Please answer the following with regard to the new CCTV cameras currently being installed in Woodley Centre car parks (Waitrose and Headley Road):

1. When was the plan taken to any form of consultation with anyone, and what form of public consultation was undertaken?
The implementation of CCTV in car parks forms part of the Council’s Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) Strategy and is one element of the Congestion Management Plan. No consultation was undertaken on this element of the Strategy, but a number of presentations to elected members have been made during the implementation of the Strategy. No public consultation was undertaken.

2. When was it approved at council meeting?
The delivery of the Council’s ITS strategy in relation to Congestion Management was approved.

3. The names of the officers that introduced or conceived the plan
The Council are applying Section 40(1) to this question.

4. What exactly was the identified need for such expenditure and using what evidence of need?
The use of CCTV under the ITS Strategy is for monitoring traffic and identifying the cause of disruptions; queue protection for managing traffic flows safely; VMS for communicating delays and diversions to drivers; weather monitoring for identifying localised risks (e.g. fog; ice); and smart parking detection connected to a central data platform that allows drivers to see the availability of spaces, thereby reducing circulating traffic movements and improving traffic flow, reducing fuel wastage, congestion and pollution. The use of technology in these ways will enable the Council to manage its facilities efficiently with real-time data, to improve daily management and long-term planning.

5. What exactly are the identified aims of the CCTV system and what are they to be set up to monitor?
CCTV Systems in car parks will monitor vehicle movement to/from the car park, so that availability and capacity information can be collected and will also enable reported incidents (such as anti-social behaviour, vandalism and vehicle theft) to be deterred.

6. What is the actual cost of the scheme?
The costs for the Woodley town Centre car parks scheme is £56,296.65

7. Is the scheme to use Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) or Facial Recognition software and who is monitoring the safe use of the data?
No ANPR or facial recognition software forms part of the CCTV system.

8. Where did the funding for the scheme come from?
Funding for the ITS Strategy was approved as part of the Medium Term Financial Plan for 2020-25.

9. If no consultation was undertaken, why was it deemed unnecessary to do so and who made that decision?
CCTV already exists in a number of car parks and public highway locations. The precedent for using connected CCTV systems for public benefit and traffic control purposes already existed and no decision to consult on individual installation was taken.

10. Why were the councillors not informed of the system before its implementation?
Elected members were briefed on the ITS Strategy and Congestion management programme of which CCTV forms a part and continue to receive monthly update briefings.

11. Will the images or data collected be shared with any other 3rd parties?
All images and data are subject to Data Protection legislation and will not be shared. However, police authorities may make primary requests to view data generated by a CCTV system for any of the following purposes: providing evidence in criminal proceedings, the prevention of crime, the investigation and detection of crime (may include identification of offenders) and identification of witnesses in which circumstances such data will not be unreasonably withheld as there are exemptions in the Legislation to allow this data to be shared in this manner.