£13,563,811.59: The Cost of CCTV Surveillance in Kent
The total spending by Kent's District Councils on public facing CCTV in the years 2007-10 totalled £13,563,811.59 according to research by Big Brother Watch http://www.bigbrotherwatch.org.uk.
The spend by each local authority in Kent's Local authorities, in order of the size of their total spending on CCTV technology between 2007 and 2010, was:
Rank* | Local Authority | Total Spend |
73 | Canterbury | £1,445,345.00 |
81 | Thanet | £1,403,401.75 |
91 | Medway | £1,223,460.00 |
95 | Tonbridge & Malling | £1,186,250.00 |
99 | Sevenoaks | £1,150,021.00 |
103 | Dover | £1,107,213.00 |
122 | Shepway | £1,009,394.84 |
126 | Swale | £982,034.00 |
127 | Maidstone | £975,309.00 |
135 | Ashford | £917,357.00 |
139 | Dartford | £874,700.00 |
159 | Tunbridge Wells | £731,866.00 |
195 | Gravesham | £557,460.00 |
TOTAL | COST | £13,563,811.59 |
* Rank is out of 329 Local Authorities who installed and operated public facing CCTV
All but Gravesham of Kent's District Councils are ranked in the top half of Councils nationally (top half ranking 1 to 165).
Folkestone West Lib Dem County Councillor Tim Prater commented:
"Often CCTV makes local residents feel safer at night in public areas, but you have to question of this level of expenditure is well directed or effective. For example, despiute spending over £1million in Shepway over three years, Shepway Council now leaves many cameras unmonitored most of the time. How is that making best use of the resources they have in place? How much do those cameras add to public safety?
"It's about time all Councils had a review of their use of CCTV and discussed it with local residents. Are local people getting the service they want or expected was being delivered? What are the implications for our privacy, and what are the implications of cameras being in place and not being monitored?"
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