Publication of Investigatory Powers Commissioner’s 2025 Annual Report

The 2025 Annual Report by the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, the Rt Hon Lord Leveson of Liverpool, has been published.

The Report details the use and oversight of investigatory powers by public authorities, including:

•  the Commissioner’s investigation, directed by the Prime Minister, into the provision of false evidence to the High Court and the Investigatory Powers Tribunal in relation to Agent X
• failings at the National Crime Agency relating to the authorisation of a juvenile covert human intelligence source (CHIS) and the management of CHIS and surveillance records
• continuing concerns about GCHQ’s understanding of the scale, location and recoverability of lost removable media that may contain data related to the Investigatory Powers Act 2016
• compliance issues in the interception and monitoring of prisoners’ communications by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service
• shortcomings in the Ministry of Defence’s application of the Principles governing the detention and interviewing of detainees overseas
• problems with the handling of cases by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, including those involving confidential or otherwise sensitive material, where the Commissioner’s findings align with the independent review by Angus McCullough KC
• an increase in the number of errors reported by the UK intelligence community and the National Crime Agency, including four errors that met the serious error definition
• continued growth in communications data (CD) applications, which have risen every year since 2020; the percentage increase peaked at 11.49% between 2022 and 2023 and has slowed each year since, with the rise between 2024 and 2025 standing at 8.7%, or 28,028 more applications

The Rt Hon Lord Leveson of Liverpool, the Investigatory Powers Commissioner, said:

“2025 has been a very significant year for IPCO. It included the implementation of new safeguards under the Investigatory Powers (Amendment) Act 2024, but, while I remain satisfied that leaders of public authorities demonstrate a genuine commitment to compliance, I am both disappointed and concerned with some aspects of what I have found this year.

“First, the case of Agent X is as serious as anything I have dealt with as Commissioner. False evidence was given to the High Court and the Investigatory Powers Tribunal, and the Prime Minister directed me to find out how that happened. My investigation has now concluded and found that both IPCO and the courts were misled. Oversight depends on candour. Failings of candour undermine the entire basis of oversight and accountability: that rightly attracts my full attention.

“Second, the handling by the National Crime Agency (NCA) of a juvenile covert human intelligence source falls well short of what the law requires and what I expect.

“Third, the Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) still cannot tell me what has happened to removable media that may hold sensitive data, years after I first raised it with them.

“Fourth, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) continues to get the basics wrong when intercepting prisoners’ communications.

“Finally, the Ministry of Defence has not properly applied the safeguards that exist to protect detainees overseas.

“None of these are minor administrative failings. I have raised each directly with the relevant leadership and I fully recognise that they are being taken seriously. Operational pressures are real, but they do not reduce the need for lawful, consistent and well-understood safeguards. I will not hesitate to report failure to demonstrate real improvement.

“These specific issues do not, however, change my overall assessment: independent oversight is working. I remain satisfied that, across a demanding and fast-changing environment, the system of checks on the use of covert powers continues to operate with rigour and independence. The challenge for all those we oversee is to make sure that the commitment to compliance translates consistently into practice.”

ENDS

For media enquiries, contact:

Press line: 0300 427 2730 Mobile: 07356 190877 Email: IPCOpressoffice@ipco.org.uk

Notes to editors:

IPCO’s 2025 Annual Report is available at www.ipco.org.uk

IPCO provides independent oversight of the use of investigatory powers by intelligence agencies, police forces and other public authorities. The Investigatory Powers Commissioner, Lord Leveson of Liverpool, and the Judicial Commissioners are responsible for overseeing the use of investigatory powers by public authorities. These include law enforcement, the intelligence agencies, prisons, local authorities and other government agencies, such as regulators. In total, over 600 public authorities and institutions have investigatory powers.

Further information about IPCO is at www.ipco.org.uk