Agenda item

This report provides information on the progress on work stream 1, 2 and 3 of the CCTV improvement programme being carried out by Medway Council.

Discussion:

The Committee received a report setting out progress on work streams 1, 2 and 3 of the CCTV improvement programme and the Head of Regulatory Services provided a brief update on further progress since the report had been written.

In response to a question as to progress on replacing CCTV cameras in Strood, Rainham and the Peninsula, the Head of Regulatory Services advised that under work streams 1, 2 and 3, Gillingham, Rochester and Chatham had been identified as priority areas to address the number of non-working cameras in those areas and being areas with the highest number of cameras and footfall. However, other areas would be addressed under a later phase.

In addition, he confirmed that as a means of ensuring economies of scale and re-siting of cameras, no expenditure had been incurred to date other than on network costs.

In response to questions, the Assistant Director Front Line Services confirmed that the total budget available for the CCTV improvement programme was £105,000 made up of £80,000 from the Council’s budget and £25,000 from Section 106 funding required to be spent in Chatham. Whilst it was not possible at this stage to confirm that this funding would be sufficient to provide CCTV improvements in Strood, Rainham and the Peninsula, it would be sufficient to cover the full improvement programme in Gillingham, Rochester and Chatham. The maintenance budget would continue to be held by the Council. She confirmed that a further update on works and costs could be provided to the Committee in June.

The Assistant Director Front Line Services also advised that work was underway with Medway Commercial Group (MCG) to establish a new Business Plan and identify priorities and asset investment going forward. This was supported by the Assistant Director Transformation who confirmed that MCG had been operating under a new Chairman since December 2018 and, under his instruction, she was undertaking a review of MCG and was personally overseeing the MCG element of the CCTV improvement programme whilst the Assistant Director Front Line Services had an oversight from the Council’s perspective. She gave an assurance that they were both working closely to ensure that the CCTV improvement programme priorities were being taken forward and were working in partnership to set up the Business Plan. The Business Plan would be a transparent plan and set out options going forward and the costs involved, including capital costs over a 3, 5 and 10 year period.

In response to a question as to whether the Business Plan would be publically available, the Assistant Director Transformation advised that as MCG was a commercial company some of the information would be commercially sensitive and therefore whether the Business Plan could be publically available would be for the CCTV Partnership to determine. She confirmed that the partnership involved three other local authorities. The Chairman suggested that the Committee be supplied with the section of the Business Plan relating to Medway’s element of the contract.

A Member expressed concern that the CCTV service was continuing to be run by MCG and he expressed a view that this service should be bought back in house and operated by the Council. Other Members expressed concern regarding the lack of accountability concerning the work of MCG. 

In response, the Assistant Director Transformation advised that CCTV was only one element of the Company’s contract with the Council as MCG was also involved in recruitment, the provision of education services and Telecare in addition to CCTV. However, CCTV was the top priority for a review and she confirmed that officers had increased engagement and transparency around what was being done along with accountability, cost effectiveness and performance information.

A Member expressed appreciation as to the work that had been undertaken to resolve issues in the CCTV service covering Rochester and he commented upon the excellent quality of the cameras that were now in place.

The Head of Regulatory Services outlined the future phases of the CCTV Improvement Programme. The latter work stream would involve a larger piece of work involving a strategic requirement for CCTV provision throughout Medway and the underlying infrastructure.

Decision:

The Committee:

a)            agreed that a report updating progress on the current CCTV improvement programme be included on the Committee’s work programme.

b)            agreed that a report be submitted to the Committee in June 2019 setting out expenditure to date on the current CCTV Improvement Programme.

c)            agreed that a report also be included on the Committee’s work programme enabling the Committee to have an oversight of future programmes of CCTV provision in Medway.

d)            requested that details of the Medway Council element of the MCG Business Plan be provided to Members of this Committee when available.