Fears over 'poaching' drone pilots in Sunderland amid increase in airborne war on crime

Sunderland City Council, in recent years, purchased several drones to help with enforcement work across the city, including action on fly-tipping and waste-dumping offences.

A presentation to councillors back in 2021 said the drones would help the council to monitor fly-tipping in “hidden places” and could provide key aerial images and intelligence for council officers in their investigations.

Since the city council purchased the drones, they have been used in joint-work with Northumbria Police to investigate anti-social behaviour, including reports of off-road motorcycles.

At a presentation to the council’s Economic Prosperity Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday (September 10), councillors received an update on the council’s ‘eyes in the sky’.

It was confirmed the council had purchased a third drone which could be deployed in wet weather, and that the new drone had improved picture quality and better battery life when compared to the existing drones.

A presentation to councillors said there had been 25 ‘drone deployments’ across the city and that drones were used primarily for environmental crime, such as monitoring fly-tipping “hotspots” and for anti-social behaviour.

Councillors heard the council had two trained drone pilots and that another two people were going through training, with a hope of four qualified drone pilots being in place by the end of the year.

It was noted that drone pilot activity was an additional responsibility taken on by existing council staff, such as environmental enforcement officers.

Due to the existing number of trained pilots, as well as rules around the use of drones including risk assessments and ‘flight plans’, it was confirmed the drones are only used around once a week presently.

Councillor Susan Watson said she “felt deflated” by the level of drone use, but council officers said they hoped that with additional drone pilots, the council could use them more often.

Council officers said that Sunderland City Council was the first local authority in the region to use drones to tackle environmental crime and anti-social behaviour, and that other councils had visited to look at how the technology is used on Wearside.

Councillor Mark Burrell, chair of the Economic Prosperity Scrutiny Committee, quizzed the council officers in attendance about the training arrangements for drone pilots.

He noted that there was no “uplift” or “allowance” for the additional responsibility and raised concerns about staff being “poached” by other local authorities.

Following questions, it was established that Sunderland City Council pays for training but that drone pilots don’t have to pay back even some of the training costs if they leave the local authority.

Cllr Burrell said most companies have processes in place to retain staff for a period of time post-training, or to claw back at least some of the training costs when staff leave.

The councillor said that Sunderland’s drone pilots “should get some sort of uplift for all that extra skill” and to “protect them from being poached”.

“They’re going to be eligibly poached if some people are paying more, we will have been training them up and then other local authorities may well be poaching our operatives which is a concern,” he added.

Michelle Coates, the council’s neighbourhood enforcement manager, said the training costs issue had been raised internally with human resources but that there was “nothing we could hold [the drone pilots] to”.

She added she would “run it past them [human resources] again”.

Gavin Bell, environmental enforcement manager at Sunderland City Council, also cited one example of a drone pilot from another local authority who was “asking if there was any jobs in Sunderland”.

“The drone pilots we do have are really enthusiastic and the level of training that is required is hard going,” he added.

Sunderland City Council’s website states qualified drone pilots need to pass theory and practical flight exams and operators have “overall responsibility for making sure every flight takes place safely and within the law”.

The qualified drone team also need to store images and video recordings securely and ensure that images and video recordings are only taken “when required”, as well as “securely destroying” any material which is not relevant in line with data protection rules.

Sunderland City Council, in an announcement about the use of two drones in 2022, said the drones would cost £11,700 with licences and officer training of £2,700.

The council also insisted their use would be in line with Civil Aviation Authority regulations and in compliance with the Data Protection Act to protect the privacy of residents.

Councillor Claire Rowntree, speaking in August, 2022, as then deputy council leader and cabinet member for clean green city, said drones had been used in planning and surveying work, but could also help “detect and deter fly-tippers”.

“Investigation and monitoring work that could have taken a lot longer on foot can now be done by air survey,” she added.

“The drones are a smart and efficient piece of new technology that’s now being used for residents as we work together on improving our city and environment.

“The drones are not about watching or the surveillance of residents, it’s about helping residents and part of our drive for a more dynamic, cleaner and greener city.”

More information about Sunderland City Council’s use of drones can be found via the local authority’s website here: www.sunderland.gov.uk/drones