Public Consultation and Engagement

• 52% respondents feel average speed cameras would make roads safer.
• 44.5% don’t think average speed cameras would make roads safer.
• When asked ‘If you drive through areas with existing speed cameras, do you watch your speed more closely?’: 69.3% responded ‘yes’, 25.7% responded ‘no’.
• When asked ‘Would you like to see average speed cameras installed on the following roads?’: 18.9% said the A285, 21.7% said the A272, 25.1% said other roads need average speed cameras and 34.4% didn’t think the roads in question (A285, A273) required cameras.
• When asked what the biggest concern relating to driving behaviour was, 780 respondents selected speeding as their top concern.

Engagement

Dates

People engaged

Main Findings

Safer In Sussex Survey

16/05 – 30/10

3,144

• 94% of respondents have experienced a crime or community issue in the past 12 months. Of the 3,144 respondents, over 7,500 offences or community issues were experienced.

• The most common were ASB (66%), Road Safety (10%) and Environmental Issues/Fly Tipping (6%).  Other notable offences declared were Fraud/Scams (346 people), Drug Crime (162), Burglary/Robbery (91), Domestic Violence (83) and Hate Crime (45).

When asked what would make them feel safer, respondents answered with Visible Policing (41%), Tougher Sentencing (21%), Early Intervention (15%) and More CCTV (11%).

Correspondence

1/01 – 31/12

14,000+ emails sent and received across over 2,500 casework for residents

• The top correspondence category was National Correspondence (21%) followed by Feedback (11%).

• Other common contact reasons included: Review Request (218), Enquiries (210) and Complaints (159).

• For policing priorities, the most common categories were Road Safety (108), ASB (101) and Business Crime (36).

46% of cases had an unknown location and 12% were from outside of Sussex

Focus Group/Feedback Discussion

November 25 – January 26

66 Town and Parish Clerks

Community feedback groups were organised across the county via Microsoft Teams. Participants expressed thanks and understanding to Sussex Police relating to demand and visibility. Key issues raised were related to ASB, road safety and shoplifting.

Independent consultation including precept survey

01/11-01/12

2,469

• 2,469 fully completed surveys were achieved by Sussex residents, delivering an extremely robust total sample Confidence Interval of ±1.97.

• 54% of council tax payers support an increase for the policing precept for 2026/27, with 24% of those respondents being happy to pay the maximum of an additional £2 a month for a Band D household.

• 56% males are prepared to pay an increase in their precept whilst 51% of females are prepared to pay an increase.

• 62% of +65 year olds, 50% of 50-64 year olds, 52% of 35-39 year olds and 51% of 18-34 year olds support an increase in the precept.

• 81% of the council taxpayers who feel that their local community has become ‘a much safer place to live’ over the last 12 months, support an increase. Perceptions of safety have improved +3%pts vs the previous year

• Council taxpayers who are familiar with the current PCC and the work undertaken are +18% more likely to support a precept increase

• 47% of respondents had experienced an offence over the past 12 months

• Perceptions on lack of safety in the community were attributed to “increase of crime”, “immigration issues” and “lack of visible policing”.  

Those living in cities are generally more satisfied with policing than those in more rural communities

Your Sussex Your Say

01/10-01/12

98

Respondents were asked about awareness and views about Live Facial Recognition Vans:

• 59% of respondents were aware of the vans launching in Sussex

• 65% of respondents feel safer knowing that the vans are catching criminals in Sussex

• 76% of respondents would like the vans to be expanded to scan for other crime types

The survey had a 67% open rate

Digital Media

1/01 – 31/12

769,735

Digital Engagement:

Reached 769,735 individuals

Received 45,147 engagements

Above benchmarks for average Engagement Rate across 2 priority channels (Facebook & LinkedIn)

Engagement

Dates

People engaged

Main Findings

Safer In Sussex Survey

09/09 – 31/10

3,176

Cohort statistics: over half are 65+, 21% declared a disability, 6% were LGBTQ+ and 2% are of an ethnic minority.

Majority of respondents have a middle or senior manager as the primary household earner (62%) and 85% have no children under 18 in the household-24% of respondents have reported a crime to the police within the last 12 months

Concerns: 32% ranked ASB as their top issue, followed by dangerous driving (14%) and knife crime (14%). All 12 local authority areas ranked ASB as the most important issue. VAWG is more of a concern in areas with large towns particularly university towns Brighton and Chichester. Knife crime and county lines are highly ranked in Hastings, Crawley and Rother

We asked: Are you aware?

-60,000 victims of crime are referred to support services each year: 24% said yes, 33% want to know more-The Safe Space Sussex Directory: 15% said yes, 45% want to know more

-Sussex Police has a dedicated Business Crime Team: 17% said yes, 29% want to know more

-Sussex Police has a dedicated Roads Policing Unit: 48% said yes, 27% want to know more

-Sussex Police has a dedicated Rural Crime Team: 40% said yes, 23% want to know more

-Total neighbourhood crime is down over 20% last year: 23% said yes, 49% want to know more

-Sussex Police has disrupted 585 drug lines in the last year: 23% said yes, 44% want to know more

-Sussex Police is one of the best performing forces for answering 999/101 calls: 20% said yes, 47% want to know more

-The Sussex Safer Roads Partnership: 35% said yes, 34% want to know more

 We asked: What would reassure you that crime is being tackled in Sussex?

50% said the most important action would be visible police officers and PCSOs, followed by better police engagement (19%) and effective initiatives to tackle ASB (9%)

Correspondence

1/01 – 31/12

2,208 correspondence records received

There were 2,208 correspondence records received. Around half of reports did not provide a location or were from outside of Sussex. The top topics included: feedback to newsletter or PCC announcements (290), enquiries (251), reviews (216), complaints (210) road safety (207) and DBS (172)

Independent consultation including precept survey

01/11-01/12

2,524

2,524 residents completed the survey (372) more than last year with a confidence interval of ±1.95. 47% of respondents were male and 51% female and the survey had an even split across age groups and locations across the county

53% of all residents participating in the survey support some level of precept increase, with 40% opposing any increase and 7% exempt from paying council tax

• 24% were prepared to pay up to £1.75 per month, 15% prepared to pay £1.25 extra per month and 14% prepared to pay £0.83 extra per month. The overall support for a precept increase has risen by 3% from last year

• 58% of male participants supported some form of council tax increase and 57% of females supported the same.

• Age breakdown of supporting the highest precept increase: 28% of the 65+ cohort, 26% of 55-64 cohort, 24% of 34-49 cohort, 22% of 18-34 cohort

West Sussex (59%) were more supportive of any precept increase compared to East Sussex (54%)

Digital Media

1/01 – 31/12

371,265

Digital Engagement:

Reached 371,265 individuals

Received 76,413 engagements

Above benchmarks for average Engagement Rate across 3 priority channels

Engagement

Dates

People engaged

Main Findings

#TalkSussex Survey

May-October

3,267

- Anti-social behaviour and road safety/speeding were the top two issues consistently experienced by residents in their communities

- When asked what makes you feel least safe? Respondents sighted ASB as the top issue (38%)

-  More foot patrols by police and more vehicle patrols by the police were two of the most popular measures that would make communities feel safer. Tougher sentencing for criminals was also a popular measure (15%)

Immediate Justice Survey

May-June

853

We received 854 responses to the IJ survey.

When asked how would you like offenders to make amends – repairing damage or harm caused to property came out with the most votes

We also asked what ‘other’ reparative activities could take place and there were three clear ones within responses: public apologies or apologies to the victims, understanding why the offender has caused the harm with the hope to work through that and intervention with parents

Independent Consultation

Nov/Dec 2023

2,084

The OSPCC engaged with Habit 5 to run the external, independent consultation relating to the precept decision for the upcoming financial year

2,152 fully completed surveys were achieved, delivering a very robust total sample Confidence Interval of ±2.11

53% of council tax payers completing the survey supported a precept increase

General engagement visits

Year-round

22 events attended

Participants shared views about anti-social behaviour, road safety and wanting more visible policing in their communities

Residents were also vocal about the incoming Immediate Justice Pilot, praising a scheme dedicated to tackling ASB but sharing scepticism of whether the offenders would carry out reparative work

Focus Groups

Autumn

19 groups made up of town and parish clerks

Topics raised included:

• Speeding/Noisy vehicles
• Heavy vehicles following sat nav
• Anti-social behaviour
• Vandalism/fires & graffiti
• Smell of cannabis/drug dealing
• National news drives up fears
• Social media stokes misinformation & tension
• People say there’s no point- police won’t do anything
• People say online reporting is difficult
• Didn’t know about Safer Sussex Roads Partnership.
• Pleased that data is actually used
• Youths shoplifting are untouchable

Engagement

Dates

People engaged

Main Findings

Sentiment Meter

Year-round

2,186

- 46% of respondents feel ‘safe’ or ‘very safe’

- 33% felt ‘unsafe’ or ‘very unsafe’

- East Sussex had the highest percentage of positive responses (50% safe or very safe) compared to West Sussex (44%)

‘What concerns you’ vote

672

- Anti-social behaviour was the most common result across all engagement

Focus Groups

Summer/autumn

89 town and parish councils

Main findings include:

- The importance of PCSOs

- A lack of police response to local issues especially drugs, ASB and burglary

- Concern around ASB

The main point raised was maintaining levels of neighbourhood policing

Precept Survey

Dec- January

3,366

- 70% of respondents would support a precept increase on some level – 44% supported an increase of £10 per year, 26% supported an increase of more than £10 a year

- 31% did not support a precept increase

- When asked what issues residents would like Sussex Police to tackle in the coming year, residents stated ASB, serious and organised crime and knife crime

- 51% of respondents feel very safe or safe

- 16% of respondents feel unsafe

- 33% feel neither safe nor unsafe

#TalkSussex Campaign

Year-round

+900

- 9 events attended by OSPCC team

- Topics covered StopTopps, spiking, Safe Space app, Do the Right Thing campaign

-  ASB was the most sighted concern

- Road safety in rural areas was also raised as a concern

- At freshers’ events, students raised concerns over spiking and drugs, the StopTopps were highly popular at these events

Engagement

Dates

People engaged

Main Findings

Sentiment Meter

Year-round

2,186

- 46% of respondents feel ‘safe’ or ‘very safe’

- 33% felt ‘unsafe’ or ‘very unsafe’

- East Sussex had the highest percentage of positive responses (50% safe or very safe) compared to West Sussex (44%)

‘What concerns you’ vote

672

- Anti-social behaviour was the most common result across all engagement

Focus Groups

Summer/autumn

89 town and parish councils

Main findings include:

- The importance of PCSOs

- A lack of police response to local issues especially drugs, ASB and burglary

- Concern around ASB

The main point raised was maintaining levels of neighbourhood policing

Precept Survey

Dec- January

3,366

- 70% of respondents would support a precept increase on some level

– 44% supported an increase of £10 per year, 26% supported an increase of more than £10 a year

- 31% did not support a precept increase

- When asked what issues residents would like Sussex Police to tackle in the coming year, residents stated ASB, serious and organised crime and knife crime

- 51% of respondents feel very safe or safe

- 16% of respondents feel unsafe

-  33% feel neither safe nor unsafe

#TalkSussex Campaign

Year-round

+900

- 9 events attended by OSPCC team

- Topics covered StopTopps, spiking, Safe Space app, Do the Right Thing campaign

- ASB was the most sighted concern

- Road safety in rural areas was also raised as a concern

- At freshers’ events, students raised concerns over spiking and drugs, the StopTopps were highly popular at these events

Engagement

Dates

People engaged

Main Findings

Focus groups

Summer and autumn

66 groups

Group members accounted for roughly 293,607 residents

Items discussed were welcoming an increase in PCSOs, increased police visibility, support for a raised precept increase if policing successes are seen

Sentiment Meter

Year-round

4,179

- 4,179 responses to the Sentiment Meter with most areas feeling ‘quite safe’

- Crawley and Hastings felt ‘neither safe nor unsafe’

Policing Priorities and Funding Survey

Autumn/winter

2,799

- A total of 2,799 responses were received which gives the results a margin of error of approximately +/- 2%

- Around three quarters (76%) of respondents would support an increase in the precept, on some level (54% would support an increase of £1.25 a month, 20% would support an increase of 83p a month and two percent would support an increase of another amount). 24% would not support an increase in the precept