Agenda item

Executive Member for Community Partnerships.

The Executive Member for Community Partnerships, Councillor Ashford, introduced a report which provided information and options for consideration in relation to the future of public realm CCTV. The recommendations were that CCTV cameras at Bancroft and Clarendon Road Car Parks and Priory Park, Memorial Park and Lady Neville Park be retained and upgraded with the remaining CCTV cameras decommissioned.

Councillor Ashford explained that it was necessary to consider the future of public realm CCTV because Surrey Police had informed Districts and Boroughs that its reliance on this type of CCTV was low and they would no longer host and staff CCTV control rooms from 2023.

The current CCTV system had been installed in 1995 and it needed upgrading to new technology and in order to be consistent with legislation. It was expensive to maintain and very expensive to replace in full. There was now a far wider proliferation of private CCTV and most images used by the Police were from privately owned CCTV or mobile phones.

Councillor Ashford explained that the recommended option achieved a balance of these considerations. The recommended option required an initial capital investment which would be funded from existing budgets. In the medium term the proposals could deliver a capital and revenue budget saving.

The Community Safety Officer provided details of a brief survey which confirmed there was a large proliferation of private CCTV cameras in Redhil, Banstead village, Horley town centre and Reigate.

During the discussion, the Leader of the Council, Councillor Brunt, explained that the Police were not in favour of the wholesale replacement of the current cameras on the basis that images from public realm CCTV were less likely to be used during an investigation. Councillor Ashford confirmed that the Police had reassured the Council that they would initially look at privately owned CCTV cameras and not public realm CCTV. Councillor Ashford confirmed that he and officers would respond outside of the meeting to specific queries regarding the use of cameras in Tattenham Corner and Holmethorpe Industrial Estate.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the CCTV cameras at Bancroft and Clarendon Road Car Parks are upgraded and replaced by:

a)    Upgrading cameras to digital technology replacing old analogue systems

b)    Upgrading existing connections to fibre technology and enable Wi-Fi connectivity where possible

c)    Undertaking local recording of images

2.    That the CCTV cameras within Priory Park, Memorial Park and Lady Neville Park are upgraded by:

a)    Upgrading cameras to digital technology replacing old analogue systems

b)    Upgrading existing connections to fibre technology and enable Wi-Fi connectivity where possible

c)    Undertaking local recording of images

3.    That all other Council owned public realm CCTV cameras be de-commissioned

4.      That the Head of Community Partnerships be authorised, in consultation with the Head of Finance and the Head of Legal and Governance, to undertake procurement and enter into contracts for the upgrade and decommissioning works, and for subsequent maintenance and running costs of the remaining CCTV cameras, with any significant variation in anticipated costs as a result of the procurement process being resolved in consultation with the Executive Member for Community Partnerships and the Head of Finance and Executive Member for Finance.