Kent & Medway Safety Camera Partnership
5.22 In December 2005 the Secretary of State for Transport announced that safety camera activities and partnerships are to be integrated into the wider road safety delivery process. From 2007/08 the funding of the Kent and Medway Safety Camera Partnership (KMSCP) will be integrated into the wider road safety activities of Kent County Council and Medway Unitary, under their separate LTP processes. Both authorities remain committed to working together to support the KMSCP and to continue to deliver casualty reductions across Kent and Medway. This change in national policy is aimed at giving greater flexibility to local authorities, the police and the other agencies to pursue which ever locally agreed road safety measures will make the greatest contribution to reducing road casualties in their area. It will also provide greater financial stability and facilitate long term planning of such measures.
5.23 Funding is sought for the ongoing support of the KMSCP from April 2007. Kent's safety camera investment programme takes into account the changes announced by Government, to transfer the financing of safety camera partnerships from the current "netting-off" scheme to additional funding through the LTP process. The KMSCP was established in July 2002. It operates safety cameras in Kent though fixed speed enforcement sites, red-light enforcement sites at signalled junctions and also through mobile speed camera enforcement. Analysis of crash records at sites in Kent shows safety cameras to make a significant contribution to achieving Kent's casualty reduction targets, achieving 50% reductions in KSIs and reductions of approximately 25% for all other casualties at camera sites. In addition to forming an important and cost-effective element of Kent's Road Safety Plan and in particular its Speed Management Strategy, KMSCP also carries out a series of targeted and highly effective publicity campaigns. An example of which is the "Handle it or Lose it" campaign aimed at riders of high-powered motorcycles, which have been involved in speed related KSI collisions in some parts of Kent. Under this new approach the proposed provision and deployment of cameras will be ranked against other road safety interventions in determining the cost-effectiveness of Kent's road safety programme. Kent's Safety Camera Investment Programme for 2007/08 to 2010/11 is outlined in Chapter 9.