Letter template (v3) revised Sept 2006

Information Governance

Resources

The Guildhall

Nottingham

NG1 4BT

Tel: 0115 915 4155

Fax: 0115 915 4082

www.nottinghamcity.gov.uk

Iain Lane

e-mail to [FOI #17327 email]

04/11/09

My Ref:	IGO/09-5948
Your Ref:
Contact:	Kieran Williams
Email:	[Nottingham City Council request email]

Dear Mr Lane

Re: Your request for information

Thank you for your e-mail dated 25/08/09. As the information you requested is not personal or environmental it has been processed in accordance with the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Initially, I would like to take this opportunity to apologise for the delay in responding to your request. This is due to us encountering problems obtaining the information from the relevant departments. The data was not held centrally and therefore more than one department had to be approached, which contributed to the delay. Please be assured we are currently carrying out a thorough review of all our office procedures to minimise the possibility of any future delays.

I have investigated your request and the answers to your questions are as follows.

Q1) The amount of CCTV cameras operated by the authority for any purpose, broken down by ward.

WARD	COMMUNITY & CULTURE *	ENVIRONMENT & REGENERATION*	TOTAL
Arboretum	20	5	25
Aspley	20		20
Basford	8	1	9
Berridge	3	3	6
Bestwood	4		4
Bilborough	2		2
Bridge	53	13	66
Bulwell	66		66
Bulwell Forest	25		25
Clifton North	74	1	75
Clifton South
Dales	257	2	259
Dunkirk and Lenton	236	3	239
Leen Valley	2	2	4
Mapperley	8	2	10
Radford and Park	360	1	361
Sherwood	34	1	35
St Anns	111	3	114
Wollaton East & Lenton Abbey	1	2	3
Wollaton West	2	1	3
TOTAL	1286	40

* Please note that Community and Culture CCTV cameras are used in traffic control, and Environment and Regeneration CCTV cameras are used in public space/ high rise block areas.

Q2) All information available relating to the running costs of the City Council's CCTV network over the past 5 years.

In relation to Community and Culture (public space/ high rise block CCTV), not including any income/ contributions that the Council receives through service charges -

2004/2005 - £1,329,030.00
2005/2006 - £1,326,307.00
2006/2007 - £1,708,883.00
2007/2008 - £1,737,045.00
2008/2009 - £1,920,664.00

b) In relation to Environment and Regeneration (traffic surveillance), the cost is the same each year. The maintenance of the cameras is undertaken by an external contractor, and the cost per camera at the moment is £457.97. The operational costs of each camera include the electricity and also BT costs which are £228.68 per camera.

Q3) Any current strategic documents that have been produced produced by the City Council relating to future CCTV rollouts.

a) In relation to Community and Culture (public space/ high rise block CCTV), the City Council does not have a current strategic document relating to future CCTV rollouts. There are no immediate plans to expand CCTV coverage. In relation to matters taken into consideration when rolling out CCTV programmes, the local authority would pay heed to the Information Commissioner's guidance on the use of CCTV to ensure it is necessary to address a need such as crime prevention or public safety and is justified and proportionate to the problem that it is designed to deal with. New technologies could only be considered if the local authority was successful in securing external capital funding.

b) In relation to Environment and Regeneration (traffic surveillance) -

Matters taken into consideration when considering rolling out CCTV programmes

There is an existing network of CCTV currently in use within Nottingham City, which monitors traffic along all major routes. This network helps the Traffic Control Centre (TCC) to Monitor, intervene and resolve any incidents along any of the routes. These Cameras are also used by the Police and City Centre Security. To assist in reducing traffic congestion required by the Traffic Management Act 2004, it is proposed that CCTV be installed as part of any new road layout or new junction improvement where there is no current coverage. This would also include new developments involving S278 and S106 highway works. There are two options currently used by the TCC to receive data from cameras;

Option 1 - a fibre optic cable connection rented from BT for delivering images from a chosen location. This option provides real time images and control of the camera. Communication costs would depend on the distance between the TCC and the proposed location of the new Scheme. With the Camera costing around £20k, there would be a savings element if Traffic Signals were associated within the scheme.

Option 2 - an ordinary telephone line with broadband included. This option gives an inferior quality image and a slightly delayed control of the camera, but is good enough for the purpose of monitoring traffic. This connection can also be used for monitoring the Controller used at signalised installations. Communication costs would be about £500 on average and the camera cost would be around £10k. There would be a savings element if Traffic Signals were associated within the scheme, by using the same telephone line to monitor the Signals.

Without the implementation of additional CCTV the Traffic Control Centre would not be able to react to changes in traffic conditions nor be able evaluate any traffic congestion problems caused due to a new development/highway improvement or change in road layout.

The council's assessment of the effectiveness of cameras with “new technologies” such as microphones and speakers in the prevention and deterrence of crime, and whether the council has any further plans to roll out such cameras.

Traffic Control Centre cameras do not use the Microphones and Speakers function. As Traffic Control Centre use these cameras for monitoring traffic only, there would be no benefit to roll out such developments.

Most of the information that we provide in response to Freedom of Information Act 2000 requests will be subject to copyright protection. In most cases the copyright will be owned by Nottingham City Council. The copyright in other information may be owned by another person or organisation, as indicated in the information itself.

You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including for non commercial research purposes. The information may also be used for the purposes of news reporting. However, any other type of re-use, for example, by publishing the information or issuing copies to the public will require the permission of the copyright

owner.

For information where the copyright is owned by the Council details of the conditions on re-use can be obtained by contacting the Information Governance Office of Nottingham City Council at The Guildhall, Nottingham, NG1 4BT or by telephoning us on (0115) 9154155. For information where the copyright is owned by another person or organisation, you must apply to the copyright owner to obtain their permission.

If you should have any questions please do not hesitate to contact me on the above number quoting your personal case reference which is IGO/09-5948.

If you are not satisfied with the response provided or any exemptions applied you should write in the first instance to Stephanie Pearson, Information Governance, The Guildhall, Burton Street, Nottingham, NG1 4BT stating the reasons for your dissatisfaction. If you remain dissatisfied after receiving a response to your initial complaint you can request an independent review from the Information Commissioner's Office at FOI/EIR Complaints Resolution, Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF. You may also contact the Information Commissioner's Office by telephone on 01625 545745 or by email at [email address].

Yours sincerely

Kieran Williams

Information Governance Officer

Information Governance

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