Here to stay: Council leader says Lincoln’s CCTV will remain operational amid budget cuts, but savings still need to be made.
The City of Lincoln Council vowed to keep the CCTV system running after a public consultation showed overwhelming support for the service.
Pressure was put on council leaders as 91% of 341 of respondents thought that Lincoln requires a public CCTV system.
The CCTV review comes as the authority needs to reduce its budget by £2.75 million following the government’s spending review.
The focus will now move on to looking at how savings can be made, with the 24/7 CCTV service costing £434,340 per year to operate.
Leader of the City Council, Councillor Ric Metcalfe, explained public opinion was taken into consideration and CCTV is here to stay, but admitted there is significant pressure on revenue budgets.
“Ultimately we do still need to reduce the cost of the service and I’m very keen that we continue to look for inventive ways to provide good services that reduce our overheads.”
Lincoln’s CCTV is mostly funded by the City Council, with around 17% coming from some local businesses and third parties.
In the CCTV consultation, residents had mixed views over who should pay for CCTV, but only around 17% believed CCTV should be funded solely by the council.
The CCTV room receives images from 133 council and third party owned cameras, as well as audio signals from 200 radios across the city.
Recordings are used as evidence by the police and live incidents can be tracked helping to call emergency services.
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