Agenda, decisions and minutes

RESOLVED:  That Councillor Ian Albert be elected as Chairman of the meeting.

Audio Recording – 50 Seconds

The Committee, Member and Scrutiny Manager called for nominations to chair this meeting of the CCTV Partnerships Joint Executive

Upon being proposed and seconded, it was:

RESOLVED:  That Councillor Ian Albert be elected as Chairman of the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Judi Billing (North Hertfordshire District Council), Pervez Choudhury (Hertsmere Borough Council), Richard Henry (Stevenage Borough Council) and Jackie Hollywell (Stevenage Borough Council).

Audio Recording – 1 Minute 30 Seconds

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Judi Billing (North Hertfordshire District Council), Pervez Choudhury (Hertsmere Borough Council), Richard Henry (Stevenage Borough Council) and Jackie Hollywell (Stevenage Borough Council).

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on the

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 25 September 2019 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

Audio Recording – 3 Minutes 55 Seconds

RESOLVED:That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 25 September 2019 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chairman of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda.  Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring a Declarable Interest, wishing to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1)       The Chairman welcomed those present at the meeting;

(2)       The Chairman advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded;

(3)       The Chairman drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

Audio Recording – 4 Minutes 10 Seconds

(1)       The Chairman welcomed those present at the meeting;

(2)       The Chairman advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded;

(3)       The Chairman drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

To receive a presentation from Hertfordshire CCTV Partnership Ltd.

Ben Wood (Director, CCTV Partnership) gave a PowerPoint presentation regarding the CCTV Partnership.

Audio Recording – 4 Minutes 35 Seconds

Ben Wood, Director CCTV Partnership, gave a PowerPoint presentation and provided Members with the following information:

·                The 4 Councils were shareholders in the company and received dividends;

·                There were 4 Directors, one from each of the following Councils: North Hertfordshire District Council, Stevenage Borough Council, East Hertfordshire District Council and Hertsmere Borough Council;

·                The Directors met on a quarterly basis;

·                The company did not own assets or employ anybody;

·                The partnership had all the resources and contracts through Stevenage Borough Council;

·                Initially company costs were 48% of the overall operating costs and the partnership was 52%;

·                The current client list included Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation, Marriot School and Hertford Town Council;

·                There were 34 separate contracts and 245 cameras;

·                Over the last 6 months, council related business has been removed from the company papers. The focus was now on third-parties;

·                There was a healthy £60,000 profit in 2015/16;

·                Profits had decreased as a result of the loss of a large client – Stevenage Retail Park;

·                Profit for last year was £11,000;

·                There was a question over the companies viability if profits continued to decrease;

·                The aim was to target smaller organisations such as schools, housing associations and parish councils;

·                There was a job advertisement currently out to recruit a Business Sales Manager. The salary would be £30,000 + commission; and

·                If the Business Sales Manager position was not able to be filled, a review of how the company operated would be undertaken.

The following Members asked questions:

·                Councillor Anthony Spencer;

·                Councillor Paul Clark;

·                Councillor Peter Boylan; and

·                Councillor Joan Lloyd.

In response to questions raised:

Mike Read, Operations Manager, responded as follows:

·                Prices were reviewed every 12 months – charges were applied on a site by site basis;

·                Increased profits last year were due to new contracts; and

·                Cameras did not belong to the company.

Ben Wood, Director CCTV Partnership, responded as follows:

·                Pricing was critical;

·                The Increased profits last year were due to time being spent on going out to get new business;

·                Profits would be low that year; and

·                If the business were to close, retained profits would be returned to the respective Councils.

Steve Crowley, Service Director – Commercial, responded that recruiting a Business Manager would help generate business.

REPORT OF THE CCTV OPERATIONS MANAGER

To receive the CCTV Operations Manager’s Report of Control Room Performance for October  - December 2019.

RESOLVED: That the report entitled CCTV Operations report be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Joint Executive to consider the report entitled CCTV Operations Report.

Audio Recording – 33 Minutes 30 Seconds

Mike Read, Operations Manager, presented the report entitled CCTV Operations Report, as follows:

·                The control room move had taken a substantial amount of time;

·                Footage was viable for 28 days;

·                The IT switch off went well;

·                The new control room was operational;

·                There were no RIPA Requests; and

·                Camera replacement programme was underway.

Members were directed to the Incident Log on page 11 within the report.

The following Members raised questions:

·                Councillor Ian Albert

·                Councillor Paul Clark

·                Councillor Anthony Spencer

Mike Read responded to questions raised as follows:

·                Images could be downloaded and transferred onto a tablet for the Police to view;

·                All cameras were working. However, some would have to be replaced;

·                Old cameras did not produce as good quality pictures as new HD cameras; and

·                There were no infrared cameras.

RESOLVED: That the report entitled CCTV Operations report be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Joint Executive to consider the report entitled CCTV Operations Report.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES

To inform the Committee of the work undertaken by the Officer Management Board since the last meeting.

RESOLVED: That the work carried out by the Officer Management Board since the last meeting of the Joint Executive be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure that the Joint Executive is updated regarding the work and outcomes of the Officer Management Board.

Audio Recording – 45 Minutes 30 Seconds

Rob Gregory, Assistant Director – Communities & Neighbourhoods, Stevenage Borough Council, presented the report entitled Update From Officer Management Board on behalf of Ian Couper, Service Director – Resources, as follows:

·                At the last meeting of the Joint Executive Committee, the Governance Review was signed off;

·                The follow-up report from SIAS was attached an appendix;

·                The Governance Review was now complete;

·                Members delegated Officers to finalise the partnership agreement. This agreement had now been finalised and passed back to each individual Council for signing;

·                The CCTV Partnership Manager had provided a list of all the Partner owned cameras, their current status and when they might need to be replaced;

·                The Partnership Revenue Budget was detailed on page 21 within the report; and

·                Owing to changes made to the allocation of cameras,  all Council owned cameras came through the partnership and all external owned cameras came through the company.

The following Members asked questions:

·                Councillor Joan Lloyd

In response to the Member’s question, Rob Gregory responded that East Hertfordshire, Hertsmere and North Hertfordshire still needed to update their Constitutions to reflect the agreed Terms of Reference for the Joint Executive.

RESOLVED: That the work carried out by the Officer Management Board since the last meeting of the Joint Executive be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To ensure that the Joint Executive is updated regarding the work and outcomes of the Officer Management Board.

REPORT OF THE HEAD OF HOUSING AND HEALTH, EAST HERTS COUNCIL

To inform the Committee of the work which has recently commenced between East Herts Council and the Town Councils for Hertford, Ware and Bishop’s Stortford regarding the way CCTV is governed within the district of East Herts.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the work being carried out by East Herts Council and the Town Councils of Hertford, Ware and Bishop’s Stortford to review the CCTV governance arrangements within the district of East Herts, be noted;

(2)       That the Officer Management Board be asked to review any emerging options in detail and refer any substantive issues and implications to a future Joint Executive CCTV Committee for consideration.

REASON FOR DECISIONS: To ensure that the Joint Executive is fully apprised regarding the future of East Hertfordshire’s CCTV Management Arrangements.

Audio Recording - 50 Minutes 25 Seconds

Jonathan Geall, Head of Housing and Health – East Hertfordshire District Council,  presented the report entitled Outline Options for the Future of East Hertfordshire’s CCTV Management Arrangements, as follows:

·                Members were being asked to note the work being carried out by East Herts Council and the Town Councils of Hertford, Ware and Bishop’s Stortford to review the CCTV governance arrangements within the district of East Herts;

·                That the Officer Management Board be asked to review any emerging options in detail and refer any substantive issues and implications to a future Joint Executive CCTV Committee for consideration;

·                In East Herts, worked had started to look at the location and condition of the cameras;

·                There was some confusion about who decided which cameras needed replacing;

·                In October 2019, officers of East Herts Council and the Town Councils for Hertford, Ware and Bishop’s Stortford met to begin to consider governance options, as outlined further at paragraph 8.1; and

·                Members were directed to Sections 9 and 10 within the report.

The following Members asked questions:

·                Councillor Joan Lloyd; and

·                Councillor Peter Boylan.

In response to questions raised, Jonathan Geall responded as follows:

·                Partners could withdraw from the partnership. However, there were break clauses;

·                If the Town Council took over contractual responsibilities, they would be subject to similar break clauses; and

·                The Officers Management Board considered major implications.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That the work being carried out by East Herts Council and the Town Councils of Hertford, Ware and Bishop’s Stortford to review the CCTV governance arrangements within the district of East Herts, be noted;

(2)       That the Officer Management Board be asked to review any emerging options in detail and refer any substantive issues and implications to a future Joint Executive CCTV Committee for consideration.

REASON FOR DECISIONS: To ensure that the Joint Executive is fully apprised regarding the future of East Hertfordshire’s CCTV Management Arrangements.

The Chair led a brief discussion on future meetings and advised that it had been agreed that the next meeting would take place in June at Hertsmere Borough Council and the one after that in November.