Community safety survey 2022: How can we make Buckinghamshire safer?
Feedback updated 7 Jun 2023
We asked
Every year, the Safer Buckinghamshire Board runs a survey to understand community safety concerns from the past 12 months, including:
- the impact of crime, anti-social behaviour, drug and alcohol issues where you live or work
- your experience of reporting crimes
- how safe or unsafe you feel
The survey ran from 5 September to 30 October 2022.
You said
We received 1,264 responses to the survey.
Top concerns related to crime in 2022:
- fraud / scams, including online (67% of respondents thought this was a ‘Very big’ or ‘Fairly big’ concern)
- theft from a motor vehicle (52%)
- criminal damage (49%)
- cyber-crime / cyber-bulling (44%)
- theft of a motor vehicle (43%)
- theft of equipment / tools from van (42%)
- shed / garage burglary (41%)
Top concerns related to anti-social behaviour in 2022:
- speeding (66% of respondents thought this was a ‘Very big’ or ‘Fairly big’ concern)
- fly tipping (65%)
- parking (56%)
- criminal damage / vandalism (48%)
- dog fouling (44%)
Top concerns related to alcohol and drugs in 2022:
- discarded drug paraphernalia, including cannisters speeding (43% of respondents thought this was a ‘Very big’ or ‘Fairly big’ concern)
- drug use (43%)
- behaviour related to drug use (42%)
- supply / selling of drugs (42%)
- drug possession (39%)
- alcohol disorder / behaviour (44%)
We asked how safe or unsafe respondents felt in their local area at the following times:
- outside in the daylight, alone. 87% of respondents felt safe and 13% felt unsafe
- outside after dark, alone. 53% of respondents felt safe and 47% felt unsafe
- when on public transport. 87% of respondents felt safe and 13% felt unsafe
More information about what you told us is in the Safer Buckinghamshire Strategy 2023 to 2026.
We did
At its meeting on 9 May 2023, Buckinghamshire Council agreed the Safer Buckinghamshire Strategy 2023 to 2026.
The strategy sets out priorities to 2026 for Buckinghamshire to be one of the safest places to grow up, raise a family, live, work and do business.
We used your views, a strategic assessment of community safety and other insight to create 5 priorities:
- neighbourhood crime – working in partnership to tackle crime hotspots and raise awareness of fraud, scams and cybercrime
- anti-social behaviour – tackling repeat victimisation and encouraging reporting as well as working with partners to address concerns
- serious violence – raising awareness and supporting early intervention / prevention for young people at risk
- violence against women and girls – education and training of professionals to increase awareness and increasing confidence in reporting
- exploitation of vulnerable people – identifying places where there is an exploitation risk and making sure communities can recognise the signs and report concerns
The priorities focus on known causes of crime and concerns of people in Buckinghamshire. Each priority will have a partnership action plan – to reduce crime and increase community safety.
The Safer Buckinghamshire Board will continue to work with local communities to understand concerns and deliver these priorities.
More information about each priority, and how the partnership will deliver them, is in the Safer Buckinghamshire Strategy 2023 to 2026.
Overview
We want to know the community safety concerns where you live or work to help us develop and implement an action plan to reduce crime.
The Safer Buckinghamshire Board is a local Community Safety Partnership that brings together experts from the police, fire service, probation, health and social care services.
The purpose of the Safer Buckinghamshire Board is to develop and implement an action plan to reduce crime, so that Buckinghamshire continues as one the safest places to live, work and do business.
Every year, we carry out a strategic assessment of community safety issues and crime across Buckinghamshire.
As part of this process, we want to find out about local community safety concerns from the past 12 months. What we want to know about:
- the impact of crime, anti-social behaviour, drug and alcohol issues where you live or work
- your experience of reporting crimes
- how safe or unsafe you feel
We want to hear from people living and / or working in Buckinghamshire.
Community safety survey 2021: You said, we did
Your feedback to last year’s community safety survey helped shape the Safer Buckinghamshire Board’s action plan to reduce crime:
More Information
We received 1,041 responses to the survey. The main themes from responses are outlined below.
Top concerns related to crime in 2021:
- fraud / scams, including online (69% of respondents thought this was a ‘Very big’ or ‘Fairly big’ concern)
- theft of equipment / tools from van (49%)
- theft from a motor vehicle (48%)
- cyber-crime / cyber-bulling (44%)
- criminal damage (43%)
- shed / garage burglary (41%)
Top concerns related to anti-social behaviour in 2021:
- speeding (77% of respondents thought this was a ‘Very big’ or ‘Fairly big’ concern)
- fly tipping / litter (76%)
- parking (64%)
- dog fouling (51%)
- criminal damage / vandalism (43%)
We asked how safe or unsafe respondents felt in their local area at the following times:
- outside in the daylight, alone. 92% of respondents felt safe and 8% felt unsafe
- outside after dark, alone. 53% of respondents felt safe and 45% felt unsafe. 2% didn’t know
- when on public transport. 55% of respondents felt safe and 13% felt unsafe. 32% didn’t know
More Information
Your feedback helped shape the Safer Buckinghamshire Board’s action plan to reduce crime and make Buckinghamshire safer.
The Safer Buckinghamshire Plan is a 3 year plan that sets out five priorities and how we will deliver them.
Members of the Safer Buckinghamshire Board have carried out the following actions / projects:
- expanded the Street Warden Team to cover Aylesbury town centre. Dealt with over 1,600 incidents in High Wycombe and Aylesbury town centres. This includes shoplifting, begging, emergency first aid and supporting vulnerable people
- attended crime prevention events to provide advice and prevention materials. Particularly related to burglary, vehicle crime (including keyless car theft) and scams
- raising awareness of scams. Buckinghamshire Council is proud to be accredited as a Friends Against Scams (FAS) Organisation
- undertaken Environmental Visual Audits (EVAs) in local areas to identify issues of concern. Working with community members and other partners. Using a holistic approach to help address issues
- extended the Hotel Watch Scheme across Buckinghamshire. Over 80 premises given guidance to spot the signs of exploitation
- delivered Modern Slavery awareness sessions to over 100 partnership officers
- Resilient Families Programme provided digital resilience awareness to 155 parents - to help spot and prevent cyber-crime and cyber-bulling
- delivered the Blue Light Project - utilising behaviour change and outreach to help drinkers with complex needs
- 441 trained Domestic Abuse Champions in organisations across Buckinghamshire
- created 3 community hubs to support and work with LGBTQ+, disability and ethnic minority communities - the hubs will deliver projects during National Hate Crime Awareness Week
- 177 young people at risk of offending engaged with the Youth Offending Service
- 26 volunteer mentors trained to offer support to young people - as part of Youth Offending Service project
How to report crime and anti-social behaviour
The responses to this survey are anonymous. We cannot identify you or contact you about anything you say in this survey.
If you are affected by crime or anti-social behaviour, please use the following information to report it:
- what you can do if you are affected by crime
- what you can do if you are affected by anti-social behaviour
How to have your say
You can tell us your views in one of the following ways:
- complete the online survey using the link at the end of the page
- complete, and return, a printed version of the survey (PDF 0.25MB)
You can enter in a prize draw to win one of three £100 food shopping vouchers at the end of the survey. Full terms and conditions for entering the prize draw.
If you have any questions about this activity, please email us at communitysafety@buckinghamshire.gov.uk or phone us on 0300 131 6000.
Please tell us your views by midnight on Sunday 30 October 2022.
What happens next
We will carry out a detailed analysis of crime and disorder data from partners across Buckinghamshire. This strategic assessment will help evidence and identify community safety priorities.
Your responses to this survey will help us:
- set the Safer Buckinghamshire Partnership priorities to reduce crime from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2026
- produce the Safer Bucks Plan outlining how we will work together to address these priorities
Privacy
We will use the information you provide here only for this activity. We will store the information securely in line with data protection laws and will not share or publish any personal details. For more information about data and privacy, please see our Privacy Policy.
If you have questions about data and privacy, please email us on dataprotection@buckinghamshire.gov.uk. Or write to our Data Protection Officer at Buckinghamshire Council, The Gateway, Gatehouse Road, Aylesbury, HP19 8FF.
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- All Areas
Interests
- Communities
- Crime & community safety
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