IT WAS hailed as a major step forward in public safety for users of black cabs and private hire cars in Edinburgh, as well as their drivers, but one year on the capital’s much-vaunted advent of licensed CCTV cameras in cabs for safety reasons has had precisely nil applications.
Out of more than 1,300 taxi cabs in Edinburgh, only ten licence-holders have approached the council to seek licences, and these were for forward-facing cameras. No applications have been received by the City of Edinburgh Council for licences for internal CCTV safety cameras.
In June last year, the city’s regulatory committee agreed to allow forward-facing cameras and CCTV to be installed in licensed taxis and private hire cars.
At the time, the committee instructed the then acting director of services for communities to provide annual updates detailing the number of applications received.
The committee will hear later today that “since May 1, 2014, the council has received no applications for licence variations to allow the installation of crime prevention and safety cameras within taxis or private hire cars.”
The report to the committee adds: “Since May 1, 2014, the Council has received 10 applications for variations of licence to allow the installation of forward-facing cameras. Eight of these have been permitted, and two are currently being processed.”
The problem of lack of demand stems from cab licence holders apparently being unable or unwilling, or both, to become the "data protection controllers" as required for the operators of CCTV cameras under the Data Protection Act 1998.
The council made it clear when the system was brought in last June that it would not act as a data controller for the vehicles, and according to one senior source at an Edinburgh private hire company “that made the whole thing a non-starter.”
He added: “Our drivers simply cannot afford the time and the money that it takes to learn how to be a data controller.
“You would then have to factor in the expense of dealing with the system and making any images available to those who need to see them.
“It was a good idea, but sadly it has failed in practice.”
A spokesman for Edinburgh Council said last night that the use of cameras had been requested by the taxi trade in the city, and it would be appropriate for them to comment on the lack of demand.
A committee member at one of the capital’s major taxi firms spoke to The National on condition of anonymity. He blamed the council for failing to set up a proper data protection system for which they would have responsibility, rather than drivers.
He said: “The forward-facing cameras have been installed by a few drivers because you can get a discount from your insurance company if you have them.
“The CCTV cameras are a different matter altogether. They are a great idea but no driver I know really wants to take responsibility for data protection.
“At the moment you have to pay £50 to be able to put a camera in your cab, but that is all you get – the council wants to make its money and wash its hands of you.
“It’s asking a lot for a self-employed driver to become an expert on CCTV rules and data protection. More drivers would certainly be interested if the council were to take on the jobs associated with data protection.
One driver told The National: “We work by the rule that what happens in a taxi stays in a taxi, and a lot of drivers are worried about what will happen if people start demanding to see what we have recorded on camera. The licensing authority should take responsibility for the system.”
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