Have your say on independent review into the Metropolitan Police Service - MetEngage Longlands, St Marys, Sidcup, Blackfen, Blendon & Penhill, Welling

The Fairfield Independent Review, led by Dr Gillian Fairfield, is assessing the Met’s progress against the recommendations made in Baroness Casey’s 2023 review — and we’re asking Londoners to share their views as part of this important work.

 

A new survey is gathering public feedback on cultural change, standards, and the impact of improvements made so far — and we need your insight.

 

The survey is open to anyone who lives in London or has lived here in the past three years. It takes 10–20 minutes, and you don’t need any prior knowledge of the Casey Review to take part.

 

Your experiences and perceptions matter. They will help shape meaningful, lasting change in the Met.

 

👉 Have your say here: Fairfield Independent Review Public Survey

 

Source: https://www.metengage.co.uk/Alerts/A/416964/Have-your-say-on-independent-review-into-the-Metropolitan-Police-Service 

Dodgy medical study surveys

We've seen a series of dodgy adverts for medical studies and trials appearing on social media, with some links going to phishing websites.

The ads usually call for volunteers to take part in a new study or trial, which requires you to give personal information. When we investigated some of the research projects advertised, we found they didn't exist.

How to avoid fake surveys

Source: Which? (11 Dec 2024)

Clipboard Scam: A Quick Overview

A clipboard scam is a common street scam where individuals approach people with a clipboard, often pretending to collect signatures for a petition or survey.

Here's how it typically works:

• The approach: The scammers, often appearing as a group, will ask for your signature on a petition, claiming to support a good cause.
• The distraction: While you're distracted with the petition, an accomplice may attempt to pickpocket you or distract you for another scam.
• The reveal: In some cases, after signing the petition, you're presented with a demand for money, claiming you owe them a fee.

Key points to remember:

• Be wary of unsolicited requests: Avoid signing petitions or providing personal information to strangers on the street.
• Protect your belongings: Keep your wallet, phone, and other valuables secure, especially in crowded areas.
• Be assertive: If you feel uncomfortable, politely decline and walk away.

Give East Wickham, Crook Log & West Heath Policing Team - Your survey Feedback

We are here to listen to you and work for you. Give your Local Police Team feedback, by clicking on the following link, or scan the QR code below:

click image to view enlarged

Source: https://twitter.com/MPSEastWickham/status/1699397436907893092

Bexley Magazine - Autumn 2023

Local information, community news and what's on in the London Borough of Bexley. 

https://issuu.com/bexleylondonborough/docs/bexmagautumn2023

• p10 - Fair Use Changes for Recycling Centres
• p11 - Bexley Community Survey 2023 (until friday 27 October 2023) or online
• p20 - Keeping the Community Safe (from BBNWA)

Will you be affected by the expansion of the ULEZ?

The Mayor of London plans to expand the ULEZ to all of London, including Bexley, from August this year.

The London Borough of Bexley is one of several Councils that have formed a coalition to legally challenge this decision.

This short survey will help us to have up-to-date information on the number of people who will be affected.  It is made up of eight questions and should take no longer than two minutes to complete.

Leader of the Council, Councillor Baroness O'Neill of Bexley OBE said;

"We know that our residents, businesses and visitors to our borough feel strongly about the Mayor's plan to expand the ULEZ.  

We support improvements to air quality but we do not agree that expanding the ULEZ is the best way to do this, because public transport infrastructure is poor in Bexley and many of our residents are dependent on their cars.

The ULEZ charge will hit many of our residents and businesses hard and it will discourage people from outside London from travelling into our borough.

We are keen to find out more how people will be affected by the Mayor of London’s plans. Please take the time to fill out this short survey and let us know.”

The survey does not ask you to share any identifiable personal information.

Please share the survey link with family and friends, including those who travel into Bexley for work, family or leisure reasons.

The survey will close on 23 June 2023.

Source: Bexley survey

Met: The Turnaround Plan 2023-2025

The Metropolitan Police Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, has recently launched the Turnaround Plan, which outlines how the Met will achieve its objectives of building More Trust, Less Crime, and High Standards. The Plan includes revised values for its staff and sets out nine priority areas that require specific attention.

To create this Plan, the Met has been engaging with communities, partners, and its officers, volunteers, and staff. However, this is just the beginning of the process, as the published Plan is a draft that will be shared with partners and communities to gather feedback, especially related to the Met's approach to neighbourhood policing, community engagement, diversity, and inclusion.

The Met will use this feedback to finalize the Plan, which will be published in April 2023. Therefore, it is essential that community members participate in the survey to provide their feedback, which will be anonymous and used to inform the Met's decisions. The survey is being run by Ignite, and no personal identifying information is collected when a respondent takes a survey.

The Met will only have access to the responses given to the questions asked and will not be able to identify individuals or households. The results of these surveys will be shared within the Met to help ensure the views of the communities inform the decisions made.

It is crucial to participate in the survey to shape the final version of the Plan that will impact the Metropolitan Police's approach to policing and community engagement. Your participation is key to the Met's success in achieving its objectives of More Trust, Less Crime, and High Standards.

The survey will run for eight weeks from 20th January to 17th March 2023.

Read the Turnaround Plan 2023-2025 (pdf) and take part in the survey

Source and details: Met The Turnaround Plan

https://www.met.police.uk/

Virtual Ward Panel

From Bexley Borough SNT

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/SE-BCU-POLICENGAGEMENT/

[Click image to view enlarged]

Virtual Ward Panel for survey.

Bexleyheath Broadway BCSP and Neighbourhood Watch stand

BBNWA & BCSP stand

BCSP & BBNWA stand

On Saturday 8th of October Laura and Maria from Bexley Community Safety Partnership and Steve, Amrik and Saby from Bexley Borough Neighbourhood Watch manned a stand in Bexleyheath Broadway to Hate Awareness, it being Hate Awareness Week, The Bexley Community Safety Survey and Neighbourhood Watch.

For more information on the various issues please visit:
Stop Hate UK (0800 138 1625 24-hour helpline)
National Hate Crime Awareness
Bexley Community Safety Survey

Complete our Neighbourhood Watch Crime and Community Survey for a chance to win a £25 Amazon Voucher

 

The survey closes on 26th October 2022

 

We are delighted to invite you to take part in our annual Crime and Community survey. The survey is in its third year running, and we want to hear your views on crime, community, and your experience of Neighbourhood Watch. The survey is open to everyone across England and Wales, regardless of whether you are a Neighbourhood Watch member or not. 

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/NWCCS2022

 

All responses will be anonymised and aggregated, and everyone who completes the 5 – 10 minute survey can choose to opt-in to the prize draw to win one of four £25 Amazon vouchers.

 

The results will enable us as a charity to better understand crime and fear of crime, benchmark whether membership in a Neighbourhood Watch scheme or living in a Neighbourhood Watch area impacts crime levels, neighbourliness, and the willingness of communities to work together. This information is vitally important to ensure we can better target our work to meet your crime and community needs and concerns.

 

Last year our survey received 16,000 responses from across England and Wales, providing us with rich and useful data. This year we will be able to compare our data to the last two year’s results and share our findings with you.

 

Please complete our survey and share it via email and social with all the various communities you belong to, whether they be a Neighbourhood Watch community or other such as sport, religious or work community.  This will help us receive a good balance of responses from members and non-members, enabling us to compare experiences between these two groups.

The survey closes on 26th October 2022.

OR - Scan above QR code to complete the survey

Have your say! Community Safety Survey 2022

Highlighting crime and disorder concerns  

 

We want to hear about people’s feelings of safety in the borough of Bexley. The Community Safety survey is a chance to highlight local crime and disorder issues which concern you the most – and help the Bexley Community Safety Partnership set its priorities for 2023/24.  

 

Finding out what concerns you is important to us and helps us improve the safety in the borough with partnership working and continuing to keep Bexley one of the safest boroughs in London.    

 

It’s easy to complete online at www.bexley.gov.uk/communitysafetysurvey. The survey is open from Monday 5^th September till Sunday 23^rd October 2022.  

 

Free internet access is available from all our Council run libraries. Paper copies can be requested from the Community Safety Team on 020 8303 7777 or by writing to the Community Safety Team, Civic Offices, 2 Watling Street, Bexleyheath. DA6 7AT.  

 

Please complete and share this with your networks – attached is a flyer and below is a link for your signatures which you can just copy and paste: 

 

You can also follow us on our new social media accounts:

Facebook – Bexley Community Safety Partnership 

Twitter - @BexleyCSP

click image to navigate to the BCS survey 2022 page

BCSP VAWG Strategy Survey

click image to view flyer (pdf)

Bexley Community Safety Partnership are developing a local strategy and action plan to tackle VAWG (Violence Against Women and Girls). So we want to hear from you; your views, concerns, experiences and priorities for making women and girls safe in Bexley.

The Survey runs from June 27^th – July 10^th and takes around 5 minutes to complete. All responses will be analysed anonymously.

 

LFB Social Impact questionnaire

The London Fire Brigade are asking residents to take part in their community engagement programme by completing their social impact survey .

The survey will help them identify how they shape their services in the future.  Please click on the link below to access the survey.

LFB Social Impact questionnaire

Burglary prevention campaign - launching 1st March

BRITISH HOUSEHOLDS WORRY ABOUT BURGLARY MORE THAN ANY OTHER CRIME

• Two thirds (67%) of respondents to the Neighbourhood Watch Crime and Community Survey 2021* were concerned about becoming a victim of burglary

• There are evidence-based, simple and effective measures we can all take to reduce our chance of being burgled by up to 50%**

• Victims of burglary are more likely to be re-targeted

  New research shows two thirds (67%) of people are worried about their home being broken into, yet there are simple, proven measures we can all take to reduce our chances of becoming a victim of burglary by up to 50%.

  Neighbourhood Watch says ensuring your home has a combination of the WIDE features is proven to be most effective – and can be done in any home on a variety of budgets. The charity also believes neighbours keeping an eye out for each other is key to reducing burglary, so they have extended the well-known WIDE acronym to WIDE(N).

  • W – WINDOWS: Keep your windows locked

  • I – INTERIOR: Put interior lights on a timer

  • D – DOORS: Double or deadlock your doors

  • E – EXTERIOR: Put exterior lights on a sensor

  • (N) – NEIGHBOURS: Keep an eye out for your neighbours 

  If you have been burgled recently, criminals know what’s in your house and may come back soon or once you have had time to purchase new items. Act soon to avoid being retargeted. Use the WIDE(N) advice for a combination of simple yet effective prevention measures.

  To help people feel safer in their homes, Neighbourhood Watch has joined forces with their longstanding premium partner, ERA Home Security, to launch the Think WIDE(N) burglary prevention campaign. The campaign will run throughout March on their social channels and their website ourwatch.org.uk/thinkWIDEN, providing people of all ages and living circumstances with clear guidance on securing their home.

  John Hayward-Cripps, CEO of Neighbourhood Watch Network, said 'It is not okay for two thirds of people to fear being burgled. More needs to be done to help people be and feel safer, and when it comes to burglary, prevention is always better than cure. Since 1982 we have been supporting communities to feel and be safer, and we know that by securing your home’s windows, interior, doors, exterior and keeping an eye out for neighbours we can all give ourselves the best chance of not being burgled.’

Helen Downer, President of ERA’s parent company, Tyman UK & Ireland, said

Throughout 2022 Neighbourhood Watch is celebrating 40 years of community work by hundreds of thousands of volunteers. The first schemes were set up in 1982 to address burglary, and whilst they now address a wide variety of crime types, from modern slavery to cybercrime, they have expert knowledge spanning 40 years providing burglary prevention advice. They are a trusted organisation, with their research showing nearly all (90%) of Neighbourhood Watch members sometimes or usually acting on advice they receive from the charity.

The research also showed that Neighbourhood Watch members are more likely to be satisfied with their personal safety than non-members (70% vs 62%), and the charity believes this is down to the tools, resources and connections it helps local communities to access. Members are more likely to be very satisfied or satisfied with their local area than non-members (92% vs 88%).

*The NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH CRIME AND COMMUNITY SURVEY 2021 was run by Neighbourhood Watch Network between 20th October and 16th November 2021. The survey was created to better understand the impact of Neighbourhood Watch on: levels of crime victimisation; fear of crime and feelings of safety, neighbourliness, community cohesion and loneliness; and the current reach and diversity of Neighbourhood Watch. The NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH CRIME AND COMMUNITY SURVEY is supported by University College London and informed by previous research from Nottingham Trent University. It also includes questions from the What Works Centre for Wellbeing survey tool for measuring loneliness. The survey received 14,083 completed and valid responses from a balanced mix of those living in a Neighbourhood Watch area and those not living in a Neighbourhood Watch area. The data was analysed by Xavier Faux using the SPSS data analysis software. All responses were anonymous, and all responses were aggregated to avoid any attempt at identifying individuals or group of people. All percentages are of valid cases, i.e. excluding blanks and "prefer not to answer" where appropriate. The sample is not representative of the general population and may have sample bias in the results. The findings can be found here: https://www.ourwatch.org.uk/impact

Bexley Crime Survey 2021

The annual Bexley Crime Survey closes on Friday 31^st December –  the survey is your chance to highlight local crime and disorder issues which concern you most and help the Bexley Community Safety Partnership (BCSP) decide its priorities for 2022/23.

 

We’re keen to hear from as wide a cross-section of the community as possible, please share with your networks and promote via social media where applicable.

 

The link for the survey is www.bexley.gov.uk/crimesurvey (Paper copies are available upon request.)

NEIGHBOURHOOD WATCH 2021 CRIME AND COMMUNITY SURVEY LAUNCHED

This is a National Neighbourhood Watch survey although there is a section about your local or Bexley Neighbourhood Watch.

Please take 5/10 minutes to complete the survey.

surveymonkey.co.uk/R/CL72YGJ

For the second year running, we want to hear your thoughts about crime, community, and how effective Neighbourhood Watch is.

 

www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/CL72YGJ

 

The survey, launched on Wednesday 20^th October 2021, is open to the public across England and Wales, regardless of whether they live in a Neighbourhood Watch area or not.

 

The results will enable us to better understand on a national and regional level crime, fear of crime and benchmark whether membership to a Neighbourhood Watch scheme, or living in a Neighbourhood Watch area, has an impact on levels of crime, concern about crime, neighbourliness, and the willingness of communities to work together.

 

Last year our survey received just over 30,000 responses from across England and Wales providing us with a rich and useful set of data. This year we will be able to compare our data to last year’s results.

 

Please share this survey via email and social across all the various communities which you belong to whether they be a Neighbourhood Watch community or other such as sport, religious or work community.  This will help us receive a good balance of responses from Neighbourhood Watch members and non-members which will enable us to compare experiences between these two groups.

A good response in all regions will ensure we can publish a national report and provide individual regions with their own reports.

All data will be anonymised and aggregated and will be used by Neighbourhood Watch to ensure our work is effective, inclusive, and representative.

The survey closes on the 16^th of November. Thank you for your support.

Healthwatch our engagement work - 15th and 27th October 2021

 

Thamesmead Festival - 14 August 2021

On 15th October we will be at Morrisons Welling and on 27th October we will be at Queen Mary's Hospital in the main foyer 10am until 3pm.  Future engagements will be advertised via our social media pages.

We have slowly started to increase our face to face engagements since August.  We were pleased to be invited to attend the Thamesmead Festival in August which was located at Southmere Lakes.  The sun was shining and the event was well attended.  We were able to talk to residents about their experiences with accessing their GP practice.

In September we spent a day at Queen Mary's hospital, Sidcup raising awareness of Healthwatch Bexley and talking to residents about the hospital services they had used. 

We were also invited to attend a marketplace event at the new Job Centre in Bexleyheath which was focussed around health and wellbeing.  In addition to this, we also visited Blackfen Library and Morrisons Erith.

https://www.healthwatchbexley.co.uk/

Unfortunately, the 15th October event above has had to be cancelled. The 27th October one still stands for now.

Meanwhile, Healthwatch Bexley are running a short poll to ask if residents now feel they have received sufficient information relating to the covid-19 vaccination.  It is just two questions and takes about one minute to complete.  We are only running this until 5pm on Monday 18^th October as it is just a quick snapshot into what residents think.

Click the link below to take part:-

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/VTFM5LF

Many thanks

Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) Consultation

 

The London Borough of Bexley is asking local residents and businesses for their views on the introduction of a borough-wide Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) PSPOs are used to provide the Police, Community Officers and delegated Council Enforcement Officers with the ability and powers to control activities that cause persistent anti-social behaviour that is either having or is likely to have, a harmful effect on a local community’s quality of life. It is hoped that a borough-wide PSPO could help to reduce the public health and environmental impact of the misuse of nitrous oxide canisters as well as the impact of street drinking. While nitrous oxide canisters do cause unsightly litter, the health effects are far more serious. Inhaling nitrous oxide gas can include headaches, nausea, dizziness, unconsciousness, collapse and consequent injury. Taking it can lead to a range of health problems such as burns, a dangerously increased heart rate, swelling on the brain, nerve damage and anaemia, as well as serious psychological problems. Bexley Police have formally requested the PSPO. Before they could submit their request they carried out their own consultation with residents at the end of last year. More than 2250 residents responded. Of those responses, 2184 supported the introduction of a PSPO. Part of the PSPO process includes a public consultation. We are asking those who live, work and visit Bexley to complete a short survey, to establish if there is support for a PSPO and to address any concerns. Please make sure you get in touch and have your say on the proposals.” The consultation is available at www.bexley.gov.uk/PSPO from 6 October and will close on Wednesday 20 October. If approved the PSPO could be in place by the end of October. If introduced, anyone who breaches the PSPO for the reason of drugs or alcohol would be offered the support they may need. If you would like a paper copy of the survey or if you have any further questions about the proposed PSPO please contact community.safety@bexley.gov.uk or call 020 8303 7777 and ask for Community Safety Team.

Public Space Protection Orders (PSPOs) are made under the Antisocial Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014

Source: https://www.bexley.gov.uk/consultations/public-space-protection-order-pspo

Further information on nitrous oxide canisters visit the post here.

Bexley Crime Survey 2021

The Bexley Crime Survey is back!

With the launch of the latest annual Bexley Crime Survey on September 30^th, local people once more have the chance to tell the Bexley Community Safety Partnership (BCSP) about local crime and disorder issues which concern them most.  The partnership will use the responses, alongside other data, to help decide its priorities for 2022/23.

 

We’re keen to hear from as wide a cross-section of the community as possible, especially those in the north of the borough and those in the 10 - 25 age group who have historically not responded in great numbers to the survey.

 

The link for the survey is www.bexley.gov.uk/crimesurvey. 

Paper copies are available upon request, details in the link above.

 

The survey starts Thursday 30 September and ends on Friday 31 December.

Neighbourhood Watch members feel a closer belonging to their neighbourhood than non-members

THE GRASSROOTS VOLUNTEER-LED CHARITY HAS SEEN A GROWTH IN POPULARITY SINCE THE START OF THE PANDEMIC DESPITE CRIME FIGURES DECREASING

• The charity has over 86,000 new supporters registering to receive information from them since the start of the pandemic (March 2020) despite the police recording 5.8 million crimes in England and Wales in the 12-month period to year ending June 2020, a 4% decrease form the previous year.

• The charity has seen over 1.2 million users visiting their website in the year ending Feb 2021, an increase of 88% from the previous year

• The charity’s website is attracting 10% more younger supporters (under 34-year-olds) since the start of the pandemic than previously

  Since the start of the pandemic (March 2020) over 86,000 people have opted to receive information from Neighbourhood Watch, and their new website attracts an average of over 100,000 monthly viewers. The vast majority of those users using the search facility to find their local Neighbourhood Watch scheme.

  The charity is attracting 10% more younger supporters (under 34-year-olds) to their website since the start of the pandemic than before.

Website users between March 2020 – Feb 2021 (blue) and March 2019 – Feb 2020 (orange)

Surveys sent to all new members since March 2020 indicate that the charity is attracting a new, younger membership. Over 13,000 new members responded to their survey and of those (indicate ages).

The majority (66%) of new members joined as they were concerned about community safety. 44% said they joined to actively help make their community a better place to live whilst 33% cited a rise in crime in their area as a reason for joining.