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Council CCTV upgrades costing £250,000 needed to join Thames Valley Police scheme
02/09/2024
The Council’s Executive will consider transferring the upgraded system to the force
Cherwell District Council could be about to join the Thames Valley CCTV partnership, if councillors agree to spending a quarter of a million pounds on the project.
Currently the Council owns and operates a network of 63 CCTV cameras across the district. The system is monitored by civilian staff employed by Thames Valley Police with control rooms in Banbury, Oxford City, Witney and Abingdon.
Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber proposed the Thames Valley CCTV partnership to bring different CCTV systems all under the force’s control across the Thames Valley. It’s believed the “single owner model” will help to consolidate technology, drive savings through economies of scale, improve integration with police systems and provide increased resilience.
Cherwell’s Executive will next week consider a proposal to transfer the council’s CCTV monitoring equipment to Thames Valley Police with monitoring being taken over by a shared Oxfordshire hub, based in Abingdon.
But before that can happen Cherwell must bring its equipment up to the required high-definition standards – a move that it is estimated will cost £250,000.
By joining the Thames Valley CCTV partnership the Council would save £10,000 each year through not having maintenance and repair costs, but it acknowledges much of this saving would be used up in borrowing costs for a loan for the equipment upgrades.
Published: by Banbury FM Newsteam
Paul W On 05/09/2024 at 11:42 am
The financials of this madness make no sense whatsoever. Matthew Barber won’t be around to see his empire fall whilst Banbury will still be paying off this folly.