Council CCTV to monitor private sites to generate profit for private company

Bexley's Conservative Cabinet has agreed to transfer the operation of CCTV in Bexley to the German company Siemens in a scheme which will only be cost effective if profits can be made on selling CCTV services to other private companies.

Siemens will have responsibility for providing a new control room, but plans to replace outdated cameras are less clear. Despite having to put £300,000 more into the service next year* and agreeing a contract which will cost more than it would cost to improve the service 'in-house', the ten strong Tory Cabinet pushed ahead with the scheme.  Bexley’s Labour Group accepts that the current cameras are outdated but is concerned that the new company will need to make profits on selling the services to private bidders before cameras can be brought up to date. 

Tory Councillors anticipate that by 2012 /13 that the council will pay Siemens £822,000 to deliver the contract while using the council’s control room to carry out additional CCTV coverage. This additional coverage would generate up to £460,000 per annum.

Speaking at the Public Cabinet meeting which agreed the proposals Cabinet Member for Community Safety Cllr Katie Perrior admitted that at this stage "you can't rely on the future projections for income'”; signalling that despite huge council investment Bexley’s Conservatives cannot guarantee that the income generated from the council’s CCTV being used for non-council sites will be used to upgrade cameras.

Speaking after the meeting Labour Group Leader, Cllr Chris Ball suggested an agreement for camera positions and their replacement should have formed part of the tender process in order to maximise the benefit of the new control room and ensure public confidence and safety.

He went onto say “Rather than committing future investment into CCTV in areas such as Crayford Town Centre and Belvedere Village, Bexley’s Tory councillors have worked on a secret agreement to allow a private company to maximise its income to use the council’s CCTV to monitor private sites.”

Following the decision take by Cabinet, Siemens will now be marketing its services to other local authorities and private businesses to maximise its income from the service which is currently exclusively aimed at Council and Police needs.

ENDS

*Cost of Service 2008/09 - £505,000; Cost of Service 2010/11 - £802,000