Agenda item

Consideration was given to the joint report of the Chief Officer Resources (SIRO CCTV), Head of Community Services and Interim Chief Officer Commercial.

The Chief Officer Resources advised that the report outlined the Council’s draft Public Space CCTV Annual Monitoring Report 2020 which covered the period 1^st September 2019 – 31st December 2020. The report which was detailed in Appendix 1 was the first of what will be Annual Monitoring Reportsin line with the Surveillance Camera Commissioner’s Code of Practice, to support the development of a holistic approach to raising its standards and compliance.

The Chief Officer further spoke to the report and noted the progress made in conjunction with the compliance with the Surveillance Camera Commissioner’s CCTV Codes of Practice. The successful engagement sessions with Members were acknowledged and it was reported that the feedback from these meetings would be included in the Forward Work Programme.

It was also reported that the report had been considered by the Corporate Overview Scrutiny Committee who supported Option 2 with an additional recommendation for consideration by the Executive Committee. The Scrutiny Committee further recommend that the Executive Committee investigate the possibilities of extra funding for the system in liaison with the Office of Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) and a paper be brought back to the Scrutiny Committee to review the equality of provision across the County Borough.

The Corporate Director Regeneration and Community Services added that there were technical challenges around cameras in terms of download speed and Wi-Fi connections. However, he stated that this did not result in any loss in footage and further work was needed to address this matter.

The Managing Director referred to previous discussions with the Police and Crime Commissioners Office where it had been confirmed that additional funding would not be available as the system did not include live monitoring. It was felt that without this function the investment could not be supported.

There had been further proposals that this be taken forward on a Gwent wide basis, however since the pandemic in March 2020 priorities had been placed in other areas. Therefore, the Managing Director advised that should these discussions be recommenced the Authority would participate in order to reach a solution.

The Executive Member for Economic Development and Regeneration felt it was important that the Council had adequate Wi-Fi connections across the Borough to support improving systems. The Executive Member felt that the Police and other partners had vested interests in CCTV in towns, particularly around covert cameras which would be more beneficial in some instances.

The Leader supported the recommendation brought forward by the Corporate Overview Scrutiny Committee and concurred that the Authority needed to be involved in discussions going forward to be part of a Gwent wide working arrangement. The Leader hoped that CCTV would feature highly on the Scrutiny Forward Work Programme over the coming
12 months as it was important to our communities and therefore to ensure we protect and enhance our communities the infrastructure needed to be in place.

RESOLVED that the report be accepted and the Annual Monitoring Report (including its supporting appendices) be approved following which the report would be published and sent to the Surveillance Camera Commissioner. The Executive Committee further supported the recommendation from Corporate Overview Scrutiny Committee to investigate the possibilities of extra funding for the system in liaison with the Office of Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) to review the equality of provision across the County Borough.