Closed Circuit Television - CCTV

Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) is a
television system CCTV-Control-Room-2020 which operates on a "closed loop" basis. Unlike broadcast television which is available to anyone with a suitable receiver, CCTV pictures are only available to those directly connected to the loop, which in Cheshire East's case is the central monitoring control room in Macclesfield Town Hall. The loop is a physical link consisting of a fibre-optic cable which carries the picture from the camera to the Control Room.

Following a number of developments and improvements over the years Cheshire East’s CCTV network now covers numerous locations in 13 towns across the Borough. The entire network is maintained by the Council’s small team of CCTV Maintenance Technicians.

Voluntary external audit

The CCTV Team are very proud to have passed a voluntary
external audit by CCTV-SCC-Certification-mark the Home Office (UK Surveillance Camera Commissioner) showing that we work to the very highest of standards in the industry putting data security, transparency and the public at the heart of what we do. We have been awarded the Commissioners Code of Practice Mark valid until 2025.

The team have had a second audit and have also been awarded British Standard 7958 for the Management and Operation of Public Space CCTV .

UKAS

Code of Practice for CCTV

Cheshire East Councils CCTV System meets it obligations under the Surveillance Camera Commissioners 12 Guiding Principles and works to the current Council Code of Practice (PDF, 631KB) for the use of CCTV across the borough. This document will be reviewed by the CCTV Manager yearly unless changes make it necessary to review sooner. Each review will be updated here, in local libraries and council customer service desks across the borough.

The impact of CCTV

CCTV is not only a deterrent, and provides reassurance to the public, it also provides effective means of detecting crime and assisting the police in identifying offenders. The need for CCTV cameras is continually being assessed by the Council and its partners. Cameras are installed, removed and relocated as and when necessary for the benefit of the Borough’s residents, commercial sector and visitors, and to assist the Police in preventing and reducing crime. The system operates in conjunction with the Police and other emergency services, providing evidence for many prosecutions. If CCTV Operators notice an incident they can advise the police and direct them where to go. CCTV contributes to reducing the fear of crime and increasing the perception of security in the areas covered by the cameras.

Who the pictures are seen by

Cheshire East Borough Council employs 8 BTEC Advanced trained CCTV Operators, 2 Advanced qualified Supervisors and 1 BTEC Professional qualified CCTV Manager who are all independently vetted by Cheshire Police holding NPPV Level 2 clearance. Any live pictures viewed by the team can, if necessary, also be seen simultaneously by the Cheshire Police at the Police resource deployment centre based within their Winsford Headquarters

The camera movements are strictly controlled and are limited by the Human Rights and Data Protection legislation. Where necessary ‘privacy zones’ are set up on the equipment which prevents staff in the control centre from invading the privacy of residents in their own homes.

How long images are kept for

Images/ recordings are kept on the control room system for a maximum period of 21 days unless they are required for evidential purposes for criminal prosecution. In such instances, the information is retained on a secure server for 6 months, although it may be kept by Cheshire Police until after the court cases are completed, including any appeal that might be made. At the end of the 21 day period the information in the control room is automatically overwritten.

Cameras in Cheshire East

There are currently over 153 ‘on street’ cameras deployed in and around the Borough’s towns. We also have 13 mobile CCTV cameras which can respond to changing activity across the borough.

CCTV operators are instrumental in dealing with approximately 1,100 incidents a month. Many of these incidents have assisted the Police in undertaking their duties.

CCTV Camera locations

You can view the locations of our public space CCTV cameras across Cheshire East. Our permanent CCTV cameras are in yellow and our redeployable CCTV units are in red.

Getting in touch

To request a review of the CCTV Footage, email informationrequests@cheshireeast.gov.uk

For general enquiries, email control.room@cheshireeast.gov.uk. We aim to respond to emails within 72 hours so do not use for emergencies.

For Police emergencies, dial 999 or 101 depending on severity and the Police will radio the Control Room.

For out of hours council emergencies such as highways issues, homelessness, building control, please call 0300 123 5025.

Please remember we are governed by GDPR and the Data Protection Act 2018 so we will be unable to give out any personal data including yours unless you make a specific request as per the below section “The Procedure for the release of evidence”.

To contact the Control Room Manager, email control.room@cheshireeast.gov.uk and title your message "FAO the CR Manager." Any complaints should be made to the councils complaints team.

Requests to review or release CCTV

All requests for the release of data shall be channelled through the Councils’ Information Rights Team who can be emailed on informationrequests@cheshireeast.gov.uk. The Operational Manager will then investigate the request and will at all times ensure that the procedures comply with the Data Protection legislation.

Data from the CCTV system is primarily released to the Police and any other agencies as agreed by the Information Rights Team and the Operational Manager. In certain circumstances it can also be released to members of the general public whose images happen to get recorded, as long as the relevant requests have been made to the Information Rights Team via the informationrequests@cheshireeast.gov.uk address.

We make a charge for this service. The fees are:

£60 +VAT per hour to review the CCTV and
£60 +VAT for a copy of the disc
There are no charges for Subject Access Requests

Subject Access Requests

Under certain circumstances, footage can also be released to members of the general public whose images happen to get recorded, as long as the relevant requests have been made to the Information Rights Team. The images of anybody except the requester will be blurred out prior to release. To make a Subject Access Request, visit our right of access page.

Surveillance camera commissioner - self assessment tool and code of practice

Your organisation should comply with the 12 guiding principles of the surveillance camera code of practice. Complete this easy to use self assessment tool (PDF, 285KB) to find out if yours does.

This self assessment tool will help you and your organisation identify if you’re complying with the principles in the code. It should be completed in conjunction with the surveillance camera code of practice.

CCTV documents

Annual reviews for the Town Centre CCTV Scheme alongside statistics and consultation results.