What is a Residents' Panel?

The Residents' Panel was first established in October 2004 and has been refreshed twice in January 2007 and July 2009. There are currently 1,400 members. who are demographically representative of the borough's population.

The opinions and information they give will help the Council and its Partners such as the Police and health services make informed decisions which will influence the future of local services and areas in the Borough.

The Panel is managed on behalf of the Council by Cello MRUK, a specialist Market Research Company.

How is the panel used?

The Panel is used to participate in a range of activities such as surveys, focus groups or workshops.

  • Surveys: These are postal questionnaires that are sent to Panel members at least twice a year.
  • Focus groups: Provide a forum where smaller groups of panel members are invited to discuss particular topics in depth.
  • Workshops: Provide an opportunity for larger numbers of panel members to come together to examine local issues in detail by listening to information and discussing their views.

Activities the panel have participated in to date

Since 2004, members of the panel have taken part in 9 postal surveys. For more information on the results of these surveys click on the links below.

Reports

The Panel has also participated in a number of focus groups discussing a range of issues including crime and community safety, the Community Strategy, public space, communications, .as well as discussions directly with the Council Leader.

Recent Feedback

In our last survey, in addition to recruiting to the panel, we asked you questions about environmental crime and community safety issues.

You told us that:

  • Overall perceptions of environmental crime as a problem in the area were very high with three-quarters of all respondents (77%) saying this is a problem.
  • There was strong support for the notion that residents have a role to play in fighting environmental crime with the majority of respondents (88%) agreeing with this, 43% of whom strongly agreed.
  • Relatively few respondents report environmental crime: 15% always with 30% saying they sometimes report it. A third (35%) rarely or never reports an enviro-crime.
  • In terms of awareness and knowledge of the Council’s ‘Wiping Out’ enviro-crime campaign, nearly a quarter claimed to have seen or heard it and know enough about it.  A further third claimed to have seen or heard about it but knew little or nothing about it.
  • The majority of those who are aware of the campaign support it (93%), with two-thirds (64%) supporting this strongly.
  • Six in ten (58%) thought anti-social behaviour generally is a very big (16%) or a fairly big problem (42%). A third of you thought that this is not a very big problem / not a problem at all (33%).
  • Finally, all respondents were asked how well informed they feel about what the Council is doing to tackle anti-social behaviour in their area. More respondents felt uninformed  (44%), than informed (32%).

What we're doing about it:

  • We are continuing to push our wiping out enviro-crime campaign and action. You can find out about the activity we have taken to convict those that commit enviro-crime offences and how we are trying to clean up the borough by visiting the Wiping out enviro-crime section of the Council website.
  • Dealing with crime and anti-social behaviour remain a priority for the borough. We have been promoting our Waltham Forest is calling for back-up campaign to put pressure on the Metropolitan Police Authority to increase the number of police in the borough to the levels we think appropriate. You can find out more by visiting the campaign pages on the Council website.

Get involved or find out more about the panel

If you would like to join the panel, please contact:

Mark Yeadon
Community Engagement
Environment and Regeneration
Walthamstow Town Hall
Forest Road
London E17 4JF

tel 020 8496 3000
email mark.yeadon@walthamforest.gov.uk