Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the compatibility of the draft equipment interference code of practice with human rights legislation.

The public consultation on the draft Equipment Interference Code of Practice closed in April. The Government is considering the responses carefully and will respond in due course, taking into account all relevant recommendations made by David Anderson in his recent report on investigatory powers.

The Government is committed to ensuring that our security and intelligence legislation is fair, effective and proportionate and reflects our duty to protect the public and our interests overseas in a way that is consistent with our lawful rights, the rule of law and transparency. The legal regime governing equipment interference ensures that this activity is conducted compatibly with ECHR rights. The draft Equipment Interference Code of Practice sets out the procedures that must be followed before equipment interference can take place and provides guidance on the processing, retention, destruction and disclosure of any information obtained by means of the interference