Issue - meetings

The Committee received a report providing a description of the arrangements for the Council’s current CCTV provision and proposing that they be reviewed.

It was proposed that the review of current CCTV provision be undertaken by an Officer working group that would look at the Council’s CCTV systems utilised in Town Centres (Streetscene), Public car parks, Council venues/other facilities and Council vehicles. Following the reviews, recommendations would be presented to the Audit Crime & Disorder and Scrutiny Committee in October 2016, and to the relevant Policy Committee(s) for consideration.

The need to work with partners in reviewing the Council’s CCTV provision was noted. This was particularly important for the Town Centres (Streetscene) CCTV, as it was utilised by Surrey Police and Surrey County Council Highways. It was noted that Surrey County Council did not currently contribute to the cost of providing the Town Centres (Streetscene) CCTV.

The following matters were considered:

Ward Councillor involvement. The Committee considered that Ward Councillors should be invited to input into the review of Town Centres’ CCTV provision.

Use of CCTV for parking enforcement. The Committee noted that the use of CCTV for parking enforcement was a possibility which would be considered during the reviews.

Monitoring arrangements. The Committee was informed that monitoring of the Council’s Town Centres’ CCTV systems was currently undertaken in Runnymede, but that this arrangement would be reviewed. The decision to monitor footage at the Runnymede centre had been taken whilst the Borough was within Surrey Police’s North Division, and Inspector Elkins informed the Committee that Epsom and Ewell was now contained within the East Division. Inspector Elkins also informed the Committee that if the monitoring was undertaken at the Reigate centre rather than in Runnymede, access to it would be improved for the Borough Police.

Following consideration, the Committee:

(1)          Agreed to undertake a full review of CCTV usage by the Council, in order that recommendations could be made to other relevant committees.

It was noted that an Officer working group would be formed to carry out the review, with a report to be presented to the October 2016 meeting of the Audit, Crime & Disorder Committee. As a part of this review, relevant Ward Councillors would be consulted with regard to Town Centre (Streetscene) CCTV.