Neighbourhood Watch

On 6 September 2007 the council's Regeneration and Community Safety Overview and Scrutiny Committee received a presentation on Neighbourhood Watch in the borough, which highlighted the successes so far.

The committee were keen to continue building on these successes so the Chairman Cllr Mark Davis asked the committee to authorise a review, or 'scrutiny', of Neighbourhood Watch. The purpose of this scrutiny was to provide a focus for the Council's work with Neighbourhood Watch and how it works with partners, especially the Police and Borough Neighbourhood Watch Association. It was to look at strengths we can build on and identify areas that may require further work.

A questionnaire was distributed to all Neighbourhood Watch Co-ordinators and key stakeholders and by the closing date for return 165 replies had been received, representing a 35% response rate. You can download the main findings of the questionnaire from the Related Downloads area.

Our strategy for the future

The scrutiny has given the Co-ordinators and others who have an association with Neighbourhood Watch an opportunity to comment and suggest ideas for improving the Council service to them.

Following this evaluation, we have developed a strategy for 2009-12 including an action plan to progress Neighbourhood Watch in the borough. You can download the strategy from the Related Downloads area.

Also, as part of the Council's commitment to improve communication between the public and all our partners, and as part of the Neighbourhood Watch Strategy, we have developed a guide to Neighbourhood Watch for Police Safer Neighbourhood Teams. The guide is full of all the necessary information about how the scheme works in Wandsworth, how individual watches get started, what happens at the launch meeting, what SNTs can expect from Neighbourhood Watch and what it should expect from them, as well as useful links and contacts for the Police.