An End to Frivolous Council Snooping?

Still catching up some of the developments from last week. A while ago I speculated (tongue in cheek of course) that a job on the council might be a great option for anyone seeking revenge. Jaqui Smith now says that council snooping should be restricted and has announced a review of the use of RIPA. However, the government still seem to want to avoid judicial oversight in the system. Oversight could instead be left in the hands of 'elected representatives'. Is that sufficient to avoid misuse? How strong would the incentives of a councillor to thoroughly scrutinise council use of such powers be?

Henry Porter has a characteristically robust post over at the guardian where he describes this as a merely 'tactical withdrawal'.