Commentary on provisions of Act Section 4: Authorities to be capable of authorising criminal conduct
Section 4 amends section 30 of RIPA in order to make provision for certain public authorities to be able to grant criminal conduct authorisations.
	Section 4(3) amends section 30(1) to bring criminal conduct authorisations within the scope of the power that is conferred on the Secretary of State by that provision. That power enables the Secretary of State to specify by order that persons holding such offices, ranks or positions within relevant public authorities, are designated to grant criminal conduct authorisations.
	Section 4(4) amends section 30(2) to bring criminal conduct authorisations within the scope of that provision. The effect is that where a criminal conduct authorisation is being granted in combination with an authorisation to carry out intrusive surveillance, the authorisation must be granted personally by the Secretary of State.
	Section 4(5) amends section 30(3) to bring criminal conduct authorisations within the scope of the power that is conferred on the Secretary of State by that provision. Subsection (3) enables the Secretary of State to restrict the authorisations that may be granted by persons holding particular ranks, offices or positions; or provide that authorisations given in such circumstances, or for such purposes, must be granted by persons holding specified rank, office or position within the relevant authority.
	Section 4(6) amends section 30(4); which makes provision for the public authorities that are relevant public authorities for the purposes of granting authorisations. A public authority is a relevant authority for these purposes if it is listed in new Part A1 of Schedule 1 to RIPA.
	Section 4(7) amends section 30(5), which confers a power on the Secretary of State to amend Schedule 1. The power enables the Secretary of State to add or remove public authorities from Part A1, or make any consequential changes necessary as a result of the change in the name of a public authority that is listed in that Part.
	Section 4(8) makes corresponding changes to section 30(7), so that the exercise of the power to add public authorities to Part A1 will be subject to the approval of Parliament by way of the affirmative procedure.
	Section 4(9) inserts new Part A1 into Schedule 1 to RIPA; listing the following public authorities:
	Any police force
	The National Crime Agency
	Any of the intelligence services
	Any of Her Majesty’s Forces
	Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs
	The Department of Health and Social Care
	The Home Office
	The Ministry of Justice
	The Competition and Markets Authority
	The Environment Agency
	The Financial Conduct Authority
	The Food Standards Agency
	The Gambling Commission
	The Serious Fraud Office