Third of city’s CCTV cameras to be axed
DOZENS of CCTV cameras are to be axed across Birmingham by the city council which will reduce its coverage by nearly a third.
The authority said the 62 cameras, spread across 16 city wards, no longer meet Home Office guidance either because the equipment was too old and not up to standard or because they are located in areas of low crime and anti-social behaviour.
The cameras could be removed as soon as November.
Community safety chief Cllr John Cotton (Lab, Glebe Farm and Tile Cross) said Birmingham would continue to be covered by a wider network of 258 public space CCTV cameras, including 135 the authority will be retaining.
He also announced an investment to increase the number of re-deployable cameras by eight units to 20 in total, saying the units could be moved around to different areas based on intelligence and local needs.
Cllr Cotton said: “The law and regulations governing the use of CCTV have changed dramatically over the last few years and as a council we have to ensure that the CCTV schemes we operate fully comply with the law.
“Birmingham City Council has undertaken a robust and thorough review of the community safety CCTV network.
“This assessment, supported by data from West Midlands Police, found 62 of the 197 cameras within our community safety portfolio, no longer meet the legal operational requirements for cameras to be used in public realm.
“That is set out by the Home Office surveillance camera commissioners compliance guidelines.
“These 62 are identified as noncompliant for various reasons such as obsolete or faulty equipment that is no longer fit for purpose, in some case that’s equipment over 25 years old, or cameras being used in areas where there is little or no crime recorded and therefore they no longer meet the legal requirement for use in areas where crime or anti-social behaviour is an issue.”
The decision was originally made as part of the council’s 2017/18 budget but Cllr Cotton said it was “important we took time to look at the data and work with the police to make sure we have got an accurate picture of what’s happening”. There will now follow a four-week period of informing residents and councillors before a contract procurement process is commenced for the decommissioning work.
Cllr Cotton vowed West Midlands Police force was fully on board with the move and had been briefed through the Birmingham Community Safety Partnership.
He said there was ‘no other reason’ to decommission the cameras other than their non-compliance vowing that any money saved would be reinvested into community safety.
Asked whether any consideration was given to upgrading the substandard equipment he said they could not be ‘replaced in a like-forlike way’.
Cllr Cotton added: “We remain fully committed to doing all that we can to support communities and to work with the police and other agencies to keep all of our citizens in Birmingham safe.”
The regulations governing the use of CCTV have changed dramatically in the last few years.
Cllr John Cotton