Issue - meetings

Report of Head of Regulatory Services and Community Safety

Purpose of report

To seek approval to join the Thames Valley CCTV partnership, with an associated transfer of CCTV assets and operational responsibility to Thames Valley Police under a ‘single owner’ model; and moving monitoring arrangements to a shared Oxfordshire hub.

Recommendations

The Executive resolves:

1.1      To agree to join the Thames Valley CCTV partnership, with an associated transfer of CCTV assets and operational responsibility to Thames Valley Police under a ‘single owner’ model; and moving monitoring arrangements to a shared Oxfordshire hub.

1.2       To recommend approving the capital funding of up to £250,000 in order to upgrade the public open space CCTV network and cameras to meet the necessary threshold to be included in the OPCC Thames Valley CCTV project.

1.3       To delegate authority to the Assistant Director - Law, Governance and Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to execute the formal agreements needed to join the Thames Valley Police CCTV Partnership.

Resolved

(1)          That it be agreed to join the Thames Valley CCTV partnership, with an associated transfer of CCTV assets and operational responsibility to Thames Valley Police under a ‘single owner’ model; and moving monitoring arrangements to a shared Oxfordshire hub.

(2)          That capital funding of up to £250,000 in order to upgrade the public open space CCTV network and cameras to meet the necessary threshold to be included in the OPCC Thames Valley CCTV project be approved.

(3)          That authority be delegated to the Assistant Director Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to execute the formal agreements needed to join the Thames Valley Police CCTV Partnership.

The Head of Regulatory Services and Community Safety submitted a report to seek approval to join the Thames Valley CCTV partnership, with an associated transfer of CCTV assets and operational responsibility to Thames Valley Police under a ‘single owner’ model; and moving monitoring arrangements to a shared Oxfordshire hub.

In response to a question from the Leader of the Opposition seeking assurance CCTV cameras in Banbury would remain operational following the transfer, the Portfolio Holder for Safer Communities confirmed this would be the case.

In response to Executive member comments, the Portfolio Holder for Safer Communities explained that work on the SLA had not yet commenced but it was anticipated there would be standard terms with specific aspects for each authority in the partnership.

Resolved

(1)          That it be agreed to join the Thames Valley CCTV partnership, with an associated transfer of CCTV assets and operational responsibility to Thames Valley Police under a ‘single owner’ model; and moving monitoring arrangements to a shared Oxfordshire hub.

(2)          That capital funding of up to £250,000 in order to upgrade the public open space CCTV network and cameras to meet the necessary threshold to be included in the OPCC Thames Valley CCTV project be approved.

(3)          That authority be delegated to the Assistant Director Law and Governance and Monitoring Officer, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, to execute the formal agreements needed to join the Thames Valley Police CCTV Partnership.

Reasons

The benefits to formally joining the Thames Valley CCTV partnership are clear. The proposed changes of the project bring increased resilience, reduce the operational burden on CDC and ensure that the CCTV network is upgraded ensuring a sustainable system able to exploit technological advances.

Alternative options

Option 1: Executive could choose to cease provision of this discretionary service, however the case for continued provision of public space CCTV is clear. It assists the Council in meeting its duties under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and clearly has a role in the detection and prevention of crime.

Option 2: To retain the system as it currently is. The Thames Valley CCTV Partnership will go ahead without CDC - meaning there is real risk of the CCTV system in Cherwell becoming obsolete. If the existing CCTV system were to be retained, then there would still be a significant need for investment to bring the infrastructure up to a minimum standard to allow for its continued operation. The costs would be comparable to the £250,000 capital investment highlighted in the preferred option, although could be profiled over a long roll out period. The responsibility for long term resilience of CCTV monitoring would fall to CDC.

This has been rejected as it is likely to lead to an obsolete CCTV system and means the Council would be excluded from obtaining the benefits from being part of the Partnership.