A council has been told it has significant weaknesses in the arrangements for its CCTV.

A recently published internal audit annual report said that generally “reasonable assurance” was being provided by Redcar and Cleveland Council across a number of service areas when it came to the framework of governance, risk management and controls it has in place.

But it picked out CCTV arrangements as the one “significant control weakness” which was deemed to be of only limited assurance.

The audit by Veritau identified a number of issues for which agreed actions are now being undertaken.(Image: LDR)

It said the council had been unable to confirm that CCTV systems in operation had been fully checked for compliance with relevant legislation, including that relating to information governance, while managers were not aware of the appropriate policies and guidance they had to abide by.

There was a lack of a structured approach to maintenance requirements for CCTV across the council and no central register to identify the location of all CCTV camera equipment.

Meanwhile, there was also no formal arrangement with third parties hosting CCTV equipment on the council’s behalf to identify and mitigate any associated risks.

Earlier this year it was announced that, as part of a successful £20m levelling up partnerships bid to the last government, the council planned to invest a sum estimated at around £260,000 in improved CCTV amid plans to replace existing cameras and completely refurbish its control room – for which a contract for the work is due to be awarded.  In response to the audit findings, a number of actions have been agreed with deadlines also being set.(Image: LDR)

Managers and responsible officers will be identified for all CCTV schemes and trained to demonstrate compliance with an updated code of practice.  They will also be trained to carry out regular system checks, record any outages and ensure effective maintenance arrangements are in place to report significant issues immediately.

A central register of all public space surveillance camera equipment, including the location of each piece of equipment, will be completed to comprehensively map these assets and then maintained by a single point of contact.

All third parties involved will be identified with the council reviewing existing and future requirements and seeking appropriate agreements.

Bins set on fire In June, Councillor Philip Thomson questioned CCTV provision on the Lower Promenade at Saltburn after an incident in which eight waste bins were set on fire.

A response received at a meeting by Cllr Thomson and read by council leader Alec Brown said: “The current CCTV system has been limited in its ability to take on new cameras due to its age.

“[We are] presently looking to award a contract for refurbishment of the CCTV control room and…to add in additional and temporary cameras.

“Additional cameras will be looked at for Saltburn as part of the process.

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“It is accepted that CCTV is a valuable crime prevention tool as well as providing community reassurance, but even when crime and anti-social behaviour is observed by CCTV and information shared with the police, a prosecution is not guaranteed.”

Cllr Thomson said: “The local authority CCTV has not been extensive enough and the quality of the analogue system which has been used over the years does not always have the definition to allow proper identification of individuals.

“The new money is due to be invested in more proficient CCTV equipment which I hope will have a greater range beyond current coverage.”