About Neighbourhood Panels

What is a Neighbourhood Panel?

A Neighbourhood Panel is an informal local public meeting, usually held every three months, where members of the community can discuss issues that concern them with local police and partners and joint decisions can be made as to which are the most important or pressing issues and which need to be dealt with as a priority. These meetings are normally arranged and set up by the local Neighbourhood Policing Constable (NPC) or Police Community Support Officer (PCSO). They are stand alone meetings (i.e. not an item on the agenda of another organised meeting) but they can be organised under their own identity or as part of another organisation’s meetings programme (e.g. they could be sponsored by a local residents association or Parish Council). However they are organised, it is important to get as many people and as varied an audience to attend the meetings, so that a better feel for the local issues or concerns can be achieved. Once the panel is set up, it is driven and chaired by local people, with the local police and authorities acting as 'facilitators' to help act upon the local issues raised.

What happens at the meeting?

Neighbourhood Panels are all about empowering the local community and getting them more involved in decisions. Instead of the police or local authorities telling the community what and where the problems are and what they are doing about them this is a chance for the community to discuss and decide on local priorities and how to handle them. Each panel meeting will be attended by the local police and usually other partners, such as district or town councillors, housing officers, or the environmental health agency for example, as well as local residents. Normally three priorities are agreed upon and actions to be taken are decided, these actions can be for the police, local authority or a resident of the local area to carry out, who ever's responsibility, both the actions and the priorities are reviewed at every meeting and progression discussed.

Why does my community need one?

Every community benefits from setting up Neighbourhood Panels, they are a way of getting residents, police, local authorities and agencies/organistions together in one room and working out root causes of the problems in their local area and how to target/eradicate those problems. It is a proven method that helps to get more people involved in local issues, creates a closer relationship between the local community, police and local authorities and overall gives local people the power to help manage their neighbourhood.

To find your local Neighbourhood Policing Team click the 'Neighbourhood Policing Teams' logo below.