Following demands from rights groups warning that the cameras are the same as those observing major human rights abuses in Xinjiang, the Department for Work and Pensions has decided to remove Chinese state-owned surveillance cameras from its Department premises.

Sajid Javid, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, forbade the purchase of Hikvision cameras for his department earlier this year after a review of the procurement process revealed ethical issues. The Home Office, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for Housing, Communities and Levelling Up, the Ministry of Justice, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, also use these cameras in their Department buildings, among the other departments to which Big Brother Watch and others sent letters.

“During the next three years, the Department is undertaking a capital investment programme to update and upgrade its physical security systems. The Department will not be using any security camera equipment manufactured in China as part of this programme.”