Senior councillors asked to back plans to move Flintshire CCTV camera monitoring over the county border to Wrexham

Senior councillors will be asked to back plans to move CCTV monitoring over the border from Flintshire to Wrexham in a bid to save money.

Flintshire Council’s CCTV control room is currently located in a secure monitoring suite located in a part of Mold’s County Hall which has been earmarked for demolition.

The two local authorities have been working together to explore whether the service could be provided from Wrexham’s control room based on the town’s industrial estate.

The shared service would be hosted and managed by Wrexham Council and a staff rota would be drawn up so that the two sets of cameras have two people monitoring them at all times.

Wrexham’s facility in Redwither Tower has space for an additional screen wall and desk provision is already in place. 

The proposed move will save both councils a combined total of £47,000 per year, which is to be split with £28,000 going to Wrexham and £19,000 to Flintshire.

The cameras are used to respond to public requests for help when needed, and assist in gathering intelligence for North Wales Police, as well as the fire and ambulance services.

Wrexham currently has 87 cameras compared to 119 in Flintshire, with spending on CCTV standing at £381,000 and £255,000 a year respectively.

However, Wrexham Council is facing a deficit £79,000 in its budget with the majority of the money used to cover staffing costs.

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Corporate Management and Assets, Councillor Billy Mullin, said:

“Although provision of a CCTV service is not statutory, it does offer substantial and positive community benefit and reassurance.

“CCTV is seen in many communities as a significant contributor in the fight against crime.

However, to run a facility and maintain it is expensive and economies of scale need to be reflected in any future service model.

The joint provision of CCTV services through Wrexham is seen as positive in evidencing joint working, cost sharing and securing a sustainable service.”

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet members will be asked to support the merging of the Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) monitoring function with Wrexham when it meets on 18 June.