The council has handed the town's CCTV camera operation over to the police in what has previously been deemed a £500,000 saving.

As of 8am on January 2, 2024, Thames Valley Police now has the capacity to monitor and operate CCTV cameras in Slough.

It follows a series of talks in 2023 which saw Slough Borough Council consider the benefit of handing the CCTV over. While, Thames Valley Police pushed their agenda to bring Thames Valley area’s CCTV coverage under one roof.

In February 2023, former Councillor Balvinder Bains said: “It makes absolute sense for CCTV to be a police responsibility; they are both the biggest users of the system and already run systems in other areas of the region.

“The safety of the public is our priority and the benefits to the area and for the police directly are clear."

The council said there would be no break in service during the handover.

A Thames Valley Police spokesperson said: "Thames Valley Police assumed operations of CCTV in Slough from 8am on Tuesday, January 2, 2024. 

"CCTV is running in Slough without any impact on service or coverage. Any footage can be accessed by Thames Valley Police as required."

However, the police have confirmed there have been "some delay" in connecting the Slough cameras to the new Thames Valley Police (TVP) control room in Milton Keynes due to one of the suppliers.

"TVP have been working hard to rectify this quickly and it is being resolved. TVP will be monitoring the cameras from the new control room from next week," the police spokesperson added.

In Milton Keynes six operators monitor the area's CCTV cameras, rising to eight next week.

They are said to provide "extensive coverage" and" significantly improved" operating hours for when Slough is connected to the Thames Valley CCTV Partnership.

Talks of the handover first came to a head in December 2022 when Slough Borough Council came under fire after Thames Valley Police and Crime Commissioner Matthew Barber claimed the council had planned to turn the CCTV cameras off.

A council spokesperson said it had "absolutely no plans" to turn the cameras off.

However, Mr Barber's office said that as a result of discussions, they were "accelerating plans to migrate Slough’s cameras onto a new system operated by TVP".

In February 2023, Slough Borough Council revealed that handing over the operation could save the debt-ridden council £630,000 in operating costs - it has not been confirmed whether this figure is still accurate.