What we have learned from your feedback
How do I access CCTV material? Members of the public who enquire about CCTV and make a request in writing can often miss the deadline for retaining CCTV evidence. Our procedures ensure we follow government best practice and as a result we only hold images for 28 days. As a result, we now take requests for material over the telephone – these should however always be followed up in writing clearly stating:
Members of the public are reminded the purpose for CCTV recording is crime and disorder reduction. Whilst we will attempt to help you if the purpose of your enquiry relates to a criminal matter we will advise you that there are reasons in law why you should not review the tape unless the police are present and agree. If the request does not relate to a criminal matter we will attempt to help you in your enquiry, however we are bound by rules to protect other persons as well as yourself and we may therefore be unable to share with you the recorded material. We have put details on our CCTV webpage and provided online contacts for your enquiry. If you have a CCTV enquiry you should contact Chris Dormer, CCTV Operation and Development Officer on (020) 8871 6550 or John Whittington, Crime Prevention Services Manager (020) 8871 8978. We have also introduced a new e-mail address dtscctv@wandsworth.gov.uk I was referred to the lock fitter and nothing has happened You told us in your feedback from Wandsafe surveys that the referrals made on your behalf to the FLaSH scheme which is run by Victim Support had not been acted upon. We undertook a survey of referrals with Victim Support and identified that there was a problem with the fax transmission of referrals. With victim support we established a central referral point and now make all referrals by e-mail, providing us with an auditable trail with our partners.
My grant is taking longer than the published time to process We have not modified or changed our standards since the grants were introduced some years ago. Whilst we strive to approve and recommend payment within 14 days of final confirmation of works there have been a number of reasons for delays, these include:
Our Senior Community Safety Officer will always visit within the required time-scale but recent evidence shows that over 70% of visits identify problems with work. We are now in the process of reviewing our grants procedures and systems and are proposing to make some changes for your benefit:
I can not get our crime messages because I am not online You do not have to be a neighbourhood watch co-ordinator to receive our e-mail crime messages – therefore you can have these sent to another e-mail user who can pass them onto you. You can arrange at your local library to use an open-access computer and to set up a web-based e-mail account where you can receive crime messages. Online messages are the quickest and easiest way for us to send out information in a timely and proactive way, however if you can not get the e-mail messages please contact Denys Bowden on (020) 8871 7696 and we will arrange for you to receive information specific to your area by post. I use retail radio, but you are not open on one of our busiest days You told us that Sunday is becoming an increasingly important trading day at your local retail radio meetings, and identified that the CCTV support room is not open on Sundays. In the summer we piloted Sunday opening in the CCTV control room, and your feedback at your retail radio meetings has been positive. As a result, we have modified our rota to ensure that staff are available to support retail radio between your core-trading hours on a Sunday of 10 until 5pm. Do you have any other ideas how we can improve? If you are not happy with what we do, or if you think we can do better then please let us know. In the first instance you can contact any member of our team or a member of the management group:
If you are not satisfied with their response you can contact the Head of Community Safety – Mr Robert Greaves on (020) 8871 6588 or by e-mail to rgreaves@wandsworth.gov.uk. We will acknowledge all correspondence within 3 working days and will provide where possible a full written response within 10 working days or a further letter detailing the delays and a time scale for reply. The Council operates a complaints ladder and if you wish to escalate a complaint or find out what happens next please refer to www.wandsworth.gov.uk/complaints.
If you have received a good service from all or any of our team, or if you have benefited from any our changes we would like to hear from you. Please contact any member of the community safety team. |
