Issue - meetings

Matter for Decision

Cambridge City Council (CCC) and Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC) have both operated CCTV services for many years as part of their respective Community Safety initiatives. Following agreement by the leaders of both Councils to investigate the potential for sharing CCTV services, an officer group has considered a range of options for working collaboratively and the report recommended pursuing a shared service.

 

Decision of the Leader

Resolved to:

 

(i)             Seek in-principle agreement for establishing a joint CCTV service with Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC).

(ii)            Delegate authority to the Director of Environment, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, Chair and Opposition Spokes to establish a shared service, based in Huntingdon, on the basis of a detailed business case.

 

Reason for the Decision

As set out in the Officer’s report.

 

Any Alternative Options Considered and Rejected

Not applicable.

 

Scrutiny Considerations

The committee received a report from the Director of Environment.

 

The committee made the following comments on the report:

 

(i)             Expressed concern that services could be relocated to Huntingdon and questioned whether HDC operators would have the specialist knowledge of the City to operate the service.

(ii)            Requested Cambridge City Council ‘host’ CCTV services.

(iii)          Requested further information on where the money would be saved for the service that would be delivered.

 

In response to Members’ questions the Director of Environment said the following:

 

(i)             It was vital that operators would be given appropriate training; and this was part of the proposal.

(ii)            There were similar levels of service standards and professionalism in Huntingdon and Cambridge.

(iii)          Staff would be appointed on merit to the shared service as part of the recruitment process.

(iv)         Officers undertook to include the code of conduct in the key principles of the Officer’s report (section 8.3).

(v)           There will be full consultation arrangements established with staff, Trade Unions, the Chair and Executive Councillor for the Strategy and Resources Scrutiny Committee, Opposition Spokespersons and other key stakeholders. Any issues would be reported back to committee.

 

Councillors requested a change to recommendation 2.2). Councillor Rosenstiel formally proposed to amend the following recommendation from the Officer’s report (amendments shown as bold text):

 

To delegate authority to the Director of Environment, in consultation with the Leader of the Council, Chair and Opposition Spokes to establish a shared service, based in Huntingdon, on the basis of a detailed business case.

 

The Committee unanimously approved this amended recommendation.

 

The Committee resolved unanimously to endorse the recommendations as amended.

 

The Leader approved the amended recommendations.

 

Conflicts of Interest Declared by the Leader (and any Dispensations Granted)

Not applicable.