Community Safety Partnership Consultation 2011/12: Summary Report

Context

Each year the Community Safety Partnership is required to conduct a strategic assessment of crime and disorder issues in Northampton in order to decide what issues the partnership will prioritise the following year. The assessment is informed by a range of data from various partners which is found below:-

• iQuanta – Home Office Database • Police • Northampton Borough Council • Northamptonshire County Council • Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Services • Northamptonshire NHS • NorDaF (Northamptonshire Domestic Abuse Forum) • Northamptonshire DAAT • Northamptonshire Probation Trust • Department for Communities and Local Government • Office for National Statistics • Northampton voluntary organisations • The Residents of Northampton

As part of the strategic assessment, the partnership identifies the key priorities from analysis of the data provided by the above sources. Following this, consultation with local people is required to ensure the partnership takes the views of the community into account when developing strategic plans for the following year. The results of this consultation are then fed back into the strategic assessment in order to finalise the partnership priorities.

Method

Two public consultation events were held in Northampton on the 15 th November 2011 in The Grosvenor Centre and the 18 th November 2011 in Shopping Centre. This year, it was also decided to make the questionnaire available to complete online via the NBC website using ‘surveymonkey.com’ to host the questionnaire. This was made available for the maximum period available under the time constraints, which was a 5 week period from 08/11/11 to 13/12/11. A link to the questionnaire was sent out to the Northampton residents’ panel via e-mail prompting individuals to take part, as well as social media notifications to youth forum members. 210 paper copies were given to Policy & Community Engagement and 100+ paper copies to Neighbourhood Management team.

Questionnaire

The consultation comprised of three questions and a section to record respondents’ residential location, gender, age and ethnicity. The first question

Northampton Community Safety Partnership Consultation 2011/12: Summary Report asked respondents to rank six community safety issues which had been highlighted from the strategic analysis in order of their greatest concern. The second question asked the respondents to do the same for three out of seven types of anti-social behaviour (ASB). This was included because ASB is often highlighted as of great public concern but due to the broad nature of ASB, it is difficult to ascertain what exactly is concerning to people. Finally, a third town- centre-specific question was included. This question was a replication of a question used by during a street briefing exercise on town centre police priorities. The reason for including this question was to gauge the success of partnership action against street drinking and begging/vagrancy in the town centre. The findings of this question was not considered when finalising 2012/13 priorities but is reviewed in this report and will be referred back to at an operational level. A copy of the questionnaire can be found in appendix A.

Sample

A total of 433 people completed the consultation questionnaire overall. The table below shows a breakdown of this.

The Grosvenor Shopping Centre 143 Weston Favell Shopping Centre 181 Residents Panels 64 Alternative Panels (Community Engagement) 36 NBC Website (Direct Access) 9

Gender

36.3% (n = 157) of respondents were male and 62.1% of respondents were female. The remaining 1.6% (n = 7) chose not to state their gender.

Age

Age (Years) Count Percentage Under 17 12 2.8% 17 – 24 75 17.3% 25 – 34 45 10.4% 35 – 44 57 13.2% 45 – 54 64 14.8% 55 – 64 68 15.7% 65 – 74 68 15.7% 75+ 41 9.5% Unknown 3 0.7%

Northampton Community Safety Partnership Consultation 2011/12: Summary Report

Ethnicity

Ethnicity Count Percentage Ethnicity Count Percentage White British 358 82.7% White & Asian 1 0.2% White Irish 13 3.0% White & Black 3 0.7% African Asian/ Asian 10 2.3% White & Black 6 1.4% British: Indian Caribbean Asian/ Asian 4 0.9% Other White 9 2.1% British: Background Bangladeshi Asian/ Asian 2 0.5% Other Black 2 0.5% British: Background Pakistani Black/ Black 5 1.2% Other Asian 1 0.2% British: African Background Black/ Black 7 1.6% Other Ethnic 3 0.7% British: Group Caribbean Chinese 4 0.9% Unstated 5 1.2%

Residential location Respondents were asked where they live; postcodes were not used as this would show a very broad overview of respondents’ residential locations or involve a lot of mapping to establish where respondents lived. Instead respondents where asked to name the ward or area in which they lived, as a result some locations in the list below are Northampton wards, areas within wards or towns/ villages outside of Northampton.

Residential Location Count Residential Location Count Residential Location Count Abington 25 6 Parklands 5 Abington Vale 4 Eastfields 14 Queens Park 1 Bellinge 3 Ecton Brook 10 Rectory Farm 6 Billing 20 7 1 1 Grange Park 2 Semilong 10 Billing Road 1 Great Billing 5 Southfields 8 Blackthorn 14 Great Houghton 2 Spencer 4 Blisworth 1 Guilsborough 1 Spinney Hill 4 Boothville 4 3 Spratton 1 Boughton 1 Headlands 1 Spring Park 2 Briar Hill 6 Horton 1 St Davids 3 Brixworth 5 Hunsbury 4 St James 10 Brookside 5 Kettering 1 Standens Barn 8 Camp Hill 1 Kings Heath 4 The Goldings 1 Castle/ Town Centre 12 Kingsley 3 The Mounts 9 Cliftonville/ Rushmills 3 24 Thorplands/ Talavera 23 Cognoe 1 Lings 11 Towester 2 Corby 3 Little Billing 4 Unknown 22 Dallington 1 Lumbertubs 9 Upton 2 Daventry 5 Milton Keynes 1 Wakes Meadow 1 Delapre 5 Moulton 7 Wellingborough 3 Denton 1 New 2 4 Duston 17 Olney 1 Weston Favell 14 Earls Barton 3 Overstone 1 Westone 8 East haddon 1 Park 1 Wooton 13

Northampton Community Safety Partnership Consultation 2011/12: Summary Report

Findings

Partnership Priorities

The table below shows how the respondents ranked community safety issues in order of their greatest concern. The most popular answer for each issue is highlighted in red. Serious acquisitive crime and violence were of greatest concern to respondents; however responses were relatively varied with all issues being of greatest importance to at least 16 respondents.

Most Least Priority Import 2nd 3rd 4th 5th import -ant -ant Serious Acquisitive 145 98 39 56 51 44 Crime Anti-social 87 97 55 53 65 76 Behaviour Violent Crime 73 91 137 68 47 17 Domestic Abuse 28 50 62 100 102 91 Hate Crime 16 44 69 84 95 125 Sexual Crime 84 53 71 73 72 80

Anti-social Behaviour Priorities

The table below shows how the respondents ranked anti-social behaviour issues in order of their greatest concern. The most regularly answered issue for each ranking is highlighted in red, the second most regular is highlighted in Orange. Findings show respondents main concerns are Alcohol-related ASB and drug taking and dealing. Noise in residential areas and Graffiti/ Vandalism were of least concern.

Most Priority 2nd 3rd Unrated Important Alcohol-related ASB 166 77 73 117 Graffiti & Vandalism 20 56 53 304 Vehicle-related ASB 53 80 59 241 Environmental ASB 39 63 57 274 Drug taking & dealing 106 80 66 181 Teenagers Loitering 36 44 65 288 Noise in residential areas 11 31 58 333

Other Priorities

The questionnaire also offered respondents the opportunity to suggest other issues to prioritise which were not covered in the options provided. Respondents could add issues that affect them under the partnership priorities section and/or the ASB priorities section. Respondents did not always have any further suggestions and some suggested more than one

Northampton Community Safety Partnership Consultation 2011/12: Summary Report

issue to prioritise. Below is a summary of what additional themes were suggested in both questions.

Priority No. of respondents Priority No. of respondents Street Lighting 21 Sentencing too soft 1 Cycling on Pavements 6 Travellers settling on inappropriate sites 1 Lack of Police Interest/ Presence 4 Knife Crime 1 Fraud 3 Online Harrassment 1 Drugs 2 Robbery 1 Pedal Cycle Theft 2 Sheft theft 1 Road Safety Issues 2 Foul Language 1 Shoplifting 2 Aggressive Dogs 1 Dog Fouling 2 Underage Drinking 1 Young people on skateboards 2 Mobile phone use whilst driving 1 Intimidating Behaviour 2 Public house furniture on pavements 1 Untaxed Vehicles 1 ASB at The Racecourse Car Park 1 Residential Noise 1 Bullying 1 Parking (Abington) 1 Teenagers loitering at night 1 Child Abuse 1 Arson 1 Burglary 1

Town Centre Issues

The third section of the questionnaire asked respondents to specify if they felt there were any problems in Northampton Town centre. This question provided respondents with 15 different answers to choose from and an opportunity to suggest any other problems not covered. Respondents were able to give more than one answer in this section. 29.6% (n = 128) respondents stated there were no problems in Northampton Town Centre. The responses given are summarised in the two tables below.

Issue Count Percentage Vehicle Crime 9 2.1% Burglary of homes 16 3.7% Violent Crime 46 10.6% Speeding Vehicles 38 8.8% Parking Problems 55 12.7% People dealing/ using drugs 48 11.1% People being drunk/rowdy 109 25.2% Burglary of buildings/businesses 12 2.8% Youths gathering in inappropriate places 82 18.9% Litter 74 17.1% Cycling on Abington Street 41 9.5% Lack of things to do 43 9.9% Vandalism/ Graffiti/ Damage 55 12.7% Street Drinking 90 20.8% Other 37 8.5% No Problems 128 29.6%

Northampton Community Safety Partnership Consultation 2011/12: Summary Report

8.5% (n = 37) people stated ‘other’ in response to this question. The town centre issues they raised are summarised in the table below.

Issue Count Issue Count Rundown/ Needs updating/ Dirty 5 Poor pavement condition 1 Begging 4 Female safety 1 More variety in retail shops 3 Gangs 1 Robbery 2 Aggressive dogs 1 Shop mobility 1 Youths gathering in bus station 1 Bullying 1 Lack of police presence 1 Cash point theft 1 Skateboarding 1 Terrorism threat 1 Road rage 1 Lack of disabled parking 1 Poor bus service 1 Night time safety 1 Unauthorised parking on pavements 1

Appendix A: Example copy of the NCSP consultation questionnaire

Please score the following community safety priorities in order of your greatest concern:- (1-6, 1 being of most concern, and 6 being of least concern)

Serious Acquisitive Crime(burglary, vehicle crime, robbery) Anti-social behaviour (e.g. criminal damage) Domestic Abuse Violent Crime Hate Crime (e.g. racially or religiously aggravated crime) Sexual Crime Are there any areas of great concern not covered in the above question? If yes, please specify:-

______

Please specify what type of Anti-social behaviour Northampton Community Safety Partnership should concentrate on:- (Please select a maximum of three, inputting “1” for the most important, “2” for the 2 nd most important and “3” for the 3 rd )

Alcohol-related anti-social behaviour Graffiti & Vandalism Anti-social behaviour linked to vehicles (speeding, motorcycle nuisance) Environmental Anti-social behaviour (littering, fly-tipping) Drug taking & dealing Teenagers Loitering Noise in residential areas Any other anti-social behaviour ( please specify: )

Northampton Community Safety Partnership Consultation 2011/12: Summary Report

Do you consider there to be any problems in Northampton Town Centre? Yes No

If YES please choose YOUR main issue for the area:

Vehicle Crime Youths gathering in inappropriate places Burglary of homes Litter Violent Crime No Problems Speeding vehicles Cycling on Abington Street Parking problems Lack of things to do People dealing/using drugs Vandalism, graffiti, damage People being drunk/rowdy Street Drinking Burglary of buildings/businesses Other (Please list) ______ABOUT YOU? (All data is treated in line with data protection)

What area do you live (e.g. Billing, St James)? ______

Age Range Please Tick Under 17 Ethnicity (please circle) 17 to 24 White British White Irish 25 to 34 Asian Bangladeshi Asian Indian 35 to 44 Asian Pakistani Black African 45 to 54 Black Caribbean Chinese White & Asian White & Black 55 to 64 Caribbean 65 to 74 White & Black Other Asian 75 or above African Background Other Black Other White Background background Gender Please Tick Other ethnic group: Male Female

THANK YOU FOR YOUR PARTICIPATION IN THIS SURVEY

Will Finn Community Safety Data Analyst Northampton Community Safety Partnership [email protected]

Northampton Community Safety Partnership Consultation 2011/12: Summary Report