CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 01

BACKGROUND TO THE CONSULTATION 03

METHODOLOGY 05

METHODS OF PUBLICITY AND ENGAGEMENT 10

WHO RESPONDED? 36

FEEDBACK RECEIVED 39

CONCLUSION 52

APPENDICES 60

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Cambridgeshire Constabulary conducted a formal consultation regarding the need for police service change in the region. The consultation aimed to gain feedback on its proposals to replace the outdated facilities at Parkside with both a new city centre police station and a police hub on the outskirts of . This is deemed necessary in order to meet the county’s growth and respond to the challenges of modern-day policing.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary held a consultation from Saturday 1st February until Saturday 29th February 2020, the outcome of which would be used to shape the proposals for a new police station. The consultation gave residents the opportunity to provide their views on the nature of police and crime in Cambridgeshire, the challenges faced by the Constabulary, and the principle of service change.

KEY FIGURES FROM THE CONSULTATION INCLUDE:

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 1 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

The consultation has demonstrated support for the principle of proposals to enhance the Constabulary’s service for the south of Cambridgeshire by replacing the outdated facilities at Parkside Police Station with both a new city centre police station and a police hub on the outskirts of Cambridge. The majority of responses agree that the existing facilities cannot fully respond to these changing circumstances, and that a new police hub would allow Cambridgeshire Constabulary to respond more effectively. Finally, there is overwhelming support for the retention of a police station in Cambridge city centre including a public enquiry point and base of the neighbourhood policing teams for the city centre.

To assist with the community consultation and communication, Cambridgeshire Constabulary appointed Built Environment Communications Group (BECG), a specialist communications consultancy, to form part of its wider project team for the consultation.

This report has been prepared by BECG on behalf of the Constabulary. It demonstrates the efforts made by the Constabulary to consult with as much of the community in Cambridgeshire as possible, including those who would otherwise choose not to engage with public consultations.

It was updated in June 2020 to include additional results breakdowns in the graphs in the Feedback Received section.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 2 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION BACKGROUND TO THE CONSULTATION

Cambridgeshire Constabulary sought to gain an overarching understanding of the community’s views on the principle of service change to help inform its proposals for new police facilities in the south of Cambridgeshire.

The proposals respond to the changing nature of crime and policing in Cambridgeshire alongside local population growth. Its current operation doesn’t allow the Constabulary to fully respond to today’s needs. New facilities are needed to improve its response and service to the public. Without them tackling crime will become more difficult.

Cambridgeshire Constabulary currently operates a two-centre policing model, with the county being split between north and south. The current model uses Thorpe Wood at as the main northern police station, and Parkside in Cambridge city centre as the main southern police station. Both stations contain custody facilities and are supported by smaller satellite police stations across the county.

Parkside was constructed in the 1960s and is beyond its functional age as a police facility. It requires significant investment to keep the building operational in the mid to long term. Essential maintenance was completed at Parkside in 2014, but this was only intended to extend the useable lifespan of the buildings for up to five years.

In June 2019, the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner sought the views of the public through a survey about a potential site at Milton for a new police station to replace the outdated Parkside facilities, whilst maintaining a Police Information Point in Cambridge city centre.

Having listened to the feedback received, Cambridgeshire Constabulary undertook a formal consultation on the principle of proposals for both a new city centre police station and a police hub on the outskirts of Cambridge to meet the area’s growth and to respond to the challenges of modern-day policing. This reflects the operational need of the service, and feedback received from the public on the need for access to the police in the city centre.

This consultation was designed to meet the standards expected of public stakeholder research and engagement through the following seven principles as set out by the Consultation Institute:

Principle One: The INTEGRITY of consultation The consultation must have an honest intention. Consultors must be willing to listen… and be prepared to be influenced.

Principle Two: The VISIBILITY of consultation All who have a right to participate… should be made reasonably aware of the consultation.

Principle Three: The ACCESSIBILITY of consultation Consultees must have reasonable access… using methods appropriate for the intended audience… with effective means to cater for ‘hard-to-reach’ groups and others.

Principle Four: The TRANSPARENCY of consultation Consultation submissions will be publicised unless specific exemptions apply.

Principle Five: The DISCLOSURE of consultation Consultors must disclose all material information; consultees must disclose significant minority views when representing many parties.

Principle Six: The FAIR INTERPRETATION of consultation Objective assessment, with disclosure of weightings if used.

Principle Seven: The PUBLICATION of consultation Participants have a right to receive feedback of the consultation output and of the eventual outcome of the process.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 3 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

The proposals have also been critiqued against the Cambridge City Council Code of Best Practice on Consultation and Community Engagement, which sets out its own ‘guiding principles’. A detailed summary of how this consultation has met with those principles is included in the Conclusion section of this report.

THE PROPOSALS

Cambridgeshire Constabulary proposes to replace its outdated facilities at Parkside with both a new city centre police station and a police hub on the outskirts of Cambridge. Together these will meet the county’s growth and respond to the challenges of modern-day policing. New facilities are needed to improve its response and service to the community that it serves. Without them, tackling crime will become more difficult.

Details of a final site for both the city centre police station and the hub will be subject to the outcome of this consultation on the principle of the service change proposals.

A new Cambridge city centre police station

The Constabulary understands that maintaining a station and presence in the city centre is important. It is therefore proposing to maintain a site to focus on the priorities received in feedback from last year’s public survey: • Help to deliver city centre policing through its community policing team, who will be based at this station. • Maintain a public facing enquiry office for the public to access information, speak to officers, and report crime. • To deliver an overseas registration function.

A new police hub on the outskirts of Cambridge

To meet population growth to the south, the changing nature of crime and policing, and to replace the outdated facilities at Parkside, the Constabulary is proposing to build a new police hub. Although the new location is to be decided, the options will provide a number of benefits:

• The hub will help the Constabulary to investigate complex crime more easily: Enhanced facilities will enable Cambridgeshire Constabulary to respond to, and investigate, complex crimes such as fraud and online investigations more effectively. • The hub will help speed up the court appearance process: Enhanced facilities will allow for the increased use of virtual courts. This means there will be less of a need to travel to court for sentencing, improving the average time from charge to first hearing. • The hub will maximise time for police on patrol: Increased detention provision from 12 to 24 cells will help meet current and future demand, allowing officers to return to frontline duty sooner, rather than transporting or waiting for an available cell for detainees. The location of the final site will have better road access than the city centre, be subject to less traffic, and will enable officers to respond to calls for service more efficiently. • The hub will deliver neighbourhood policing for the south to meet the increase in population and housing. • The hub will help the recruitment and retention of staff with the new building providing an enhanced working environment with natural light (particularly within custody). Better design will also reduce health and safety risks to staff, visitors and detainees. • The hub will maintain dignity, privacy and respect ensuring those dealing with mental or physical issues receive assessment in a more comfortable setting.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 4 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION METHODOLOGY

Cambridgeshire Constabulary sought to gain an overarching understanding of the community’s views on the principle of service change before finalising its proposals, and details of the new police facilities.

Whilst the Cambridgeshire Constabulary were solely consulting on changing Parkside Police Station in the Cambridge city centre, the wider impact on service change would affect those in the whole of the south of Cambridgeshire. Therefore, the consultation sought to capture the views from the whole of the region through its approach.

In order to assist with the community consultation and communication, Cambridgeshire Constabulary appointed BECG, a specialist communications consultancy, to form part of its wider project team. BECG and Cambridgeshire Constabulary actively engaged throughout the process through a series of meetings, conference calls and email correspondence.

During this consultation, public-facing events were held around the south of Cambridgeshire in locations with the largest populations. These were Cambridge, , Cambourne, Ely and . Whilst it was expected that those in Cambridge would have the highest levels of interest, multiple locations allowed the highest number of people the opportunity to get involved.

Example of an infographic used on social media to promote the drop-in sessions

Locations and times for each drop-in and flyering session were also chosen based on maximising footfall, hoping to attract residents who would typically not choose to involve themselves with the engagement process. This is particularly important, as unless members of the public are specifically and personally affected by a proposal they often will not participate.

In Cambridge, the drop-in sessions took place within two shopping centres, the Grafton Centre and Lion Yard Shopping Centre, on Saturday mornings when the centres were at their busiest. Likewise, the drop-in sessions in Ely and Huntingdon were held at times when staff at the venues suggested there would be the highest levels of footfall. For leafleting sessions, the project team took the same approach, seeking to maximise interaction by choosing multiple locations at different times of day. Further detail regarding each drop-in and leafleting session is outlined below.

The consultation took place throughout the whole month of February and was advertised two weeks in advance of it beginning. The four-week consultation period gave time for multiple drop-in sessions to take place at different times and locations. No public holidays occurred during this time period.

A consultation website was created with all information needed to meaningfully contribute so that residents could provide feedback online even if they were unable to attend any of the events held in person.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 5 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION METHODS OF PUBLICITY

A number of different methods were provided for residents to find out more information and respond:

WEBSITE: A consultation website – www.cambspoliceconsultation.co.uk – was launched on Monday 20th January 2020, which included a video, FAQs and more information about the proposals. An electronic version of the questionnaire was made available for comments to be submitted via the website from 1st February 2020 to 29th February 2020. If residents wished instead to fill out a paper form, a copy of the print version was available to download.

PUBLIC DROP-IN EVENTS: Four public drop-in events were held to inform the public about the proposals. Public places were chosen in order to be able to catch passing members of the public who might not otherwise choose to engage with the consultation process. Flyers were handed out at the drop-in events, and residents were able to provide feedback on the proposals.

VIDEO: A video was produced which sought to deliver key information about the consultation, and reasons why the proposals were being brought forward in a visual manner. The video was launched with the new consultation website and was shared across Cambridgeshire Constabulary’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.

HARD COPY QUESTIONNAIRE: Hard copies of the questionnaire were available in Parkside, Cambourne, Histon, Sawston and St Neots police stations from Saturday 1st February 2020 until Saturday 29th February 2020, during opening hours. They were also available at the drop-in events.

LEAFLETS AND POSTERS: Members of the consultation team handed out flyers to members of the public to provide them with information about the consultation. Leaflets and posters were also displayed in all libraries across Cambridgeshire from Monday 20th January 2020. Posters were also displayed in Parkside, Cambourne, Ely, Histon, Sawston, and St Neots police stations from this date.

EMAIL BULLETINS: Emails were sent to a number of stakeholders (including via the Constabulary’s eCops system) to make them aware of the consultation, how they could get involved, and encouraging them to pass the message along.

LOCAL MEDIA: Press releases were distributed to local press to announce the consultation on Monday 20th January 2020. A further press release was distributed on Monday 3rd February 2020 to highlight the start of the consultation period.

TELEPHONE AND EMAIL: Members of the public were able to call the project consultation team on 01223 827 124 or email [email protected].

SOCIAL MEDIA: Information and details about the consultation, and how the public could find out more, were published via the Constabulary’s social media accounts.

More details of each method of publicity can be found below.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 6 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION CONSULTATION QUESTIONNAIRE

To try to encourage as many people as possible to participate with the consultation, and to encourage feedback that Cambridgeshire Constabulary could use constructively, a questionnaire was created which had closed-ended questions, with an option for a longer written answer should the participant wish to feedback further. This was the case on all 8 questions, the last of which asked how residents would like to be updated on the proposals.

The questionnaire sought responses on three key themes:

• The changing nature of policing in Cambridgeshire • The need for service change • The proposals for service change to meet the changing nature of policing

The questions asked as part of the consultation were:

1. To what extent do you agree or disagree that the nature of crime and policing is changing, and the police must adapt its service to meet these challenges?

2. To what extent do you agree or disagree that new development and an increasing population in Cambridgeshire will increase demand for policing services in the area?

3. To what extent do you agree or disagree that the outdated facilities at Parkside have an impact on the ability of the police to operate effectively?

4. To what extent do you agree or disagree that the facilities at Parkside cannot meet the future challenges to policing?

5. To what extent do you agree or disagree that it is important that a police station provides dignity, privacy and respect to those that work and are within the building?

6. To what extent do you agree or disagree that a new police hub will help meet the challenges of modern-day policing and population growth in Cambridgeshire?

7. To what extent do you agree or disagree that it is important to maintain a police station in the city centre to act as a base for the neighbourhood police and where the public can walk in to access police services?

8. If you would like to be kept informed of the process moving forward, how would you like to hear more?

For questions 1-7, respondents were asked for a response from the following, as well as being able to provide free-text comments on each:

• Strongly agree • Agree • Neither agree nor disagree • Disagree • Strongly disagree • Don’t know

For question 8, respondents were offered several ways that they could receive further information.

Where the questionnaire was available

The consultation questionnaire was available to fill in online or in hard copy format. Alongside the online version of the questionnaire, visitors to the website could download a PDF of the questionnaire to print and fill out by hand if preferred.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 7 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Cover of the hard copy questionnaire

Example spread from the hard copy questionnaire

There were several ways that the community was able to fill in the questionnaire:

• ONLINE: An online version of the questionnaire was provided on the project website via www.cambspoliceconsultation.co.uk/questionnaire. Check boxes were provided to give the quantitative response, while the option to add text comments was provided via an ‘other comments’ option and free-text box. • DROP-IN EVENTS AND LEAFLETING SESSIONS: iPad versions of the questionnaire were available for residents to submit their comments at drop-in events and were carried by the project team at leafleting sessions. Those who did not want to respond at the drop-in were provided with hard copies to fill out by hand or take away. Postage-paid envelopes were given to those who took a hard copy so that they were able to send back their responses at no cost to themselves.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 8 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Electronic version of the questionnaire available at the public drop-in sessions

• POLICE STATIONS: Hard copies of the consultation questionnaires were made available throughout the consultation at police stations across the south of Cambridgeshire so that visitors and police officers were able to take one away, including at: o Parkside Police Station (Cambridge city centre) o Cambourne Police Station o Ely Police Station o Histon Police Station o Sawston Police Station o St Neots Police Station

This was published on the website and within email bulletins to key stakeholders, and residents were free to go and collect one during any of the police stations’ opening times.

All locations where hardcopies were available had freepost envelopes, which meant that those who preferred to fill in the questionnaire at home were able to post it back to the project team free of charge.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 9 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION METHODS OF PUBLICITY AND ENGAGEMENT

Cambridgeshire Constabulary took steps to ensure that the consultation was well publicised and reached all sections of the community. The survey was promoted through a comprehensive range of digital and non-digital forums, taking into account the different areas of Cambridgeshire.

PROMOTION AND ON-GOING ENGAGEMENT

In the run up to the consultation, and throughout the period, a number of methods were utilised to make the community aware of the consultation and encourage people to get involved. This complemented the public-facing engagement undertaken throughout the consultation period.

Dedicated consultation website

A website specifically for the consultation was created to make it easy for those interested to find all the information regarding the consultation in one place. A dedicated URL for the site was created, www.cambspoliceconsultation.co.uk.

The website was officially launched on Monday 20th January 2020, and the URL was included in all correspondence and materials regarding the consultation.

At the time of its launch, the website included the following pages:

• HOME PAGE: including an overview of the consultation, with the consultation video embedded • NEED FOR SERVICE CHANGE: including an overview of the history of Parkside, and an explanation of the changing environment in which the police currently work • OUR PROPOSALS: an overview of the proposed new structure for policing in the south of Cambridgeshire, including what might be included within the two facilities • GET INVOLVED: including details of the four public drop-in events and other methods for engaging with the consultation • FAQ PAGE: a frequently asked questions page, setting out reasons behind the service change, ways to get involved and other key information. This page was updated throughout the consultation period should new questions be asked by members of the public • CONTACT: including contact details and a registration form for updates online

At 9.00am on Saturday 1st February 2020, the website was updated to include an online version of the consultation questionnaire, as well as a link to a printable version. This was available on the website until 11.59pm on Saturday 29th February 2020. Further changes were made to the site to reflect that the consultation was open, including links to the questionnaire on all pages.

The website was made to be interactive and clear, with the majority of the text black on a white background, and clickable expanding boxes allowed information visible on the screen to be easy to view and understand.

Information included on the website was reviewed by BECG consultants who were not involved in the consultation to check that the information provided was enough for the public to be able to respond to the questions asked.

The website was used as the basis for information included in the consultation questionnaire hard copy, as well as the banners displayed at the public drop-in events. This was to ensure that those who were unable to attend the drop-in sessions could review all information online, with the ability to contact the project team if required, and meaningfully engage with the consultation and provide feedback.

At midnight on Sunday 1st March 2020, the website was updated to reflect that the consultation had closed and the questionnaire was removed from the website.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 10 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

The website will remain live, and updated information will continue to be added post-consultation, where appropriate.

Screenshot from consultation website homepage

Engagement with the project website

From the day that the website went live on Monday 20th January 2020 until the consultation closed (29th February), the website had received 3,141 visits from a total of 2,734 users (highlighting that some visitors came to the website more than once).

The top locations for visiting the website were as follows: 1. Cambridge: 871 visitors 2. Unknown location: 320 visitors 3. : 289 visitors 4. Peterborough: 173 visitors 5. Huntingdon: 139 visitors 6. Ely: 103 visitors 7. St Ives: 96 visitors

The vast majority of responses to the consultation, 76.6%, were made online through the website.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 11 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION Video

Video is an important tool to set out key messages for a project or proposal. Some studies have shown that consumers retain 95% of a message after watching it in a video. The Constabulary therefore created a video designed to highlight the key messages from the consultation proposals, as well as an interview with Superintendent James Sutherland of Cambridgeshire Constabulary.

The video was designed to be eye-catching and engaging, as well as informative. Key messages were included, and the interview designed to highlight the reasons why the Constabulary feels that the consultation, and the proposals, are necessary.

To ensure that the video could be viewed by those who have hearing difficulties, as well as being able to be viewed on social media without sound, the video was subtitled.

The video can be viewed on the Cambridgeshire Constabulary YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Au75N8XW7QE. At the end of the consultation period it had been viewed more than 500 times on YouTube.

Email updates

For the purposes of the consultation, a dedicated email address was set up: [email protected]. The email address was included on all publicity and materials.

Two weeks prior to the start of the consultation, emails were sent to all key stakeholders. These emails were distributed on Monday 20th February. Tailored emails were distributed from the project’s email account, according to the target audience:

• Internal email, sent to: o Staff at Cambridgeshire Constabulary • Email to external political and emergency service stakeholders, sent to: o All district and county councillors in Cambridgeshire o All parish councils in Cambridgeshire o All Council Leaders and Chief Executives in Cambridgeshire o Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue team o Community and Religious groups within Cambridgeshire o Chief executive officers of local hospitals • Email regarding local authority equalities and communities o Equalities and communities lead at all councils in Cambridgeshire o Community groups and voluntary groups in Cambridgeshire

The email included information regarding the consultation, how to get involved, and how to get in contact with the project team. The consultation flyer was also attached to the email.

Equalities and communities leads received a specific email which reflected their role and the groups they work with. The email offered copies of the materials in alternative formats – for example Braille or larger font – which could be provided on a case-by-case basis and request basis.

No requests for alternative language materials were received. Further phone calls were made, where possible, to equalities and communities leads encouraging them to respond to the consultation and pass the information on to their contacts.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 12 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Screenshot of email sent to Stakeholders

Screenshot of email sent to Equalities and Community Leads

A second round of emails was sent to the same distribution list on Monday 24th February 2020, to remind them of the closing date of the consultation and encourage final responses.

The project team received replies from a number of stakeholders, including a collective response for Cambridge City Council, Little Abington Parish Council and Witcham Parish Council.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 13 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Enquires were also received from the Community Safety Partnership Support Officer at Cambridge City Council and a councillor from Huntingdonshire District Council, and representatives of South Cambridgeshire District Council, who offered to share the consultation onto the Council’s intranet.

All feedback received via email, from stakeholders and members of the public, has been analysed as part of this report and responded to where required.

Media – Press Releases & Interview

To promote the service change consultation, two press releases were sent to a series of media outlets in Cambridgeshire. Press releases were sent on:

• MONDAY 20TH JANUARY 2020: announcing the consultation, reasons why it was being held, and how the community could get involved • MONDAY 3RD FEBRUARY 2020: highlighting the start of the consultation period and an update on the first public drop-in event

Press releases were sent to the following local media outlets:

MEDIA OUTLETS NOTIFIED 15min.It - Lithuanian About My Area Adventure Radio Anglia ITV Anglia Anglia News Archant BBC Ltd BBC Crimewatch BBC Asian Network BBC Cambridgeshire BBC East Roadshow BBC Inside Out BBC Look East BBC Midlands BBC Network BBC Radio BBC News Black Cat Radio BNO News Cambridgeshire BOB FM Bury Free Press CAMBAC Cambridge 105 Radio Cambridge Evening Cambridge Cambridge First Cambridge News News Independent Cambridge TV Cambs Times CNN Connect FM Criminal Justice Daily Mail Daily Telegraph East Anglian Daily East Anglian News East of Times Service Ambulance Service EDP Ely Standard Chronicle Fenland Citizen Haverhill Echo Heart - East Heart Cambridgeshire Huntingdon Heart FM Mercury Hunts Post Community Radio ITN News ITV ITV Anglia KLFM Free Lincolnshire Reporter Mail Online Press Nasze Strony & Polish National Masons Metro News Website Gamekeepers Newmarket Journal Newmarket News Northants Telegraph NSPCC Peterborough Evening Peterborough Peterborough Matters Police Hour Magazine Telegraph Telegraph Police Oracle Police Professional Polish Telegraph Press Association Radio Essex Royston Crow Sky Reporter South West News Sky News Spotted in Ely Star Radio Cambridge Service (SWNS)

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 14 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

SWNS Talk to That's Cambridge TV The Guardian The Non League The Sun The Times Triangle News Paper Post Wisbech Standard Your Local Paper - Kings Lynn

Press coverage

A number of local news outlets ran the story during the consultation. The first press release, which outlined the consultation, was used by the following media outlets:

• Cambridgeshire Live who ran the story “Public consultation over plans to replace Parkside Police Station” on the 20th January. The article outlines the reasons for the consultation and includes images of Parkside Police Station and the drop-in sessions. The Cambridgeshire Live website has an audience of 1,687,763 monthly unique browsers and the post was shared on social media 36 times.

Screenshot from Cambridgeshire Live website

• ITV News (Anglia) released a story entitled “Cambridgeshire Constabulary launch consultation to replace ‘outdated’ Parkside police station” on the 21st of January. The article outlines the reason behind the consultation, quotes from the Chief Constable, Nick Dean, and provides a link to the website.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 15 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Screenshot from ITV News Anglia website

• Cambridge Independent which released an article entitled “New Cambridge police station and hub could replace Parkside” on the 24th of January. The article outlines the reasons for service change and includes reference to the website and corresponding consultation events.

Screenshot from Cambridge Independent website

In addition, the website About My Area, which allows local residents to write up news stories on their area, published the second press release online. The post included information about how the first drop-in event went, and how those who had missed the first event could get involved moving forward. This was posted on 4th February, within the first week of the consultation.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 16 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Screenshot from About My Area website

Radio interviews

Two radio interviews were conducted during the first week of pre-consultation publicity. The interviews were question and answer sessions, one with Superintendent James Sutherland and another with Chief Constable Nick Dean. Both interviews took place on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire which had 92,000 daily listens:

• MONDAY 20TH JANUARY 2020 – RONNIE BARBOUR, BBC RADIO CAMBRIDGESHIRE: Superintendent James Sutherland was interviewed in the drivetime show on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire. He answered questions specifically regarding the proposals to move Parkside Police Station and how policing is changing in the South of Cambridgeshire, as well as encouraging listeners to get involved in the consultation. • WEDNESDAY 22ND JANUARY 2020 – MANN IN THE MORNING, BBC RADIO CAMBRIDGESHIRE: A second interview took place on the BBC Radio Cambridgeshire morning radio show, hosted by Chris Mann. During the interview, Chief Constable Nick Dean answered several questions related to policing in Cambridgeshire, including about the plans to move Parkside Police Station and the consultation.

eCops

Cambridgeshire Constabulary provides an email messaging system, eCops, powered by Neighbourhood Alert.

The eCops bulletin was used twice in the consultation period to build momentum and ensure that the public were kept aware of the consultation. These were sent on:

• WEDNESDAY 12TH FEBRUARY 2020: re-emphasising that the consultation was underway and encouraging responses

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 17 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

• MONDAY 24TH FEBRUARY 2020: The latter was a ‘final reminder’ to get involved in the process, ensuring that those who had previously been messaged but had not responded, were reminded to do so.

Screenshot of the Monday 24th February 2020 eCops bulletin

The e-bulletins were sent to subscribers to eCops from the following local authority areas, which were those most likely to be affected, or interested, in the consultation and proposals:

• Cambridge City • East Cambridgeshire • Huntingdonshire • South Cambridgeshire

The total number of subscribers in this list is 14,484.

Social Media

Cambridgeshire Constabulary already has established, and highly active, social media platforms, so it made sense to utilise these pre-existing accounts rather than establish new ones to publicise the

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 18 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION consultation and milestones. The consultation team liaised with the Constabulary’s corporate communications team to plan social media updates throughout the promotion and consultation periods.

The core Cambridgeshire Constabulary platforms used included:

• Facebook: www.facebook.com/cambscops • Twitter: @CambsCops • Instagram: @CambsCops

Locally focussed accounts, such as the Twitter accounts for the individual districts in the Constabulary area, were also used to highlight the consultation, including when drop-in events were taking place in their area.

Engaging content

To help with engagement, infographics were made to be used across social media. The infographics were created in Cambridgeshire Constabulary colours and ranged from maps indicating where drop-in sessions were taking place, quotes from Superintendent James Sutherland regarding why service change was necessary, and GIFs which gave further information about how to get involved and what the benefits of service change are.

GIFs and infographics were created so they could be used as stand-alone pieces without an additional text or explanations and were used to help attract people on social media with posts which were more likely to catch people’s eye than traditional text posts.

Consultation posts varied but primarily included information about service change, how to get involved and when the deadline for feedback was.

Example of a social media post used on both Twitter and Facebook

Social media engagement campaign

Social media activity began on Monday 20th January, approximately two weeks before the beginning of the consultation, and continued throughout the consultation. Posts sought to create a buzz around the consultation and included a range of posts from short video clips (which had subtitles), infographics, quote-graphics and traditional posts. Posts were published on Facebook and Twitter primarily but were also included on Instagram. Videos were published on YouTube.

Social media posts were designed to promote the drop-in events, highlight reasons behind the proposals, why views were being sought, and how the community could get involved in the consultation. A link to the consultation website was included in most of the posts to make it easy to participate.

Posts were published at different times of the day throughout the week to maximise the chances of engagement, including evenings and weekends.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 19 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Facebook post advertising the website

Twitter post on why Cambridgeshire Police is consulting on service change

Before and during the consultation, many of the posts on social media were shared by public figures within the region, such as Cambridgeshire City Council Leader, Lewis Herbert and Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Amanda Taylor, on their own social media platforms giving their followers more information about the consultation. Posts were also shared by other members of the public and community groups.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 20 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Cambridge City Council Leader, Lewis Herbert, encouraging his followers to get involved on twitter

Cambridgeshire County Councillor, Amanda Taylor, sharing the consultation website on Twitter

From Monday 20th January 2020 to Saturday 29th February 2020, 47.9% of the 3,141 visits to the website came directly through from social media channels, demonstrating the importance of social media as a tool to engage the community.

The top channels that website visitors came through were: 1. Facebook: 1,111 2. Twitter: 194 3. Instagram: 12 4. YouTube: 8

Across the four Facebook channels run by Cambridgeshire Constabulary (Cambridgeshire Constabulary, Policing Cambridge City, Policing East Cambridgeshire and Policing Huntingdonshire) posts related to the consultation collectively received 893 ‘likes’, with each post reaching between 1,314 to 11,614 unique Facebook users.

On Twitter, the five accounts (@CambsCops, @CambridgeCops, @EastCambsCops, @SouthCambsCops and @HuntsCops) collectively received 2,650 engagements and 161,935 impressions from 1st February to 29th February.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 21 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Tweet advertising the consultation which received 7,406 impressions and 202 engagements

Facebook post advertising the deadline for feedback which reached 8,096 users and received 4 shares

Posters & Flyers

Flyers and posters were produced in advance of the public consultation in order to publicise it to a wider audience and were designed to provide information about why the proposals were being put forward, as well as the ways that the public could get involved in the consultation.

Copies of these flyers and posters are available in the Appendices.

Libraries

Posters and flyers were distributed via the Cambridgeshire Libraries service’s internal distribution system on Friday 17th January 2020, being delivered to libraries on Monday 20th January 2020, two weeks before the beginning of the consultation. Letters were included in each pack of posters and flyers to provide contact details for BECG so that if the libraries ran out of copies they could request more.

The following libraries were provided with posters and flyers (in line with the libraries service’s guidelines):

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 22 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

1x A4 POSTER, 50x FLYERS Bar Hill Library Cambridge Central Library Cambourne Library Ely Library Huntingdon Library March Library St Ives Library St Neots Library Wisbech Library 1x A4 POSTER, 20x FLYERS Arbury Court Library Barnwell Road Library Buckden Library Burwell Library Chatteris Library Cherry Hinton Library Clay Farm Library Comberton Library Cottenham Library Great Shelford Library Histon Library Linton Library Littleport Library Milton Road Library Papworth Library Ramsey Library Rock Road Library Sawston Library Sawtry Library Soham Library Warboys Library Whittlesey Library Willingham Library Yaxley Library

Police stations

In addition, posters and flyers were available in the following police stations and facilities across the south of Cambridgeshire:

2X A4 POSTER, 50X FLYERS Parkside Police Station Cambourne Police Station Ely Police Station (Cambridge city centre) Histon Police Station Sawston Police Station St Neots Police Station

A total of 45 posters and 1,230 flyers were distributed to public locations in Cambridgeshire to raise awareness of the consultation.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 23 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Consultation poster at Cambridge Central Library

Consultation flyers available at Cambridge Central Library

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 24 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Consultation poster at Ely Library

Consultation flyers available at Ely Library

In addition to the flyers distributed to libraries and police stations, approximately 2,000 flyers were handed out to members of the public during flyering sessions and drop-in events, detailed below.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 25 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

PUBLIC-FACING ENGAGEMENT

Flyering sessions

In addition to leaflets available in libraries and police stations, and to maximize the number of residents spoken to, flyering sessions took place across the south of Cambridgeshire in areas with the largest populations across the consultation period.

The project team also had hard copies as well as electronic versions of the questionnaire when out flyering should residents wish to provide feedback after speaking to the project team. Dates, times and locations of the sessions were:

DATE AND TIME LOCATION Friday 29th January – 2.00pm to 4.30pm Cambridge Market Square, Cambridge Friday 29th January – 5.00pm to 7.15pm Cambridge Railway Station, Cambridge Thursday 6th February 2020 – 12.00pm to 2.00pm Ely Market Square, Ely Saturday 8th February 2020 – 10.00am to 12.00pm Morrisons Supermarket, Cambourne Saturday 8th February 2020 – 12.30pm to 2.00pm St Neots Market Square, St Neots Friday 21st February – 2.00pm to 4.30pm Cambridge Market Square, Cambridge Friday 21st February – 5.00pm to 7.15pm Cambridge Railway Station, Cambridge

Locations and dates were chosen to ensure that there was significant footfall. Markets were particularly targeted as members of the public visit these at specific times and there would be a large number of people in attendance.

Meanwhile, Friday night commuter periods were chosen for flyering at Cambridge Railway Station. The time period chosen for the railway station meant that it captured those who worked in Cambridge who were leaving the city for the day or weekend, and then those who live in Cambridge who work out of the city who are returning on the commuter trains.

Where possible, or where they were willing to do so, flyers were left with local stallholders or in coffee shops to display on their counters.

Flyers on display on a market stall at Cambridge Market Square on Friday 31st January 2020

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 26 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Flyers on display at the Grafton Centre branch of Costa on Saturday 1st February 2020

Flyers on display at the Ely branch of Starbucks on Thursday 6th February 2020

More information about each flyering session is included below:

• CAMBRIDGE: Multiple locations were chosen in Cambridge to capture different audiences. Cambridge Market Square on a Friday was chosen due to its central location and high levels of footfall during the market’s busiest periods. Likewise, flyering took place between 5.00pm and 7.00pm at Cambridge Railway Station during commuter peak time.

There were two sessions held in Cambridge, as the place with the largest population and most impacted by the proposals. These took place on Friday 31st January 2020, the day

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 27 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

before the consultation began, and Friday 21st February 2020, to encourage those who had not already done so to submit their feedback ahead of the final week of the consultation.

Project team speaking to a local resident at Cambridge Market Square on Friday 31st January 2020

• ELY: Flyering in Ely took place on market day, at the recommendation of the manager of the local supermarket, as footfall in the city was at its highest. Flyering took place between 12.00pm and 2.00pm, ahead of the second drop-in event.

The project team encouraged those they spoke to during flyering to attend the drop-in session that was happening later on in the day at Waitrose, Ely.

Project team handing out flyers at Ely Market on Thursday 6th February 2020

• CAMBOURNE: A session took place within the Cambourne Morrisons supermarket on the morning of Saturday 8th February 2020. The project team was located next to the customer service desk towards the exit of the store in order to meet with customers after the checkout, ensuring that they were not delayed as they were entering the store.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 28 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Flyers on display at Morrisons, Cambourne on Saturday 8th February 2020

• ST NEOTS: Following the session in Cambourne in the morning of Saturday 8th February 2020, the project team visited St Neots on their fortnightly market day. The project team spoke to market stall holders as well as people in the surrounding area about the proposals while handing out flyers.

Project team handing out flyers in St Neots on Saturday 8th February 2020

Drop-in events

In order to provide members of the public with the opportunity to meet with members of the project team and have their questions answered, a number of drop-in events were held throughout the south of Cambridgeshire during the consultation period.

These events were staffed by members of the project team and the Police Officers from the area, who could give first-hand examples of how the status of Parkside Police Station impacts the Constabulary’s ability to fully respond to the changing nature of crime in the south of Cambridgeshire.

The drop-in events were advertised in advance through social media, on flyers, email bulletins, in press releases and on the consultation website,

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 29 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Dates, times and locations of the drop-ins were:

DATE AND TIME LOCATION Saturday 1st February 2020 – 10.00am to 2.00pm The Grafton Centre, Cambridge Thursday 6th February 2020 – 2.00pm to 5.00pm Waitrose Ely, Brays Lane Wednesday 12th February 2020 – 4.00pm to 7.00pm Sainsbury’s Superstore, Huntingdon The Lion Yard Shopping Centre, Saturday 22nd February 2020 – 10.00am to 2.00pm Cambridge

The project team identified locations which were most accessible by public transport and all locations were wheelchair accessible. All events were held in public locations which anyone was free to visit. A number of other locations were considered for the drop-ins, including local libraries and village halls around the communities. However, these were discounted as they would not have had the footfall that the public shopping centres and supermarkets had.

Locations were chosen on the basis of population, with times and dates chosen to match when members of the public were most likely to be in those locations. This was done in consultation with the staff at the venues, to ensure that events were held at the best possible times.

The first and last events were held in Cambridge to bookend the drop-in programme – highlighting the launch of the consultation and the final week of the consultation period. It was decided that the final event should be held before the final day as it would give those who received flyers but did not respond at the drop-in event on Saturday 22nd February 2020 sufficient time to review the proposals online and provide feedback.

At the drop-in events, the project team provided the following for members of the public to engage with:

• Four display banners, including: o Welcome and contact details o Background to the consultation o Details of the proposals and reasons why they are needed o ‘Come and speak to us’ banner • 4 iPads where consultation responses could be provided • Hard copy questionnaires and postage-paid envelopes • Flyers to take away with details of the consultation, should they not be able to stop • Stickers to give out to visitors

Further details on each drop-in event is set out below:

Cambridge

Owing to its central location, population size, and it being the home to Parkside Police Station, Cambridge city centre was chosen for two of the four drop-in sessions. These were timed to mark the launch of the consultation period, and the beginning of the final week of the consultation.

The two drop-in events took place on Saturday 1st February 2020 (Grafton Centre) and Saturday 22nd February 2020 (Lions Yard Shopping Centre).

The two sessions were held between 10.00am and 2.00pm, times chosen as this was when the shopping centres were at their busiest and it allowed interested parties to come and speak to the project team on a typically non-working day.

• GRAFTON CENTRE - SATURDAY 1ST FEBRUARY 2020: During the first drop-in event at the Grafton Centre, 58 members of the public provided feedback, while many more took flyers away to review the information at home. A number of paper copies of the questionnaire were also taken with some residents taking a flyer to fill the online questionnaire in at a later time.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 30 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Alongside the flyering session held the day before, approximately 700 flyers were handed out on Friday 31st January and Saturday 1st February 2020.

Facebook post advertising the Grafton Centre drop-in event

Project team speaking to residents at the Grafton Centre on Saturday 1st February 2020

• LIONS YARD SHOPPING CENTRE – SATURDAY 22ND FEBRUARY 2020: The project team returned to Cambridge city centre for the final drop-in session, which took place a week before the conclusion of the consultation.

During this event, 51 members of the public filled out questionnaires after speaking to the team.

Alongside the flyering session held the day before, approximately 650 flyers were handed out on Friday 21st February and Saturday 22nd February 2020.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 31 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Twitter post advertising the Lions Yard Shopping Centre drop-in event

Project team speaking to residents at the Lions Yard Centre on Saturday 22nd February

Ely

The second drop-in event took place at Waitrose, a busy supermarket in the city, on market day. The project team chose to hold the drop-in session after the market closed in the late afternoon when it was likely that many local residents would do their shopping.

• WAITROSE – THURSDAY 6TH FEBRUARY 2020: During this event, a total of 27 people filled out questionnaires after speaking to the project team. A number of passers-by took away a flyer or hard copy of the questionnaire to respond later.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 32 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Alongside the flyering session held earlier that day, approximately 300 flyers were handed out on Thursday 6th February 2020.

Facebook post advertising the Ely drop-in event and flyering session

Project team speaking to residents at the Ely Waitrose on Thursday 6th February 2020

Huntingdon

The project team held a drop-in event on a Wednesday evening at Sainbury’s in Huntingdon. The location was chosen not only because it had a high footfall of visitors, but also because it is located on a retail park, allowing the project team to engage with shoppers from other stores.

• SAINSBURY’S HUNTINGDON – WEDNESDAY 12TH FEBRUARY 2020: This event took place in the late afternoon and early evening, allowing for commuters and post-work shoppers to participate. During this event, 24 responses were collected, and approximately 100 flyers were handed out to passing shoppers who were unable to stop to find out more.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 33 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Twitter post advertising the Huntingdon drop-in event

Project team set up at Huntingdon Sainsbury’s on Wednesday 12th February 2020

Public events

Following a request from councillors in the Cambridge Labour Party, a representative of Cambridgeshire Constabulary attended a public meeting on Monday 24th February 2020 at 6pm. The meeting provided an opportunity for attendees to ask questions about the proposals for service change and encourage them to provide feedback to the consultation.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 34 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION WHO RESPONDED?

Respondents were given multiple options to provide their feedback to Cambridgeshire Constabulary.

An online questionnaire was available through the consultation website. Links to the consultation website were included in all publicity materials, and in a number of social media posts via the Constabulary’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram updates. The online questionnaire followed the same structure and questions as the hardcopy questionnaire. Questions were close-ended, but also included an ‘Other comments’ text entry box so that respondents could expand on their answers.

A hard copy questionnaire was also made available to respondents should they not have access to the internet or prefer to complete a print version. Respondents could access copies of the questionnaire at each drop-in event, in police stations across the south of Cambridgeshire, and on request.

Example spread from the hard copy questionnaire

Respondents also had the opportunity to submit their feedback via email to the consultation team if they did not want to complete the questionnaire (online or hard copy).

In the lead up to the consultation period, throughout the period and afterwards, the information line telephone number was available to respondents should they have any questions for the project team.

RESPONSES TO THE CONSULTATION

The table below provides a breakdown of the responses received to the consultation and the number of respondents they were received from (note, these figures might not match up as some respondents might have submitted multiple responses).

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 35 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Demographics of respondents

The questionnaire included an optional equality monitoring form. The table below provides a breakdown of the demographics of respondents (please note that not all respondents provided this information):

AGE OF RESPONDENTS AGE RANGE NUMBER OF RESPONSES 13-17 4 18-24 12 25-34 76 35-44 100 45-54 141 55-64 164 65-74 178 75+ 79 Prefer not to say 2

ETHNICITY ETHNICITY NUMBER OF RESPONSES White British 612 White European 34 Asian or Asian British 19 Black or Black British 5 Mixed 8 Other 12 Prefer not to say 42 LONG STANDING ILLNESS, DISABILITY OR INFIRMITY RESPONSE NUMBER OF RESPONSES Yes 132

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 36 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

No 549 Prefer not to say 51 GENDER RESPONSE NUMBER OF RESPONSES Male 335 Female 375 Other 1 Prefer not to say 21

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 37 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION FEEDBACK RECEIVED

A total of 803 responses were received during the consultation period. These broke down as follows:

SOURCE NUMBER OF RESPONSES Online responses 610 Cambridge Grafton Centre drop-in 58 Ely drop-in 27 Huntingdon drop-in 24 Cambridge Lion Yard drop-in 51 Email responses 18 Paper copy responses 8 Telephone responses 7 TOTAL 803

LOCATION OF RESPONSES

In terms of location, the vast majority of responses have unsurprisingly come from residents of Cambridgeshire, as depicted in the maps below.

Map setting out the approximate locations that respondents’ addresses were located

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 38 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Map setting out approximate locations of responses from within Cambridgeshire

FEEDBACK ANALYSIS

In order to identify the attitudes of respondents towards different elements which the consultation covers, this analysis will be split into themes, comprising:

• recognition of the changing nature of, and challenges to, policing • attitudes towards the need for a service change in Cambridgeshire • attitudes towards the specific approach proposed (namely providing a police hub on the outskirts of Cambridge and a city centre police station)

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 39 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION Recognition of the changing nature of, and challenges to, policing

Questions which directly respond to these themes are as follows:

• Q1: To what extent do you agree or disagree that the nature of crime and policing is changing, and the police must adapt its service to meet these challenges? • Q2: To what extent do you agree or disagree that new development and an increasing population in Cambridgeshire will increase demand for policing services in the area?

Responses to Q1 and 2 were conclusive, with 91% of respondents either agreeing or strongly agreeing with Q1 and 97% with Q2.

Question 1: To what extent do you agree or disagree that the nature of crime and policing is changing, and the police must adapt its service to meet these challenges?

Across locations, the responses to Question 1 are fairly consistent, with the exception of feedback from Huntingdon. Among online responses, and those from the Cambridge Grafton Centre, Cambridge Lion Yard, and Ely, the rate of agreement (agree or strongly agree) is very high, at 91%, 90%, 90% and 96% respectively.

However, among responses from Huntingdon, the rate of agreement is slightly lower (however, still very high) at 84%, with the remainder of responses being split evenly between “don’t know” and “neither agree nor disagree”.

The only responses which indicated disagreement with the statement in Question 1 came from the online feedback and the feedback collected at the Lion Yard shopping centre in Cambridge. Across all locations and online there was a small proportion of responses which indicated that they “neither agreed nor disagreed”.

Written comments

A total of 16 respondents left written comments to Question 1. Seven of these express direct agreement with the fact that the nature of crime and policing is changing, with one noting that although in their opinion the same crimes still exist, “there are new and more sophisticated crimes

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 40 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION which require highly skilled police to tackle it”. Another notes that “policing should be adapting to meet the challenges”. These responses support the principles behind the consultation.

The main themes of concern or suggestion coming out of these comments centred around highlighting that pre-existing crimes still exist despite the introduction of new crimes (for example cybercrime). One respondent urged the Constabulary not to lose sight of existing types of crimes while focussing on adapting to new ones. Another respondent argued that “we must not forget the smaller everyday problems with youths, general property damage and petty crime”. 3 respondents focus on technological change and the need to adapt to this in order to be better served to operate effectively, with particular reference to the training needed to be able to respond to cybercrime.

One response argued that crime is changing everywhere and questioned why this meant there was a need for a new station.

It is noted among 3 respondents that local policing priorities should include maintaining physical presence, and efficiency, with one of these noting that “some of the really key crime developments are unlikely to be adequately addressed by County Constabularies because of their national (and international) organisation”.

Question 2: To what extent do you agree or disagree that new development and an increasing population in Cambridgeshire will increase demand for policing services in the area?

Question 2 was also conclusive, with an average rate of agreement (agree or strongly agree) of 97% across all locations and online. The highest rate of agreement was seen in Ely (100% of respondents agree or strongly agree), and the lowest rate was still 96% agreeing or strongly agreeing in Huntingdon. Both locations in Cambridge City Centre and the online responses returned a 97% rate of agreement.

In Huntingdon and at the Lion Yard shopping centre in Cambridge, the remaining respondents said that they either disagreed or strongly disagreed, while at the Grafton Centre in Cambridge, and among the online respondents, the remaining respondents indicated that they neither agreed nor disagreed.

Written responses

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 41 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

There were 15 written responses to Question 2. Of these, two respondents raise specific issues relating to their own local police stations, Sawston and Ely, not being utilised well enough, suggesting that these are used before a new police station is built. Another urged the Constabulary not to forget about services outside of Cambridge in the outer villages.

Regarding population growth, one respondent argued that the policing situation in St Neots and Little Paxton is being affected by population growth, noting that they “are by far Cambridgeshire’s largest and fastest growing population, but there is ONE Community Police Officer and 3 PCSOs covering the area and surrounding villages”. As such, it seems that there is a perception among residents that there is a focus on Cambridge city centre, and they raise their concern for resources in surrounding towns and villages – though this should be considered in the context of the consultation relating specifically to Parkside Police Station.

Two respondents raised the importance of maintaining a physical and visual police station, and note that the maintenance of this inevitably increases demand for policing services in the area. 1 respondent states that “the police are already stretched so it is obvious we need more”. A couple of respondents suggested that more detail is required to answer this question. 1 respondent raises concern as to what the new city centre police hub would comprise, leaving the comment “a functional police station is still a requirement for Cambridge city – a poorly manned “enquiry office” will not suffice”.

Conclusion

The feedback received for Questions 1 and 2 suggest a general agreement with the fact that the nature of crime and policing is changing, and that the police must evolve alongside this.

Further, there is an even stronger recognition that population growth in Cambridgeshire will pose a particular challenge to the police force, increasing the demand for policing services, and thus again maximising the effectiveness of the police will be key to facing these challenges.

Attitudes towards the need for a service change in Cambridgeshire

Questions which directly respond to these themes are as follows: • Q3: to what extent do you agree or disagree that the outdated facilities at Parkside have an impact on the ability of the police to operate effectively? • Q4: to what extent do you agree or disagree that the facilities at Parkside cannot meet the future challenges to policing? • Q5: to what extent do you agree or disagree that it is important that a police station provides dignity, privacy and respect to those that work and are within the building?

For all three of these questions, the majority of respondents agree or strongly agree with the statement presented, with a very small percentage disagreeing or strongly disagreeing. For Question 3, the rate of agreement (agree or strongly agree) is 62%, while just 7% disagree (or strongly disagree) with the fact that outdated facilities at Parkside have an impact on the ability of police to operate effectively. In the case of Question 4, 56% agreed or strongly agreed with the fact that facilities at Parkside cannot meet future challenges to policing, with only 8% disagreeing or strongly disagreeing with this.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 42 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Question 3: To what extent do you agree or disagree that the outdated facilities at Parkside have an impact on the ability of the police to operate effectively?

Question 4: To what extent do you agree or disagree that the facilities at Parkside cannot meet the future challenges to policing?

In the case of both Questions 3 and 4, it is important to note that while rates of agreement are lower than in other questions, they are still in the majority, and further, that this is not as a result of high rates of disagreement. Instead, the combination of both “neither agree nor disagree” and “don’t know” responses, accounted for 31% for Question 3 and 36% for Question 4.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 43 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

As such, it seems that the biggest factor here is uncertainty, and perhaps the results indicate that there is a lack of local understanding as to the current quality of Parkside and its operations – particularly in those parts of the station that are not public facing – and what the new hub would comprise and facilitate. These details will be addressed further through subsequent planning applications for both sites.

Despite this, it is important to note that 71% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with Question 6 (see below), which asked for their views on whether the new police hub will help meet the challenges of modern-day policing and population growth in Cambridgeshire. This suggests that, while there is a lack of certainty around the current ability of Parkside and its facilities to fully respond to future changes and challenges, there is a general agreement that a new hub would bring benefit to the service in the future.

In terms of location, the only place which saw respondents either disagree or strongly disagree to Question 3 was Cambridge City Centre (3% of respondents at The Grafton Centre and 5% at the Lion Yard shopping centre), while in Huntingdon, the “don’t knows” accounted for 8% - the second largest category. The fact that respondents from Cambridge are more likely to disagree may suggest that there is more scepticism in Cambridge city centre, where people feel that they would be more affected by the closure of Parkside station.

Written responses

Question 3 saw 36 written responses. Of these, two respondents stated that they volunteer within Parkside, with both noting that the custody is “totally unfit for purpose” and one of the two further commenting on the site being a ‘nightmare’ to reach due to Cambridge traffic, particularly during school term times. 1 respondent stated that they “have personal experiences when working with the police that demonstrate the inadequacy of Parkside in a modern environment”.

Another respondent notes that city centre congestion can act as an obstacle to response time from Parkside, while a further respondent comments “I suspect a site in the centre of Cambridge is rather impractical for calls outside of Cambridge but great for those in Cambridge”. These responses were also in favour of the principle of the proposals.

15 respondents stated that they are unsure of the state of the facilities and consequently feel unable to answer this question properly.

Six respondents raised doubts as to why Parkside itself cannot be modified to provide the service the city needs, commenting on its ideal central location, while others note that it is crucial for any police station, new or old, to remain in the city centre. As a result, the responses indicate support for the concept of maintaining a city centre police station.

Respondents also made comments as to the nature of policing and list specific issues, for example road safety, for which they feel it is not a new police station which will solve the problem. One respondent argued that they “don’t see how improved facilities at Parkside will have any effect outside of Cambridge itself”, and another raised concern for the future of the site, speculating on the possibility of future residential accommodation being provided on the site. Another respondent noted that “local police hubs would lead to faster response times” and “greater knowledge of their immediate locality and population”.

As in written responses to Question 3, a key theme within written responses to Question 4 is lack of knowledge, with respondents suggesting that they cannot know what facilities are like in Parkside as they do not work there. Of the 29 written responses to Question 4, nine note some lack of ability to be able to respond fully to this question as a result of lack of knowledge with five raising doubts as to why Parkside itself cannot be improved and updated to meet future challenges. Another asserts that it is unlikely to be the building itself which causes the biggest challenge to policing. Once more, the theme of the crucial central location of the police station was raised. 1 respondent noted that “the custody suite is inadequate for future needs”, agreeing with the concept of the proposals.

Question 5: To what extent do you agree or disagree that it is important that a police station provides dignity, privacy and respect to those that work and are within the building?

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 44 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

In the case of Question 5, 94% of respondents either agreed or strongly agreed that it is important for a police station to provide dignity, privacy and respect to those working and within the building, with just 1.5% disagreeing. This goes in favour of the proposals, as if Parkside currently cannot provide these three things, then a change in service would be necessary to satisfy them.

The very small amount of disagreement for this question came from Cambridge events and online, while for all questions a small percentage of respondents said that they neither agreed nor disagreed.

Written responses

21 respondents provided written answers to this question. One of these stated that “it should be a place of support for victims and police officers at all levels who deal with all aspects of society’s breakdowns.” Two respondents argued that the physical infrastructure and quality of the building is less important that the quality of service being provided and the safety of residents. Two respondents note that while it is important that police staff have effective working conditions, they are less worried about the comfort provided to criminals. One respondent stating that “criminals should be punished not coddled”, and another claimed that “persons being held in cells at the hub should have the minimum of facilities that are necessary to meet legal requirements”. One respondent noted that dignity, privacy and respect should come from the personnel rather than the building, with another stating that “dignity should be first provided to the people [the police] serve and that is seriously lacking”. 2 respondents noted that these were requirements of any employer.

Conclusion

The feedback received for Questions 3 and 4 suggest that there is not a significant disagreement with the idea that Parkside is an outdated facility that needs to be replaced. However, a recurring theme is a lack of awareness of the facilities that are not available to the public at Parkside, despite the information provided to the public as part of the consultation.

It is important to note, however, the low level of outright disagreement on these questions. When taken in the context of responses to Question 6 (see below), while there is a lack of certainty around the current ability of Parkside and its facilities to fully respond to future changes and challenges, there is a general agreement that a new hub would bring benefit to the service in the future.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 45 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Regarding Question 5, there is significant agreement on the need for police facilities to provide dignity, privacy and respect to those that work and are within the building.

Attitudes towards the approach to maintain a city centre police station and create an out of city police hub

Questions which directly respond to these themes are as follows: • Q6: To what extent do you agree or disagree that a new police hub will help meet the challenges of modern-day policing and population growth in Cambridgeshire? • Q7: To what extent do you agree or disagree that it is important to maintain a police station in the city centre to act as a base for the neighbourhood police and where the public can walk in to access police services?

Question 6: To what extent do you agree or disagree that a new police hub will help meet the challenges of modern-day policing and population growth in Cambridgeshire?

The majority (71%) of respondents to Question 6 either agree or strongly agree that a new police hub would help meet future challenges to modern-day policing and population growth. Again, the rate of disagreement here is low, with only 6% of respondents either disagreeing or strongly disagreeing. As such, there is a general acceptance of the benefits that the new hub would bring. The remaining responses again indicate some degree of uncertainty (23% either don’t know, or neither agree nor disagree). This may indicate that rather than disagreeing with the potential benefits, some respondents simply weren’t sure what the new hub would comprise, and as such what the impact of it would be.

Across locations, Question 6 saw similar responses from the Grafton Centre Cambridge and Ely, with 88% and 85% either agreeing or strongly agreeing respectively, 3% disagreeing or strongly disagreeing in both, and the remainder neither agreeing nor disagreeing. In Huntingdon, more respondents agreed (96% either agree or strongly agree), with 4% stating that they did not know.

The Lion Yard saw a more mixed response, with 82% of respondents agreeing or strongly agreeing, 8% of respondents either indicating that they did not know or that they neither agreed nor disagreed, and again a very small percentage (2%) either disagreeing or strongly disagreeing.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 46 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Online responses for Q6 are much more mixed, with 67% agreeing or strongly agreeing, 14% neither agreeing nor disagreeing and 12% not knowing. However, again only a small proportion (7%) disagreed or strongly disagreed with the question.

There is a clear correlation between Questions 3 and 4, which indicates a lack of knowledge as to what Parkside currently includes behind the public-facing section, and consequently the extent to which it can meet future challenges. This is then reflected in Question 6, presumably because people are unaware of exactly what takes place within Parkside and what opportunities the new police hub might facilitate.

However, important to take away again is that there is a high level of agreement with the fact that a new hub would help to meet future challenges, which indicates that should the Constabulary proceed with these proposals that there would be a degree of public support.

Written responses

41 written responses were received in answer to Question 6, of which two were overtly supportive, stating that a “new station cannot come soon enough” and that “noting the immediate need for new premises and opportunity to design a building that may provide flexible approaches to changing needs, this will address these requirements and concerns”. Another suggested “perhaps leave room for appropriate extensions to the building”. Two respondents commented on the concept of the ‘hub’ as a distant entity, with one stating “people want to see a visible local presence and not concentration in a distant ‘hub’”, and the other saying “not sure a ‘hub’ is the right idea as it takes officers away from the heart of the community”. In the case of these comments, it is not necessarily a disagreement with the concept behind the proposals, but a lack of understanding about what is meant by the proposed police ‘hub’.

One respondent stated that they would prefer the new police station was in the city itself, while another stated that they would like to see police patrolling villages more frequently.

Of the written responses, 17 return the opinion that this question is hard to answer without more knowledge of what the new hub will offer and where it will be located, with location being the main concern. One respondent argued that the location must ensure good access to all parts, suggesting a location near the M11/A14.

Another respondent said that “one hub will not meet the needs of the residents in Cambridgeshire”, while another respondent uses the comments section to offer a suggestion that “the site at Waterbeach which was developed for the fire service and not used would be a good location for a hub”.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 47 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Question 7: To what extent do you agree or disagree that it is important to maintain a police station in the city centre to act as a base for the neighbourhood police and where the public can walk-in to access police services?

Question 7 was conclusive in the fact that the vast majority of respondents (93%) either agree or strongly agree that it is important to maintain a police station within Cambridge city centre.

Once more the only negative responses came from Cambridge and online, with 2% of respondents at both the Grafton Centre and Lion Yard shopping centre, and 3% of online respondents either disagreeing or strongly disagreeing respectively.

Written responses

Question 7 returned 29 written responses. Of these, one offers agreement with the proposals, stating that it is “fundamental for Cambridge to maintain a police presence” and that Parkside “needs major investment to adequately refurbish it and provide the resource it desperately needs for modern-day policing”. However, the respondent does note that Parkside is situated in an ideal location while also raising concern for the functionality of other potential buildings in the city centre. This respondent also agrees that a new hub is a good idea, further noting that it “shouldn’t compromise the needs of Cambridge city centre policing and safety” and that when locating the new hub “the infrastructure and logistics for both vehicle access and public accessibility is crucial”.

Four respondents also argued that maintaining a physical city centre police station is “essential”. While another stated “it is so obvious that such a presence sometimes acts as a deterrent. Much of the activity the police have to monitor occurs at night in the city”. Three respondents raised the issue of the operating hours of this new police hub, with one stating that if it does not operate 24/7, then “it is a dilution of service”, and another noting that the new police hub “must be of similar distance from the centre as Parkside is now”.

A small number of respondents disagreed that the size of the city centre should be reduced. One respondent also notes that the city centre police station would still need to provide all services.

There was some understanding that the existing city centre station is difficult to get to, and park near, for those who do not live within the city. Due to the increasing difficulty of getting into and out of the city centre, one respondent suggests that hubs should be located near to high crime spots.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 48 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Conclusion

It is clear from the responses that there is significant public support for both the concept of the hub on the outskirts of Cambridge and for maintaining a police station in the city centre. There is also very little opposition to either part of the proposals, indicating that should Cambridgeshire Constabulary progress with the proposals for service change they would receive public support. This includes a recognition that a hub would be suited to meeting the challenges of modern crime and policing, while the city centre station would be welcomed.

Feedback from stakeholders

A number of key stakeholders responded to the proposals, or contacted the project team during the consultation, including:

• Cambridge City Council • Little Abington Parish Council • South Cambridgeshire Council • Peterborough City Council • Cambourne Parish Council • Witcham Parish Council

Cambridge City Council

Feedback from Cambridge City Council is supportive of the proposals, stating that it welcomes them and looks forward to working with the Constabulary on the next stage of the service change (subject to the outcome of the consultation). In summary, they are supportive of the concept of the proposals, and make a few comments for consideration in the next stages.

Responding to the concept of a new police hub on the outskirts of Cambridge, the Council recognises the need, and asks that new facilities are carefully designed to meet the needs of detainees with different protected characteristics and those who might be vulnerable. Further, they suggest that car and bicycle parking would need to be available onsite, as well as public transport links.

There is also a request that the hub will provide a welcoming environment for the public, achieved through the provision of refreshment facilities for those visiting for a longer period of time.

In response to the retention of a city centre police station, the council states “its concerns on behalf of our community until there are clear and absolute commitments that an effective range of policing and response facilities will be retained in the city centre, that match the needs of the second largest city in the force area and work in tandem with the proposed out of city hub”. They further request that consideration is given to locating this station on the current site, and that there is a public facing office to be staffed for at least 16 hours every day and a 24/7 phone outside (which is more than the current service at the site, which includes 12 hour public access and a 24/7 phone outside). Finally, they note that the station must also be well connected via public transport, as well as having parking for patrol cars and disabled and other visitors.

Little Abington Parish Council

Little Abington Parish Council (LAPC) completed the online questionnaire, the results of which can be seen below: • Q1 (To what extent do you agree or disagree that the nature of crime and policing is changing, and the police must adapt its service to meet these challenges?): Strongly agree • Q2 (To what extent do you agree or disagree that new development and an increasing population in Cambridgeshire will increase demand for policing services in the area?): Strongly agree • Q3 (To what extent do you agree or disagree that the outdated facilities at Parkside have an impact on the ability for the police to operate effectively?): Agree

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 49 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

• Q4 (To what extent do you agree or disagree that the facilities at Parkside cannot meet the future challenges to policing?): Agree • Q5 (To what extent do you agree or disagree that it is important that a police station provides dignity, privacy and respect to those that work and are within the building?): Strongly agree • Q6 (To what extent do you agree or disagree that a new police hub will help meet the challenges of modern-day policing and population growth in Cambridgeshire?): Agree • Q7 (To what extent do you agree or disagree that it is important to maintain a police station in the city centre to act as a base for the neighbourhood police and where the public can walk-in to access police services?): Strongly agree

As well as completing the questionnaire, an email was sent containing more detailed responses. This email noted that LAPC understands and recognises the need to update police techniques and facilities, and that cost effectiveness and value for money are important factors. As a result, they suggest that there might be a need for the police force to recognise opportunities for co-location with joint facilities and collaborative working with other emergency services, public services or public agencies as part of this project. The response also notes that LAPC is pleased to know that there will continue to be a city centre police station.

However, LAPC was not convinced that building an out of town hub would necessarily reduce the amount of time spent travelling by police officers.

As a final constructive point, the LAPC notes that “it is probably important to maintain satellite stations such as Sawston, although a more important point may be to ensure more visible local policing. Use of technology will help to enhance access to police services but it is important to recognise that not everyone will have access to online technology or even telephones. Some may not be able to use telephones. These are often the most vulnerable members of the community”.

They conclude that they note and welcome the recent initiative “Coffee with a Cop” in the Community Café alongside this point.

South Cambridgeshire Council

An email came in response to the request for equalities departments to share the details of the consultation. The respondent states that the documentation had been shared with colleagues working in equalities and the Community Safety Partnership, and further that a notice would be posted on the staff intranet in case other colleagues wished to comment. The respondent was also willing to share posts on social media.

Peterborough City Councillor

A response was received from a councillor on Peterborough City Council, thanking the project team for providing him with information but stated that as the consultation concentrates on the south of Cambridgeshire, he has no comment. He does go on to ask if there will be consultations in Peterborough at any point, stating that “life in our city does not stay still and one hopes that consultations are ongoing”.

Cambourne Parish Council

The respondent from Cambourne Parish Council simply thanked the Constabulary for the consultation documents and questioned whether there would be a consultation event held in the South Cambridgeshire District Area. The project team responded that there would be a flyering session in Cambourne.

Witcham Parish Council

This response states that the proposals had been considered by the Parish Council, and that the Parish Council has no comment to make.

Other email responses

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 50 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Not including the stakeholder responses, there are 10 emails which have been received from residents since the beginning of the consultation. The content of these emails can be seen below: • 1 couple responded, stating that “as private citizens of South Cambridgeshire we both express our unqualified support for the proposals”, further noting “we have heard of them before and thought them to be a good idea then”. • 1 respondent questioned the future of Ely police station as a consequence of this consultation, stating they believe Ely police station should remain open, and asking for the Constabulary’s position on this matter. • 1 respondent requested that the station be kept in the city centre. • 1 respondent commented on the lack of detail about “what facilities (if any) would remain at Parkside” what would be included at the hub, and argued that they were insufficiently knowledgeable about what happens in Parkside. • 2 respondents questioned whether the outcome of the consultation had already been decided, and suggested that the service change proposals would go ahead regardless of the outcome. • 1 respondent argued that Parkside is well located and should be upgraded, while also asking whether the new city centre station would only include PCSOs rather than police officers (the project team responded that there would be both on site). • 1 respondent notes the importance of police station, writing “forget about a new police station facility. Get police out on the streets”.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 51 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION CONCLUSION

PRINCIPLES OF THE CONSULTATION

Cambridgeshire Constabulary has ensured that the consultation was conducted in a fair and reasonable manner, providing the opportunity for all those who wanted to engage to get involved in the consultation.

Alongside the principles set out by the Consultation Institute, the Constabulary also sought to respect and reflect the guiding principles of consultation advocated by Cambridge City Council in its own Code of Best Practice on Consultation and Community Engagement. These provide more detail than those of the Consultation Institute but abide by the same principles.

A summary of how the consultation sought to meet the guiding principles follows:

GUIDING PRINCIPLES CONSTABULARY RESPONSE OPENNESS be clear about which The consultation is specifically regarding police issues/decisions/actions are already decided service change in the south of Cambridgeshire. and which are open to consultation and debate (and on which we are therefore Members of the public have been asked about seeking residents’, community groups’ and their views on the need for service change, the other stakeholders’ views) challenges that the constabulary faces, and on the proposals for providing a new hub on the outskirts of Cambridge and a police station in the city centre.

The feedback from the consultation will enable the consultation project team to ascertain the levels of support, or otherwise, for a change to the Constabulary’s service and will also be used to inform how it proceeds in serving Cambridgeshire moving forward.

Details of a final site for both the city centre police station and the hub will be subject to the outcome of this consultation on the principle of the service change proposals.

be clear at the outset about how and when A number of methods were provided by residents and community groups can get Cambridgeshire Constabulary to get involved in involved and make their views known; how the consultation. These include: their views and involvement will be used; and (wherever possible) how the decision WEBSITE: A consultation website – will be made, when and by whom www.cambspoliceconsultation.co.uk – was launched on Monday 20th January 2020, which includes a video, FAQs and more information about the proposals. An electronic version of the questionnaire was made available for comments to be submitted via the website from 1st February 2020 to 29th February 2020.

PUBLIC DROP-IN EVENTS: Four public drop-in events were held to inform the public about the proposals. Public places were chosen in order to be able to catch passing members of the public who might not otherwise choose to

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 52 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

engage with the consultation process. Flyers were handed out at the drop-in events, and residents were able to provide feedback on the proposals.

VIDEO: A video was produced, which included statements from the local Superintendent, delivering key information about the consultation, and reasons for the proposals. This provided the rationale behind the consultation, and the proposals, in a visual manner. The video was launched with the new consultation website and was shared across Cambridgeshire Constabulary’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. The video also included subtitles for those with hearing difficulties and for use on social media.

HARD COPY QUESTIONNAIRE: Hard copies of the questionnaire were available in Parkside, Histon, Sawston, St Neots, Cambourne and Ely police stations from Saturday 1st February 2020 until Saturday 29th February 2020, during opening hours. They were also available at the drop-in events. Hard copies were provided with a postage-paid envelope so that respondents did not have to pay for their own postage when responding.

LEAFLETS AND POSTERS: Members of the consultation team handed out flyers to members of the public to provide them with information about the consultation. Leaflets and posters were also displayed in all libraries across Cambridgeshire from Monday 20th January 2020. Posters were also displayed in Parkside, Histon, Sawston, St Neots, Cambourne and Ely police stations from the same date.

EMAIL BULLETINS: Emails were sent to a number of stakeholders to make them aware of the consultation, how they could get involved, and encouraging them to pass the message along. This included emails to equalities and communities leads at local authorities, requesting their views and also that they pass the details of the consultation on to their contacts to ensure a variety of views could be received

LOCAL MEDIA: Press releases were distributed to local press to announce the consultation on Monday 20th January 2020. A further press release was distributed on Monday 3rd February 2020 to highlight the start of the consultation period.

TELEPHONE AND EMAIL: Members of the public were able to call the project consultation

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 53 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

team on 01223 827 124 or email [email protected].

SOCIAL MEDIA: Information and details about the consultation, and how the public could find out more, were published via the Constabulary’s social media accounts.

The feedback from the consultation will enable the consultation project team to ascertain the levels of support, or otherwise, for a change to the Constabulary’s service and will also be used to inform how it proceeds in serving Cambridgeshire moving forward.

engage residents and community groups No decision has been made on whether to enact sufficiently early in the decision-making the service change, or the location where the process to enable their views to genuinely new facilities will be located, although the inform the final decision, wherever possible. Constabulary has undertaken significant background work to look at the future of Parkside Police Station. This includes a number of options, including retaining Parkside Station.

The Constabulary's view is that Parkside cannot itself provide the facilities that would allow the constabulary to service its community fully in the long-term. This consultation is to determine whether the community also has that view.

ACCOUNTABILITY provide a named contact person for further While a named contact was not given, a information dedicated consultation email address and telephone number were set up.

Contacts to the email address and phone number went to a specific group who were well- versed in the consultation and were well- equipped to manage responses. This provided greater resilience and meant that there was not a reliance on one individual being present to deal with enquiries.

ensure that all councillors are notified of all All Cambridgeshire councillors, parish major consultations, and that ward councillors, county councillors and other councillors, as representatives of their relevant stakeholders were informed of the communities, are advised of any consultation on 20th January 2020 (12 days prior consultation or community engagement to the consultation launching and 41 days prior activities that affect their wards to the close of the consultation). This gave them significant opportunity to engage with the consultation or contact the project team prior to the close of the consultation.

They were reminded to participate in the consultation in the final week of the consultation on 24th February 2020.

work jointly with our partner organisations Stakeholders contacted in advance of the to undertake consultation and community consultation included probation, NHS, engagement activities when this is the most education, community support and equalities

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 54 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

appropriate and efficient way of using services from across the County of collective resources Cambridgeshire.

ACCESSIBILITY AND INCLUSIVENESS use plain English, avoid acronyms and limit English was the default language of the the number of questions and the length of consultation. The consultation website was documents to what is absolutely necessary designed to be easy to use and read, with all relevant information provided. Questions were kept to 7 substantive questions, which were focussed on:

• the need for service change • the challenges faced by the constabulary • the specific proposals for service change

The questions also included free text space, so that additional comments could be included.

ensure that all our residents and community Alongside the stakeholders, equalities and groups have the opportunity to take part in communities leads at local authorities in our consultation and community Cambridgeshire, as well as local groups, were engagement activities regardless of age, contacted on 20th January 2020 (and again on gender, gender reassignment, disability, 24th February to remind them of the closing date ethnicity, race, religion or belief, or sexual of the consultation). The email requested that orientation they let the project team know of anything that could be done to support those who needed assistance, and asked them to pass it on to their contacts.

Braille and other format consultation documents would be made available upon request. No requests were forthcoming.

listen to, learn from, respect and value the This is a core principle of the consultation. The views of all participants views of those who have responded will be considered in any future decision on service change in Cambridgeshire. Verbal feedback was also encouraged, and at public events the project team encouraged those with a range of views to get involved in the consultation and provide their feedback – even if it was negative.

make paper copies of consultation Paper copies of the questionnaire, which documents available at council buildings included key information about why the service and not rely solely on electronic methods of change was being proposed, were made consulting and reporting consultation available in Parkside, Histon, Sawston, St results Neots, Cambourne and Ely police stations from Saturday 1st February 2020, during opening hours.

Key facts leaflets were also provided at police stations and libraries across Cambridgeshire, while several hundred leaflets were handed out at flyering sessions and public drop-in events.

ensure that the venues used for consultation Four public drop-in events were held to inform and community engagement activities are the public about the proposals. They were held accessible to all who wish to participate in public places, including shopping centres and at supermarkets, in order to be able to catch

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 55 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

passing members of the public who might not otherwise choose to engage with the consultation process. This ensured significant visibility and passing traffic.

The venues chosen were also all disability accessible and were in areas with good public transport links.

A significant number of flyers were also distributed, both during flyering sessions and to members of the public who could not stop and respond at the drop-in events.

ensure that the times when consultation and Dates and times of drop-in events were chosen community engagement activities take place in consultation with staff at the venues, who and the time given to respond to advised on the best times of day for footfall. For consultation are reasonable and appropriate example, the Ely drop-in was held between 2pm and 5pm on a Thursday as the project team was advised that Ely market takes place on Thursday morning/early afternoon, and footfall at the Waitrose supermarket and adjoining thoroughfare were busiest at those times.

The consultation period covered a calendar month (February 2020), providing ample opportunity for responding. The consultation advertising started two weeks before this, allowing enough prior warning to stakeholders and the public.

use appropriate consultation and community A number of methods have been provided by engagement methods, including electronic Cambridgeshire Constabulary to get involved in methods where appropriate, according to the the consultation. These include: issues being addressed and the nature of the consultee group, following best practice. WEBSITE: A consultation website – We will pay particular attention to methods www.cambspoliceconsultation.co.uk – was likely to engage vulnerable and socially launched on Monday 20th January 2020, which excluded residents or groups where those included a video, FAQs and more information groups are potentially affected by decisions about the proposals. An electronic version of the questionnaire was made available for comments to be submitted via the website from 1st February 2020 to 29th February 2020.

PUBLIC DROP-IN EVENTS: Four public drop-in events were held to inform the public about the proposals. Public places were chosen in order to be able to catch passing members of the public who might not otherwise choose to engage with the consultation process. Flyers were handed out at the drop-in events, and residents were able to provide feedback on the proposals.

VIDEO: A video was produced which sought to deliver key information about the consultation, and reasons why the proposals were being brought forward, in a visual manner. The video was launched with the new consultation website and was shared across Cambridgeshire

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 56 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

Constabulary’s Twitter and Facebook accounts.

HARD COPY QUESTIONNAIRE: Hard copies of the questionnaire were available in Parkside, Histon, Sawston, St Neots, Cambourne and Ely police stations from Saturday 1st February 2020 until Saturday 29th February 2020, during opening hours. They were also available at the drop-in events. Hard copies were provided with a postage-paid envelope so that respondents did not have to pay for their own postage when responding.

LEAFLETS AND POSTERS: Members of the consultation team handed out flyers to members of the public to provide them with information about the consultation. Leaflets and posters were also displayed in all libraries across Cambridgeshire from Monday 20th January 2020. Posters were also displayed in Parkside, Histon, Sawston, St Neots, Cambourne and Ely police stations from the same date.

EMAIL BULLETINS: Emails were sent to a number of stakeholders to make them aware of the consultation, how they could get involved, and encouraging them to pass the message along.

LOCAL MEDIA: Press releases were distributed to local press to announce the consultation on Monday 20th January 2020. A further press release was distributed on Monday 3rd February 2020 to highlight the start of the consultation period.

TELEPHONE AND EMAIL: Members of the public were able to call the project consultation team on 01223 827 124 or email [email protected].

SOCIAL MEDIA: Information and details about the consultation, and how the public could find out more, were published via the Constabulary’s social media accounts

The feedback from the consultation will enable the consultation project team to ascertain the levels of support, or otherwise, for a change to the Constabulary’s service and will also be used to inform how it proceeds in serving Cambridgeshire moving forward.

aim for our consultation and community Members of the public were actively encouraged engagement to be participant-driven to take part in the consultation. This included at whenever possible the drop-in events members of the project team proactively attempting to engage members of the public in conversation about the proposals and talk them through the details of the

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 57 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

proposals. Feedback could be taken at the events via iPad, or by taking away hard copies of the questionnaire (with a postage-paid envelope).

TRANSPARENCY be able to explain why consultation was The consultation is to gauge the views of the undertaken in a certain way (or not people of Cambridgeshire about the principle of undertaken), making this clear in committee changes to its police service - in particular the reports where appropriate closing of Parkside police station and relocation of services to two new facilities.

support Council staff involved in planning N/A and running consultation and community events to develop the appropriate skills to do so effectively

ensure that information provided to support Press releases were distributed to the local community engagement in decision-making media two weeks prior to the launch of the is clear, accessible and sufficient to tell consultation, as well as shortly after the start of people what they need to know, promoting the consultation period. Articles were published consultations through press notices, the in certain local media. Council’s website and other media as appropriate, A dedicated consultation website was launched on 20th January 2020, which was signposted in all correspondence, social media and press releases. Cambridgeshire Constabulary also advertised the consultation throughout January and February 2020 via its own website, social media channels and through its eCops bulletin (which has a reach of approximately 13,000).

publish a summary of consultation A report, with details of how local people responses received and explain how these engaged with the process, will be published by responses have been used in informing the Cambridgeshire Constabulary as well as final decision (and if not, why not) as far as forming part of any future planning applications possible for specific sites.

ensure that feedback is available to Those who responded and provided contact participants on the results of their details will be provided with updates on the involvement and the decisions made and results of the consultation and next steps. keep them informed of progress in implementing the decisions

RESPONSE TO THE PROPOSALS

In conclusion, the consultation has shown that there is an understanding that the nature of policing and crime in Cambridgeshire is changing, and that the Constabulary will need to adapt its services to fully meet the demands presented by these changes.

Importantly, it has demonstrated support for the principle of service change in Cambridge and the south of Cambridgeshire, specifically for the concept of relocating services from Parkside Police Station to a new hub on the outskirts of Cambridge, while maintaining a city centre police station.

This is specifically highlighted through responses to Questions 6 and 7 of the questionnaire:

• There is significant agreement that the nature of policing and crime in Cambridgeshire is changing, and that the population growth means that the Constabulary will need to respond to increasing demand for police services.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 58 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

• There is majority agreement that the facilities at Parkside police station cannot respond fully to the challenges that are being presented by the changing nature of policing and crime in Cambridgeshire. • More than 70% of respondents agree that a new police hub will help meet the accepted challenges of modern-day policing and population growth in Cambridgeshire. Only 6% of respondents disagree with this. • More than 90% of respondents support the idea of maintaining a city centre police station that includes a public enquiry service and base for neighbourhood policing services.

Given the support demonstrated in this consultation, Cambridgeshire Constabulary will undertake work to progress the proposals for service change, including a hub at a location outside of Cambridge city centre, as well as identifying suitable locations for a city centre station.

The Constabulary looks forward to working with the community and stakeholders of Cambridgeshire in the future to ensure that the outcome of this service change works for the Constabulary and its staff and, importantly, for the people it is proud to serve.

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 59 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION APPENDICES

APPENDIX 1: PUBLIC INFORMATION FLYER 61

APPENDIX 2: PUBLIC INFORMATION POSTER 63

APPENDIX 3: PUBLIC DROP-IN INFORMATION BANNERS 05

APPENDIX 4: CONSULTATION QUESTIONNAIRE 10

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 60 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION APPENDIX 1: PUBLIC INFORMATION FLYER (PAGE 1)

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 61 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION APPENDIX 1: PUBLIC INFORMATION FLYER (PAGE 2)

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 62 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION APPENDIX 2: PUBLIC INFORMATION POSTER

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 63 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION APPENDIX 3: PUBLIC DROP-IN INFORMATION BANNERS

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 64 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION APPENDIX 3: PUBLIC DROP-IN INFORMATION BANNERS

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 65 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION APPENDIX 3: PUBLIC DROP-IN INFORMATION BANNERS

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 66 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION APPENDIX 4: CONSULTATION QUESTIONNAIRE (FRONT COVER)

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 67 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION APPENDIX 4: CONSULTATION QUESTIONNAIRE (INTERNAL PAGES)

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 68 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION APPENDIX 4: CONSULTATION QUESTIONNAIRE (INTERNAL PAGES)

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 69 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION APPENDIX 4: CONSULTATION QUESTIONNAIRE (INTERNAL PAGES)

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 70 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION APPENDIX 4: CONSULTATION QUESTIONNAIRE (BACK COVER)

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 71 CAMBRIDGESHIRE CONSTABULARY SERVICE CHANGE CONSULTATION

CONSULTATION REPORT – JUNE 2020 72