Part 5: Miscellaneous Members of Parliament Section 22: Interception and examination of communications: Members of Parliament etc
Subsection (1) sets out that the section amends section 26 of the IPA 2016. Section 26 sets out the additional safeguards that apply to the issue of a targeted interception warrant or a targeted examination warrant, where the purpose of that warrant relates to the acquisition of communications sent by, or intended for, a member of a relevant legislature (such as an MP). The safeguard in section 26 is sometimes referred to as the "triple lock".
	Subsection (2) amends section 26(2) IPA 2016 to provide, that where conditions A and B are met, a Secretary of State designated under the amended s26 may approve the issue of the warrant instead of the Prime Minister. The approval decision may not be made by the Secretary of State to whom the warrant application is made.
	Subsection (3) inserts new subsections (2A) - (2F) at the end of section 26. New subsection (2A) provides condition A, which is that the Prime Minister is unable to decide whether to give approval under subsection (2), due to incapacity or an inability to access secure communications. New subsection (2B) sets out condition B, which is that there is an urgent need for the approval decision to be made. Both conditions A and B must be met for a designated Secretary of State to be able to give approval in place of the Prime Minister.
	New subsection (2C) and (2D) specify that the Prime Minister may only designate individuals holding the office of Secretary of State and only five such individuals may be designated. Subsection (2D) also specifies that an individual Secretary of State may only be designated if they have the necessary operational awareness to decide whether to give approvals under subsection (2). New subsection (2E) provides for the duration of such a designation under section 26, which is that it will end when the individual ceases to hold the office of Secretary of State or when the Prime Minister revokes the designation. Subsection (2F) provides a definition of "senior official" for the purposes of that section, as amended.