Dominic Browne reports:
A range of public bodies including 27 councils have been dragged into a row over the use of private detectives, following a report from a civil liberties campaign group.
In total, public bodies have spent more than £3.9m over the last two years paying private investigators, according to Big Brother Watch – with some accused of using security firms to dodge legal restrictions.
In a Freedom of Information request, it found 29 public bodies employed outside companies to do surveillance work since 2010, this included the Department for Transport, 27 councils and one public authority.
Read more on LocalGov.co.uk and BBC. Big Brother Watch’s report can be found here.