STUART ANDERSON MP’S SAFER NEIGHBOURHOODS SURVEY REPORT I want to do what I can to ensure that our community in Wolverhampton can become a safer place to live in, work, and visit. As part of this ongoing work, I launched my ‘safer neighbourhoods’ campaign in February 2021. It consists of three elements: consultation, information, and action. Consultation: my survey ran between February and April 2021. It collected the views of almost 200 constituents – 197 to be exact. You will find the results of this survey in the pages that follow. I have anonymised the results so that no personal details are shared. I will be sending these results to key stakeholders, so they are aware of the issues that are highlighted. Information: I have now written to thousands of constituents about what more we can all do to protect ourselves against crime, anti-social behaviour, any incidents of scam, fraud, and rogue trading on the doorstep. I have also made information available via my website and social media. In my letters, I have included contact details for support organisations such as: • Crimestoppers: 0800 555 111 • Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline: 0808 223 1133 • Victim Support: 0808 1689 111 • Police (non-emergency): 101 Action: As a Member of Parliament, I am continuing to work with all the relevant key partners, such as the West Midlands Police and the City of Wolverhampton Council, to ensure that prompt action can be taken on any cases which are raised with me and my office. I have already worked on more than 500 cases or policy issues relating to crime, law, justice, and rights. Together we can ensure the safety of our community. I look forward to working with you. Yours sincerely, Stuart Anderson MP 1 STUART ANDERSON MP’S SAFER NEIGHBOURHOODS SURVEY REPORT ..................... 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: ............................................................................................................. 2 SECTION 1: SAFER NEIGHBOURHOODS ................................................................................ 3 SECTION 2. NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICING ........................................................................... 4 SECTION 3: SAFETY MATTERS ................................................................................................. 6 SECTION 4: ABOUT YOU ............................................................................................................. 8 APPENDIX A: WARD ANALYSIS ................................................................................................ 9 GRAISELEY (20 RESPONDENTS): ........................................................................................ 10 MERRY HILL (28 RESPONDENTS): ..................................................................................... 13 PARK (35 RESPONDENTS): .................................................................................................... 16 PENN (32 RESPONDENTS): .................................................................................................... 19 ST PETER’S (15 RESPONDENTS): ........................................................................................ 22 TETTENHALL REGIS (25 RESPONDENTS): ...................................................................... 25 TETTENHALL WIGHTWICK (42 RESPONDENTS): ......................................................... 28 APPENDIX B: SURVEY TEMPLATE. ....................................................................................... 31 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: 197 constituents took part in my ‘safer neighbourhoods’ survey, which ran between February and April 2021. There were five sections. Section one focused on overarching questions. Most constituents told me that crime and anti-social behaviour was an issue in the area in which they live, though the majority said that there had been no change in neighbourhood safety levels since February 2020; it has stayed the same. Overall, most constituents felt moderately safe. Section two examined neighbourhood policing issues. Every constituent had encountered at least one form of anti-social behaviour or crime since February 2020. Most constituents did not report the encounter to the police. While the survey did not ask why this was the case, there might be underlying reasons. For example, constituents might have only been a witness or a bystander, so felt that the question did not apply to them. A third section asked about safety matters issues. More than half of respondents told me that the police were ‘extremely invisible.’ This was especially the case in Tettenhall Regis, where 72% of constituents shared this view. In line with the issues that they had encountered, most constituents wanted to see more done to tackle speeding/traffic issues. In second place, an equal number of constituents wanted to see an increased police presence and more CCTV. Two thirds of constituents agreed with the Government’s plan to recruit 20,000 more police officers and believed that this would help. A fourth section asked constituents about their relationships with political parties. Most constituents told me that they had voted for the Conservatives in the 2019 General Election. More than half of constituents told me that they trusted the Conservatives most to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour, followed by no other political party. This was followed by a section to complete a contact form and sign up to future correspondence, such as my regular newsletter. This document contains anonymised data that has been broken down to a ward-level analysis. 2 SECTION 1: SAFER NEIGHBOURHOODS Firstly, I wanted to find out whether my constituents felt that crime and anti-social behaviour was a particular issue where they lived. Almost two thirds (n. 112) said that they felt crime and anti-social behaviour was a particular issue in their area. A quarter of respondents (n. 48) told me that it was not a particular issue for them. 18% of respondents (n. 35) were unsure. In most wards, at least half of respondents told me that crime/anti-social behaviour was an issue. This rose to 80% of respondents in St Peter’s ward and dropped to 40% in Graiseley ward. Q1. DO YOU FEEL THAT CRIME AND ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IS A PARTICULAR ISSUE WHERE YOU LIVE? No reply Unsure 1% 18% Yes No 57% 24% Next, I wanted to know whether crime and anti-social behaviour had become more or less of an issue in the twelve months prior to my survey going live in February 2021. Over a third of constituents (n. 68) told me that the area in which they live was less safe. This was particularly true for respondents in Tettenhall Regis, where more than 52% of people told me their area had become less safe. Overall, 11% (n. 21) told me it was much less safe. Most constituents (n. 94) said there had been no change. Only one constituent told me their area had become much safer. Q2. DO YOU FEEL THAT YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD HAS BECOME MORE OR LESS SAFE SINCE FEBRUARY 2020? It's much more safe 0% It's a little bit more It's much less safe safe 11% 7% It's less safe There's been no 34% change 48% 3 Q3. HOW SAFE DO YOU FEEL IN YOUR NEIGHBOURHOOD? 90 80 77 70 60 60 50 40 36 30 NO. CONSTITUENTS 18 20 10 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 < EXTREMELY UNSAFE EXTREMELY SAFE > As a local MP, it is important for me to know how safe constituents feel in their area and where improvements are to be made. 196 constituents replied to this question. While only 5 told me that they felt ‘extremely unsafe’, only 18 said that they felt ‘extremely safe’. Most constituents said that they are somewhat safe. 77 reported community safely levels as three out of five. SECTION 2. NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICING Q4. CRIME OR ANTI-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN THE LAST TWELVE MONTHS I also wanted to find out what kinds of crime or Other Anti-social 7% anti-social behaviour were None behaviour 7% 21% taking place in our community. I listed seven categories, including options for ‘none’ and ‘other’ types. 420 types – Fly-tipping 18% including the latter two options – were logged. All constituents said that they had experienced at least one kind of crime, 123 had Speeding/traffic experienced at least two Theft/burglary issue kinds, 66 reported three or 12% 31% more kinds, 27 reported Violent crime 4% four or GRAISELEY MERRY PARK PENN ST PETER’S TETTENHALL TETTENNHALL TOTAL HILL REGIS WIGHTWICK more kinds, ANTI-SOCIAL 4 11 22 14 12 10 13 86 and 19 BEHAVIOUR SPEEDING ISSUES 11 19 27 25 9 19 21 131 reported VIOLENT CRIME 2 1 3 2 7 1 0 16 THEFT/BURGLARY 5 7 8 11 8 4 9 52 five or FLY-TIPPING 10 6 17 11 14 10 9 77 NONE 3 5 2 4 1 3 12 30 more kinds OTHER 0 3 11 3 3 2 6 28 of crime. Total 35 52 90 70 54 49 70 420 4 The most cited type of crime or anti-social behaviour was speeding/traffic issues, which 131 constituents told me that they had encountered. This was particularly prevalent in Merry Hill and Tettenhall Regis, where more than a third of respondents had experienced this. In second place, 86 constituents told me that they had encountered anti-social behaviour – particularly in Park. 52 constituents told me that Q5. DID YOU REPORT THE INCIDENT they encountered theft/burglary. 28 TO THE POLICE? logged at least one kind of other type of crime/anti-social behaviour. No reply Fly-tipping was notably prevalent 2% Yes 19% in St Peter’s, where over a quarter N/A of respondents had encountered it. 31% I asked constituents whether they had reported the crime or anti- social behaviour they encountered to the police. Almost half of No constituents (n. 94) said that they 48% had not. 31% (n. 62) constituents told me that the question was not applicable