The promise of CCTV in early childhood settings in England

Recent cases of serious abuse and neglect in early childhood settings in England have intensified calls for mandatory closed-circuit television (CCTV). This colloquium examines the growing association between safeguarding and visibility, distinguishing CCTV's evidential value from the less established claim that continuous surveillance can prevent harm. Drawing on Berlant's concept of cruel optimism and Lyon's work on surveillance culture, I consider how CCTV becomes invested with the promise of the safe nursery. I argue that this risks narrowing attention towards individual deviance while obscuring the organisational, cultural and workforce conditions through which abuse may occur or continue. The paper concludes by considering the implications of mandating CCTV for trust, privacy and the normalisation of surveillance.