Agenda item

Declan Khan presented the report which provided the Committee with a summary of the community consultation feedback for a new Community Safety Strategy for 2022 – 2027 and what residents thought outside of the Mayor’s plan for policing and keeping Londoners safe.

Mr Khan advised that 77% residents had felt that crime had gone up in their local area in the past 12 months and that key areas of concern for residents in the borough highlighted that burglary, robbery and vehicle crime were of most concern to them. The top 3 areas of ASB that were most concerning were rubbish/litter, drugs/drug dealing and vandalism/graffiti. When asked, residents expressed that the top 5 community safety issues overall were burglary, ASB, motor vehicle crime, rubbish/litter and drug usage/dealing. 

Cllr L Gurung asked in relation to the consultation and queried if it was carried out borough wide considering the small number of respondents from the 400,000 residents who live it Barnet. Mr Khan informed that the survey went out to 15,000 properties via a magazine and was advertised via social media, leaflets and advertisements however 145 respondents was the final number of surveys returned.

The Chair commented that one of the key priorities for the new administration is to look at the whole way the Council engages with residents overall and some suggestions are being given already as to how best to maximise engagement.

Cllr Grocock asked if there were any particular areas that responded or if the results were given from various, unidentified wards. Mr Khan advised that there were no significant numbers that came back from one particular ward. Cllr Grocock suggested that going forward it would be helpful for a box to be included on the survey so respondents can advise what ward they live in so ward members can assist with any queries and be informed of any significant issues in their area that they may be unaware of. Cllr Conway commented that she had also asked for this to ensure enough information is given about the wards residents are commenting from. Mr Cooper advised that his team are responsible for consultations and would take on board collecting location data going forward. He also informed the Committee of the Citizens Panel which would include a representation of residents from across the borough and could carry out a sample survey from this group of people to compare the findings from that with that of the wider consultation results.

ACTION: MR COOPER

Cllr Radford welcomed this approach but highlighted the issue of response bias in relation to the results that were received from the consultation. All members agreed with this. 

RESOLVED: That the Committee:

1.     Noted and commented on the summarised feedback following the public consultation undertaken between January & March 2022.

2.     The Committee gave their approval to officers to conclude drafting a new Community Safety Strategy for Barnet for 2022 – 2027 and agreed to share this draft at the Safer Communities Partnership Board (SCPB) in July 2022 for approval and implementation.