Falkirk calls for CCTV funding as it axes monitoring in Michael Matheson’s constituency

Falkirk Council is to call for equitable funding for CCTV services across Scotland after it was forced to cut CCTV monitoring in Justice Secretary Michael Matheson’s own constituency.

CCTV cameras in the Falkirk council area will only be monitored at “peak times” from next year in a move which is said to save the Labour-led local authority around £75,000 a year.

Opposition councillors called for the status quo to prevail at a council meeting on Tuesday, but were told the move was unavoidable.

SNP councillor David Alexander told fellow councillors that Clackmannanshire Council, which has a similar CCTV system without 24/7 monitoring, is the only area of Forth Valley where crime is increasing.

However, Falkirk Council’s chief executive Mary Pitcaithly told the Falkirk Herald that the council had “no guarantee” that £50,000 in annual funding from Police Scotland would continue beyond 2015.

The council currently pays £146,000 a year towards the monitoring system, which costs a total of £196,000 a year. The remainder is paid by the police.

After debating four options, councillors voted 8-3 for the reduced monitoring hours.

Councillor Adrian Mahoney a member of the council executive, said there was a “postcode lottery”, with Police Scotland “paying the entire bill in some areas but not to a council facing massive budget pressures and home to Justice Minister Michael Matheson”.

The council executive said it will write to Mr Matheson to demand equitable, pro-rata funding of CCTV services across the country.