusive surveillance is regulated, in the same way as other police forces, by sections 33 to 40.
231.The effect of subsection (2) is that authorisations will only be granted to an official of the Ministry of Defence or a member of the Armed Forces, where it is necessary in the interests of national security or for preventing or detecting serious crime.
232.This section also provides the power for the Secretary of State to impose, by order, restrictions on designated public authorities for the carrying out of intrusive surveillance, on the circumstances in which, or the purposes for which, such authorisations may be granted, and on the persons who can make such an application.
