Purpose

In 2014 the council entered into a Memorandum
of Understanding with Avon & Somerset Police whereby the
council would own and maintain safety (speed) cameras and the
police would provide the council with funds from cost recovery of
drivers attending speed awareness courses. That funding would pay
for the upkeep of the cameras and any surplus funds would be
available for road safety initiatives.

The council currently owns six speed cameras in B&NES. Safety
cameras can only be provided at locations that are agreed with the
police. Avon & Somerset Police follow national guidance on the
siting of safety cameras. This means the cameras can only been used
at locations where there has been a history of collisions resulting
in injuries where speed was a factor in the cause of the
collision.

The cost recovery funds the council receives no longer covers the
cost of operating the cameras. This means the council would need to
find a new source of funding to keep the cameras operating. The
police have offered to take over the ownership and ongoing
maintenance of the cameras. This would not result in any change to
the level of speed limit enforcement in B&NES. Safety cameras
operate in this way in many other parts of the country including in
other parts of the Avon & Somerset Police area, such as
Somerset Council and South Gloucestershire Council.

Decision

Ownership and maintenance responsibility for
all the safety cameras in B&NES shall be transferred to the
police. As part of the transfer the council will obtain assurances
from the police that there will be no resulting reduction in speed
limit enforcement in the district. This will not have any impact on
the council’s ability to work with the police on speed
enforcement issues. The current council ownership of safety cameras
does not give it any greater influence as to where safety cameras
can be used compared to if the police owned them.