The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has said it will remove cameras made by Chinese CCTV firm Hikvision.
The DWP confirmed it “will not be using any security camera equipment manufactured in China” amid an overhaul of its security apparatus.
The Chinese company Hikvision has more than a million cameras installed in schools, hospitals and police departments across the UK.
However, it is at the centre of controversy after last year a Hikvision camera recorded Matt Hancock embracing an aide, which forced him to resign.
There are also concerns by civil liberties campaign groups that it was added to the Chinese government’s persecution of the Uyghur minority.
It comes after the Department for Health banned the procurement of any new Hikvision equipment amid a Whitehall crackdown on the company.
Meanwhile, MPs have urged the government to stop buying its cameras and other security systems.
Hikvision, which is part-owned by the Chinese government, has been blacklisted in the US.
In a letter to campaigners at Big Brother Watch, a civil liberties campaign group, the DWP said: “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.”
According to a Freedom of Information request released last yearm the DWP has 194 cameras installed at 51 locations.
A Hikvision spokesman told the Telegraph: “It must be clarified that Hikvision does not respond directly to public tenders.
“Like all manufacturers, we sell through distribution partners and not directly to the end user. Tenders by government departments, which adhere to a strict procurement process are with installer contractors.
“In the case of the DWP, one of our partners was invited to bid for the contract in a fair process. On this occasion they came in second in a very competitive tendering process.
“This was carried out in the same way as any other bid for a public tender, Hikvision was not disqualified on the basis of nationality.
“It is important to note that this is not a sudden rip and replace – all tenders take time to adhere to due process, the DWP tender in question is no exception.
“Although our partner did not win this particular project they have since been awarded some smaller installations.”
Big Brother Watch said the decision to remove Hikvision cameras from the DWP was an “an enormously welcome development that could not come soon enough”.
They added: “Given the role Hikvision plays in the ongoing brutal repression of Uyghurs in Xinjiang.
These surveillance companies have no place in the UK and it is an outrage that taxpayers’ money is funding companies so closely linked to genocide.”
The Standard has contacted the DWP for comment.
