A CONSULTATION on proposals to place CCTV in a number of private hire vehicles following the successful roll-out of cameras in Hackney carriages across the town has concluded.

Last April, cabinet approved £173,500 in funding from the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA) under the Transport Innovation Fund to pilot the introduction of CCTV in Hackney carriages.

This initiative aims to enhance both passenger and driver safety by deterring criminal activity and supporting drivers in managing challenging behaviour.

It also looks to encourage more drivers to work during late and unsociable hours, increasing the availability of taxis in the town centre during busy weekend periods.

A consultation was undertaken with Hackney carriage drivers and, despite a third of respondents stating they did not want the cameras inside their vehicles, the scheme was passed earlier this year.

The pilot scheme was initially rolled out last month and a further review is set to be carried out later this year to determine the effectiveness of the project.

However, there are still funds available from the scheme and so the council has subsequently put forward proposals to put CCTV in private hire vehicles that current hold a home-to-school transport contract with the local authority.

A six-week consultation period officially ended last week and the results have found that most drivers who responded would be in favour.

A report said: “In order to share the proposed changes to the policy, the private hire vehicle conditions and the dual driver conditions and capture the views of all interested parties, a public consultation was carried out in relation to CCTV in Barnsley Council private hire vehicles on home to school transport contacts.

“The consultation ran for six weeks.

“Ten responses were received to the consultation.

“Six respondents are in favour of the scheme, three were against - raising issues and concerns in relation to the quality of the first installations that were completed earlier this year in our Hackney carriage vehicles.

“One respondent asked a list of questions and when the responses were provided, they verbally confirmed that they were fully supportive of the scheme.”

The scheme is set to be recommended to cabinet for approval.