Dear Mr Dixon,

 

FOI request: FOI-2677

 

Thank you for your request dated 01/10/2024

 

Your request will be answered by 29/10/2024

 

If you have any queries about this request, please contact me, quoting the
reference number above.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

David White

Head of Information, Safety and Community Services

Directorate of Communities, Environment and Central

Royal Borough of Greenwich

 

*   3^rd Floor, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London, SE18
6HQ

8 [1]www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk

 

ü Please consider the environment before printing this email

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Dixon,

 

FOI request: FOI-2677

 

Please accept our sincere apologies for a delay in providing a response to
your Freedom of Information request. We apologise for any inconvenience
this may cause. The service providing you with your response has been
chased today and they do remain committed to responding to your request as
soon as possible.

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Freedom of Information Team

Directorate of Communities, Environment and Central

Royal Borough of Greenwich

 

*   3^rd Floor, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London, SE18
6HQ

8 [1]www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk

 

ü Please consider the environment before printing this email

 

 

From: foi <[Greenwich Borough Council request email]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 1, 2024 10:15 AM
To: 'Jamie Dixon' <[FOI #1181119 email]>
Cc: foi <[Greenwich Borough Council request email]>
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - Broken CCTV cameras

 

Dear Mr Dixon,

 

FOI request: FOI-2677

 

Thank you for your request dated 01/10/2024

 

Your request will be answered by 29/10/2024

 

If you have any queries about this request, please contact me, quoting the
reference number above.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

David White

Head of Information, Safety and Community Services

Directorate of Communities, Environment and Central

Royal Borough of Greenwich

 

*   3^rd Floor, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London, SE18
6HQ

8 [2]www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk

 

ü Please consider the environment before printing this email

 

 

show quoted sections

Dear Mr Dixon,

FOI request: FOI-2677

Thank you for your request dated 01/10/2024

Our response is as follows:

I am requesting the following information under the Freedom of Information
Act 2000. If any information is unavailable, exempt, or beyond time/cost
limits, please disregard these and provide the rest.

Directorate of Safer Spaces Response

Directorate of Transport Response

1. Total number of CCTV cameras in public spaces (e.g., streets, parks,
car parks) operated by the council at any point during the 2023 calendar
year.

We have understood this to be cameras outside of residential buildings and
only as cameras that monitor the public spaces. Total number managed in
the public domain within Community Safety is: 327

49 CCTV Parking Cameras were in operation in 2023

2. Number of faulty or out-of-operation CCTV cameras: The number of CCTV
cameras in public spaces that were broken, faulty, or out of operation for
any period during the 2023 calendar year. Please provide the total number
of cameras affected and, if possible, the total duration (in days) they
were out of operation.

Total number that were faulty for any period within 2023 was 126. We are
unable to provide total duration they were out of operation as the number
differs dependent on cause of fault. Typical repair of a camera is between
24-48 hours after being reported.

There were 98 Parking Enforcement camera faults in 2023 and on average
those faults were rectified in the time broken down as follows:

o   34 cameras were faulty between 1-2 days

o   26 cameras were faulty between 3-7 days

o   16 cameras were faulty between 7-14 days

o   8 cameras were faulty between 15- 28 days

o   6 cameras were faulty between 1-2 months

o   5 cameras were faulty between 2-3 months

o   3 cameras were faulty between 3-4 months

 

3. Expenditure on CCTV cameras: The total amount spent on installing and
maintaining CCTV cameras in public spaces during the 2023 calendar year.
If available, please break this down into installation and maintenance
costs.

We are unable to provide an answer regarding expense as the Safer Spaces
CCTV Service receives this service as part of a contract with our
maintenance contractor which includes other elements to the service
outside of installing and maintaining CCTV cameras. Therefore, we cannot
provide an accurate figure for just installations or maintenance or both.

The Council considers that the information requested at Q3 of this request
is commercially sensitive under the provision of Section 43(2) of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).

Section 43(2) of the FOIA states that:

“Information is exempt information if disclosure under the Act would, or
would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of any person
(including the public authority holding it).”

Following consultation with the Supplier, the Supplier has objected to
disclosure of commercially sensitive information. The Council believes
that disclosure of the requested information would likely prejudice the
commercial interests of both the Council and the Supplier. 

These figures were negotiated and agreed by the Council with the Supplier
and disclosure is likely to limit the Council’s ability to negotiate a
higher value for future agreements. Additionally, revealing individually
negotiated terms such as the individual pricing of CCTV installation and
maintenance fees could be detrimental to a Supplier’s commercial
interests.

Disclosure of the requested information is likely to cause unwarranted
reputational damage or loss of confidence in the Council. The overall
impact could be distortion to the market price with a detrimental impact
for the Council in terms of other contracts and procurements relating to
CCTV cameras.

The Council therefore considers that the exemption in section 43(2) is
engaged.

As section 43(2) is a qualified exemption, the Council is obliged to
consider the public interest test as per section 2(b) FOIA.

Public interest in favour of disclosing the information:-

• There is a general public interest in creating transparency and
allowing scrutiny of decisions which involve public money/funding.
Taxpayers have a right to understand how public money/funding is being
spent, what is being obtained for that money and what they can expect
in return.
• The public also has the right to know than an open and proper process
has been followed in the awarding of contracts.

Public interest in favour of maintaining the exemption:-

• The suppliers’ positions in a competitive environment could be
weakened by revealing market-sensitive information.
• Competitors could use the financial information it obtains which may
be detrimental   to the current Supplier. Detailed breakdown of the
costs could be taken into consideration by competitors in future bids.
• There is limited public interest in disclosing such detailed financial
breakdown considering the total spend on these CCTV services has been
provided above.
• If there is a risk that information might be disclosed in response to
a request, then companies may feel disinclined to provide a level of
detail which might ultimately be copied and disadvantage its
competitive position within the market.
• It is likely that the Council’s relationships with the Supplier would
be damaged, potentially prejudicing future collaborative working
prospects.

Having considered the above, the Council concludes that the arguments are
strongly in favour of withholding this information.

The Council is satisfied that the public interest rests in the maintenance
of the exemption.

To conclude, the total installation and maintenance costs as well as a
breakdown of maintenance and installation fees of CCTV cameras during 2023
calendar year have been withheld/removed under section 43(2) of the
Freedom of Information Act 2000.

 

If you have any queries about this correspondence, please contact me,
quoting the reference number above.

If you are not satisfied with our response to your request, you can ask
for an Internal Review.  Internal review requests must be submitted within
two months of the date of receipt of the response to your original
request.  If you wish to do this, please contact us in writing, setting
out why you are dissatisfied.

If you are not satisfied with the outcome of the Internal Review, you may
apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. 
Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
Internal Review procedure provided by the Council. You can contact the ICO
by emailing [1][email address], or by post at Customer Contact,
Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
SK9 5AF.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

David White

Head of Information, Safety and Community Services

Directorate of Communities, Environment and Central

Royal Borough of Greenwich

 

*   3^rd Floor, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London, SE18
6HQ

8 [2]www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk

ü Please consider the environment before printing this email

 

 

From: foi <[Greenwich Borough Council request email]>
Sent: 29 October 2024 16:53
To: 'Jamie Dixon' <[FOI #1181119 email]>
Cc: foi <[Greenwich Borough Council request email]>
Subject: FW: Freedom of Information request - Broken CCTV cameras

 

Dear Mr Dixon,

 

FOI request: FOI-2677

 

Please accept our sincere apologies for a delay in providing a response to
your Freedom of Information request. We apologise for any inconvenience
this may cause. The service providing you with your response has been
chased today and they do remain committed to responding to your request as
soon as possible.

 

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Freedom of Information Team

Directorate of Communities, Environment and Central

Royal Borough of Greenwich

 

*   3^rd Floor, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London, SE18
6HQ

8 [3]www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk

 

ü Please consider the environment before printing this email

 

 

From: foi <[4][Greenwich Borough Council request email]>
Sent: Tuesday, October 1, 2024 10:15 AM
To: 'Jamie Dixon' <[5][FOI #1181119 email]>
Cc: foi <[6][Greenwich Borough Council request email]>
Subject: RE: Freedom of Information request - Broken CCTV cameras

 

Dear Mr Dixon,

 

FOI request: FOI-2677

 

Thank you for your request dated 01/10/2024

 

Your request will be answered by 29/10/2024

 

If you have any queries about this request, please contact me, quoting the
reference number above.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

David White

Head of Information, Safety and Community Services

Directorate of Communities, Environment and Central

Royal Borough of Greenwich

 

*   3^rd Floor, The Woolwich Centre, 35 Wellington Street, London, SE18
6HQ

8 [7]www.royalgreenwich.gov.uk

 

ü Please consider the environment before printing this email

 

 

show quoted sections