31 January (Part 1) - The CCTV downgrade
At
last a free day so there is every chance of a Places report appearing here tomorrow.
Meanwhile Bonkers will return to Bexley Council’s promised new CCTV system.
Promised but possibly not yet fully delivered may be a fair description.
In November the result of an @tonyofsidcup FOI was reported here.
It said that under the new plan the number of CCTV cameras would reduce from more than 100
street cameras to 70 if we were lucky. There was another 100 plus in car parks,
almost all of which have gone.
Unknown to either @tony or me, Reform UK had asked similar FOI questions as a
result of which some confusing comments appeared on X on 15th January when
Bexley Council claimed that the new CCTV system had been completed. It did not
reveal that the new system was not as big as the old one.
A Reform UK supporter replied and on the face of it, it looked like someone had
lied. On past performance one would be entitled to expect that the guilty party
was Bexley Council. It is what they do. Constantly.
What is the truth of the matter? Do big fibbers remain in Bexley Reform even
after their biggest liar was kicked out of the party?
Judge for yourself. FOI responses are publicly available. Prompted by me, @tony
asked for a copy of any CCTV related FOI response sent to Reform UK. The reply said
that Bexley was transitioning to a system comprising 70ish cameras. Down from
225. (Another FOI response dated 3 July 2025.)
Apart from that, Bexley Council went into secret mode except that they revealed that
running the system will cost around £275,000 a year. Mainly on maintenance
because there is no monitoring and no trained security staff running the system.
In particular they refused absolutely to say where the cameras are so every ward in the borough
being covered was not confirmed.
CCTV was a major topic at this week’s Places meeting. On first hearing I thought
the lady Council Officer dealing with the matter was the most obnoxious we have
seen in Bexley since the bad old days. Maybe I was in a bad mood and she is no worse than all the other senior managers.
There will be a more balanced report soon.