Agenda and minutes

Agreed as an accurate record.

To confirm the items of business marked Part I will be considered in public and that the items marked Part II will be considered in private.

It was agreed that all items of business would be considered in public.

The Committee was provided with a draft scoping report for the purpose of the review which would be updated to reflect discussion at the meeting.

The Council’s Anti Social Behaviour & Investigations Service Manager attended the meeting and provided Members with information on the possible scope of the review.

Members were informed that this Council as a Strategic Partner to the Police provides resources and equipment to Hillingdon Police for crime prevention purposes in the Borough. These included the following:

CCTV vehicles

The first of two CCTV vehicles was purchased in 2003.  The cost was £55,000 for the CCTV equipment. The cost of the vehicle itself was in the region of £30,000 which included a service package.

The first vehicle being fully liveried can only be driven by police personnel.  Members were informed that after purchase by the Council it was handed over to the Metropolitan Police who were the registered keeper and covered all maintenance, insurance and road tax costs.

The vehicle was a Vauxhall Movano van with Metropolitan Police livery and London Borough of Hillingdon logos.  Being fully liveried it was found that its usefulness was mainly as a deterrent and tended to have the effect of displacing trouble makers out of an area to which it is deployed.  It was of less value in producing evidence for criminal investigations due to its visibility.

The Committee was informed that historical documents suggested that it was used to good effect since being purchased by the Council and donated to the Police, but there had been some initial problems associated such as confusion over driving classification, which police personnel were authorised to drive it, lack of ‘ownership’, day to day administration, difficulty with garaging.

However, in August 2005, a Police CCTV van manager was appointed with the task of raising the profile and to increase the use of the van and this was successful with a PC solely responsible for the van and making sure drivers looked after it.  Initially only qualified Response Drivers were allowed to drive the van but this changed to allow other Police Staff including PCSOs and Special Constables to act as drivers.

Following the success of the first van, a second van was purchased, second hand in 2006 with CCTV equipment already installed.  The cost was £32,000 plus £12,000 for 5 years service package.  This vehicle was smaller in size and only “semi-liveried” to make it more effective by being less visible and easier to park in small spaces.  It was a Mercedes Vito model.

In 2009, Automatic Number Plate Recognition equipment was added to the second vehicle at a cost of £11,500.

The second vehicle’s ownership was retained by the Council which pays the road tax and maintenance costs (since the expiry of the 5 year service package in 2012) which were in the region of £1,000 per year, although insurance was covered by Met Police’s fleet policy whilst their staff are driving it. 

Members also discussed CCTV cameras in the Borough and asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

Noted

Noted.