Question

To ask the Senior Deputy Speaker, with regard to the new CCTV cameras being installed around the Chamber of the House, whether the CCTV recordings will be watched in real time or saved for retrospective review; who will be watching or reviewing the images; when the captured recordings will be deleted; and whether the cameras will have the capacity to record sound even though there is no plan to do so at the moment.

Strict controls are in place for CCTV footage and reassurance regarding these is being provided to Member bodies, including the Services Committee and the Commission. Members from these bodies have also attended or have been invited to tours of Parliament’s Security Operations Centre, to witness some of the privacy controls in action.

Parliament’s Security Camera Policy is available publicly on the Parliament website. This provides some details of our security camera systems, including that:

• CCTV operators are designated and trained by the Parliamentary Security Department to operate CCTV equipment. Non-designated personnel may also monitor CCTV systems on an as-required basis for specific purposes but when this happens, they will do so under the overall supervision of a designated operator. In exceptional situations such as illness or emergencies, non-designated operators may operate systems but these are logged and the reasons recorded.
• As a general rule, images captured are usually deleted after 28 days. However, it may be appropriate to retain images or information for a longer period where it is needed for evidential, investigative or training purposes.
• The cameras do not record conversations as they do not have the technical capacity to record sound. There are no plans to add that functionality.

I am advised that releasing the specific details of our security arrangements, including CCTV, would be useful for an adversary planning an attack on Parliament. For these reasons, releasing the requested details further to those outlined in the Policy would compromise the safety and security of those working on and visiting the Parliamentary Estate.