Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Act 2024

4 Agency head functions

(1) The Investigatory Powers Act 2016 is amended as follows.

(2) In section 202 (restriction on use of class BPD warrants)—

(a) in subsections (1) and (2), after “head of the intelligence service” insert “, or a person acting on their behalf,”;

(b) in subsection (3)—

(i) after “head of the intelligence service”, in the first place it occurs, insert “, or a person acting on their behalf,”;

(ii) omit “by the head of the intelligence service”;

(c) after subsection (4) insert—

“(5) For the purposes of subsections (1), (2) and (3), only a person holding office under the Crown may act on behalf of the head of an intelligence service.”

(3) In section 206 (additional safeguards for health records)—

(a) in subsections (4)(b) and (5)(a) and (b), after “head of the intelligence service” insert “, or a person acting on their behalf,”;

(b) after subsection (7) insert—

“(8) For the purposes of subsections (4)(b) and (5), only a person holding office under the Crown may act on behalf of the head of an intelligence service.”

(4) In section 219 (non-renewal or cancellation of BPD warrants)—

(a) in subsection (2), after “addressed” insert “, or a person acting on their behalf,”;

(b) in the following provisions, after “the head of the intelligence service” insert “, or a person acting on their behalf,”—

(i) subsection (2)(b);

(ii) subsection (7), in both places it occurs;

(iii) subsection (8), in both places it occurs;

(c) after subsection (8) insert—

“(9) For the purposes of subsections (2), (7) and (8), only a person holding office under the Crown may act on behalf of the head of an intelligence service.”

(5) In section 220 (initial examinations: time limits)—

(a) in the following provisions, after “head of the intelligence service” insert “, or a person acting on their behalf,”—

(i) subsection (1)(b);

(ii) subsection (2);

(iii) subsection (3);

(iv) subsection (5);

(b) after subsection (6) (inserted by section 1) insert—

“(7) For the purposes of this section, only a person holding office under the Crown may act on behalf of the head of an intelligence service.”

(6) In section 225 (application of Part 7 to bulk personal datasets obtained under this Act)—

(a) in subsection (3), after “head of the intelligence service” insert “, or a person acting on their behalf”;

(b) in subsection (13), after “head of an intelligence service” insert “, or a person acting on their behalf,”;

(c) after subsection (14) insert—

“(15) For the purposes of subsections (3) and (13), only a person holding office under the Crown may act on behalf of the head of an intelligence service.”