Agenda item

Ms Green introduced the report and highlighted the updates and progress from the previous paper that came to Committee in June of this year. The paper sets out previous decisions and risks relating to the review and noted the summarised update within the report. She continued that 107 of the 127 cameras have now been fixed, upgraded and are online with the work being an intensive maintenance piece of work over the summer with the new maintenance contractor which has been successful. The remaining 20 cameras will be going online with the BT fibre installation which takes place in December.  She continued that the 20 new mobile units are being deployed and have also managed to put in place a new CCTV monitoring contract which has significantly improved the monitoring of the CCTV network, however we are still using the control room in Enfield. We have also now moved to 24/7 monitoring and is proactive as well as reactive which is helping to continue to build relationships with the police in terms of requests for CCTV. Ms Green also noted that the Colindale control room build is on target for new year with a view to start using it in the Spring of 2023 once all the new, higher specification equipment is ready to be used. Updates on all of the progress will be brought to the Committee in May once there is a longer period to report on.

Ms Green noted that there had been an increase on the budget of £1.63m capital investment and additional revenue of £301k into the project after the strategic review had been conducted and a clearer understanding of what was needed to be done including the addition of more cameras or changing the types of existing ones.

Cllr Cohen commented on the figures relating to the implementation of the new cameras and that this element had not been included in the £1.63m of additional revenue. Ms Green commented that there was a level of capital budget allocated to upgrade and replace the existing cameras where it was possible with the additional investment funding the additional cameras and the team are working to the total budget of £2.3m capital and £961k of reserves.

Cllr Cohen asked in relation to the 20 mobile units and what they consist of. Ms Green advised that as part of the strategic review the team looked at all the previous mobile units which were not connected to the network as they were not able to be viewed in the control room with the data having to be physically looked at by being downloaded onto a device and reviewed in the office. Some of the previous locations were no longer required and may have been deployed at a point in time therefore all locations were reviewed and moved on. The original equipment is not being used anymore with the new mobile deployable cameras being connected to the network meaning these can be viewed through the CCTV control room. Cllr Cohen asked for a list of these locations however Ms Green advised that as these are moveable units the list would change continuously however a list of locations can be given to committee members over the coming months when they are made active to show where the units have been used.

ACTION: Ms Green 

Cllr Cohen asked about the process of member involvement and the deployment of CCTV. Ms Green commented that a strategic review took place on where the additional camera sites will be with the additional investment and that going forward we will need a continuous review with members relating more to community safety issues.

Cllr Rich noted the good progress on the active cameras compared to the 70% of them that were defected prior to May this year and reiterated the need to continue to ensure the public feel safe in the borough. Cllr Rich thanked officers for their work on this.

Cllr Grocock asked for clarification on the £300k the previous administration had given and asked if this is the same as the reported £301k to enable the review of the CCTV by Global MCS and asked how many hours the review was for, how much has been carried out and how much is outstanding. Ms Green noted the figures in the report that were agreed at the Policy & Resources Committee this year, and prior to this there was an original budget which was then increased. Ms Green informed that in terms of work that has been carried out and still to be completed, there is a team of in house staff working on this with Global MCS who will be assisting on the entire project with this being built in to the budget overall.

Cllr Radford asked if members were able to assist with the upgrading of existing cameras within the borough that they are aware of. Ms Green noted that part of the new upgrade is related to new sites, and timelines with some upgrades being dependant on the installation of fibre west broadband. 

RESOLVED that the Committee:

1.  Noted the progress of the CCTV programme prior to the Full Business Case being presented to Committee for review and approval in February 2023.

2. The Committee approved delegated authority to the Executive Director, Assurance and the Executive Director, Children and Young People in consultation with the Committee Chair to approve further revisions to the Outline Business Case (OBC) prior to a Full Business Case (FBC). This will include further outcomes from the strategic review which require initiating in advance of the Full Business Case (FBC).