In Cheshire, the police chief constable has taken the unusual step of speaking in public against Warrington Borough Council’s proposal to stop monitoring its public space CCTV.
As put before the council’s cabinet on February 18, the council is proposing ‘complete closure of town centre CCTV control room’, as part of cost-cutting. A report to councillors stated that ‘cameras would be left switched on in fixed positions for any evidence to be viewed retrospectively’. The control room is staffed 110 hours a week; that is, not staffed in the small hours. The report described the CCTV as ‘a duplication of public services’, correctly; while under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 local government has to act on crime, the law does not specify how, and public space cameras are not statutory like other services such as libraries. The report spoke also of ‘early discussions’ with Cheshire Constabulary, ‘to identify funding options to allow the system to remain operated in real time’, pointing out that ‘it is the responsibility of Cheshire Constabulary to ensure the safety of residents’.
The day before the meeting, Chief Constable Mark Roberts said in a statement that he had ‘made multiple attempts’ to contact the council to discuss their proposals, but had yet to receive a response; ‘which is why I feel my only option is to speak out to local residents, councillors and MPs, directly. I want to make it clear that if the council goes ahead with the proposals to move to a passive, unmonitored system, I have no doubt that it will substantially diminish the number of arrests and is likely to result in an increase in crime levels in the area.’
He called the council proposal ‘a significant backwards step, which will have a substantial impact on the safety and security of local residents and businesses’. As for the ‘early discussions’ as mentioned in the report to cabinet, Mr Roberts said it was ‘simply not the case and to date we have been unable to have any constructive discussions with the council’. Mr Roberts also took issue with the council about their interpretation of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998.
The report said that cameras will be left in ‘passive position’ which would allow police to retrieve footage in support of their investigations. The report added: “During 2025 real time intervention led to circa 600 arrests and 3500 police attendance without arrest – these figures would fall substantially if the system was left in passive mode.”
Police budget
The Cheshire force like others is facing its own difficulties, balancing the books. Dan Price, the Labour Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) for Cheshire – a former Warrington borough councillor – has an approved police budget for 2026/27. While he has stressed that 30 police community support officer (PCSO) roles that were facing redundancy have been retained, other PCSO posts have not.
Petition
Andrea Morely, manager of Warrington BID (business improvement district), has started a petition online on change.org, urging the council to ‘continue to support the manning of the CCTV control room’.
Council’s reason
Labour-controlled Warrington is looking to make cuts across services, such as reducing road sweeping and dimming and turning off street lights at night; it’s proposed to review and ‘streamline’ environmental crime services and street waste collection. As for why, the council points to a revised budget gap of £130m over the next four years compared to a £90m gap it reported in December. The cabinet member for finance, Denis Matthews, blamed a ‘failed’ commercial approach and ‘inadequate budget control’. He said that ‘instead of making difficult service cuts when many other councils did, we have relied heavily on income generated from our commercial activity’. The council has an unusually long six year backlog in its audits, due partly Mr Matthews said ‘to the complexity of our commercial portfolio’. Warrington officially decides on its budget at a meeting on March 2. Warrington was one of seven councils allowed by central Government to raise council tax up to 7.49 per cent (that is, higher than the 4.99pc otherwise) without a referendum; which is still subject to councillors’ approval.
