South Tyneside CCTV Cost Cutting

The number of CCTV cameras in South Tyneside will be cut in half as council tries to cut costs.

18:36 11 March 2019

South Tyneside Council can no longer afford to keep all its current community wardens and CCTV cameras as it needs to save £12million to meet the demand in services for vulnerable adults and children. Apart from reducing the number of CCTV cameras in half, the council has also decided to increase its council tax by 3.95per cent.

 

Lead member for innovation and resources, Coun Ed Malcolm, said that the council is forced to “transform and change” to meet demands and “reduce services that are no longer sustainable.”

 

He added: "We appreciate the work that the wardens have done, however it's a service which is just not affordable.

 

"At its height there were around 20 wardens in South Tyneside funded by the long gone 'Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.'

 

"And to our credit, this council continued to pay for the service after the fund stopped, all other Tyne and Wear authorities have ceased to fund the service."

 

He also said: "We're proposing to reduce the numbers of CCTV cameras we have, we currently have 109 cameras - this is the highest of any North East council.

 

"The proposal is to reduce the number of cameras by half, however fixed cameras will remain in areas that they're most needed such as town centres, and there will be an increase in the use of mobile cameras.

 

 

"We will work with the police to ensure there is sufficient coverage in the borough and we're confident that the planned reduction of CCTV cameras will not have a detrimental effect on the community safety in the borough."