Yougov Survey - Public Confidence in Police At Record Lows But Local Tory Police Boss Thinks Otherwise

 

Standing Up for You

by Andrew D Pope, 20th March 2023

The majority of the public have no confidence or not very much confidence in the Police, new data from survey company Yougov has shown.

Yet the Hampshire Police and Crime Commissioner Donna Jones thinks the opposite. Only last week, we exclusively revealed her answers to our questions about this very topic. She said:

Donna Jones Election Leaflet May 2021

"I have not seen a dip in trust & confidence of local officers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary"

Residents have since got in touch with us to disagree with Ms Jones. They thought that her claims were laughable. Ms Jones was elected almost two years ago as PCC for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, the area for which she was the Conservative Party candidate. 

Decrease in Confidence Proved By Yougov Surveys

We asked Ms Jones these questions due to concerns raised by lots of people in Southampton, over years, about their decreasing confidence in the Police and the increasing number of media stories about the misconduct of Police.

And it is not just in Southampton. Nationally, Yougov have shown a decrease in confidence.

Confidence in the Police has dropped by 10%

From the graph, you can see that confidence in the Police has dropped in less than two years.

The proportion of people who had a lot of or fair amount of confidence has dropped by 10%.

And in the opposite direction, 10% more people had not very much or no confidence.

The Detail of the Drop in Confidence in Police

Every month, Yougov surveys a representative sample of the country's population, approximately 1,700 adults. In the 6th March 2023 data, they found that:

• The majority of the public have either no confidence (17%) or not very much confidence in the Police (37%) - giving a total for the majority of 54% of people
  
• the lowest proportion of the people surveyed since July 2019 had a fair amount of confidence (34%) 
• the proportion of people with a lot of confidence in the Police was 4%
• 8% of people did not know when asked.
  

When Ms Jones was elected in May 2021, the respective figures were:

• 10% and 34% have no or not very confidence - giving a total of 44% then versus 54% now
  
• 43% had fair confidence - versus 34% now
  
• 5% had a lot of confidence - little change
  
• 10% of people did not know - little change
  

So during Ms Jones' reign over two years, confidence in the Police has decreased significantly.

So unless Ms Jones has evidence that the people of Hampshire and the Isle of Wight think differently to the rest of the country, her assertion is wrong. We have asked Ms Jones for evidence to support her claim.

EDIT: 21st March 2023 Updated with graph to make the changes clearer.

Holding Power To Account

EXCLUSIVE: Hampshire Police and Crime Boss Denies Public Loss of Trust in the Police - Do You Agree With Her?

 

Donna Jones Election Promises from May 2021

"I have not seen a dip in trust & confidence of local officers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary" says Donna Jones, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC)

"People sort things out for themselves around here."  said two police officers, outside a Southampton Police Station.

Elected to Represent The Public - But Has She?

Do you agree with Ms Jones? We would say that it is unlikely. 

The PCC is there to represent the public. Well, that's the theory anyway. 

But is Ms Jones representing you? Has she kept her promises from before she was elected as the Conservative Candidate?

Policing Before, During and After the Pandemic

What we have picked up from the public over many years of listening to them is that they feel let down by the Police. People feel that when they needed the Police, that they were not there. 

Many of the words that were used by the public in relation to the performance of the Police are not repeatable without asterisks. And trust us - we know, because we spent a lot of time listening to them. 

The most shocking thing we ever heard though was from a pair of Southampton Police Community Support Officers, literally outside a Police Station in Southampton. We told them what people thought of the Police from our doorstep conversations and from public meetings:

"People sort things out for themselves around here." the PCSOs said.

Yes, really. Are you surprised? Are you disappointed?

That was before the Pandemic. 

The negative perceptions of the Police got worse during and after the Pandemic. 

And since then, the public feel that they cannot even trust the Police. Worse than that, some people feel that the Police themselves are a danger to the public, with many high-profile examples - and not just in the Metropolitan Police as claimed by Ms Jones in her response, which you can see below. 

Would you agree with those other members of the public and their concerns over the Police?

Holding Elected Representatives To Account

So Southampton Independents stands up for residents and so we submitted questions to Ms Jones, having listened to the concerns of the public and following the recent revelations in Ms Jones' own report to the Police and Crime Panel. 

Not Just One Bad Apple...

It was revealed in Ms Jones' report to the Panel over the investigations into Police officers, based on the figures from Hampshire Constabulary:

"23 Police Officers were currently under investigation, facing allegations of sexual impropriety and/or domestic abuse were suspended on full pay from the Constabulary."

The Panel, which mainly consists of Westminster party-based councillors, is supposed to hold the PCC to account, outside of elections. Well, that's the theory. Have you even heard of the Police and Crime Panel? We doubt it.

Some people have tried to suggest that it is just "one bad apple". That is not the case, simply from the above but it is added to by the following concerning facts.

We already knew about the misconduct hearings published by Hampshire Constabulary on their website. Did you know about these? These are only the ones who have been caught. How many more are there? The suggestion by Ms Jones that it is just the Metropolitan Police is misinformation and misdirection.

And the lack of trust in the Police is even more concerning when Hampshire Local Democracy Reporter Natalie Ferero reported recently that:

"Nearly all formal allegations against Hampshire Constabulary officers resulted in no misconduct action last year. Of the 1,938 allegations made and considered formally, 1,867 (96 per cent) resulted in no action being required against the police officers involved."

So you can see that is not just "one bad apple". This is not to say that there are not good officers. There are. But trust is undermined when there are high numbers of high profile cases when trust was already low before the Pandemic. And the numbers are too high, surely?

PCC Does Not Answer Most of Our Questions

Ms Jones failed to answer most of our questions on behalf of the public, preferring to throw the questions over the fence to Hampshire Constabulary. The full questions and answers (and non-answers) written by former Southampton councillor and now NCTJ-trained journalist Andrew Pope, via Southampton Independents, are below.

Former Southampton Councillor Andrew Pope

 

Is Donna Jones Making Hampshire Safer?

Ms Jones was elected in May 2021 to the role of PCC. Her election promises (see image above taken from her own campaign website) were made under the headline "My Plan to make Hampshire & IOW Safer" and were:

1. 600 more police on the beat
2. An open and accountable force
3. Use new technology to combat rural crime
4. Community contact points throughout the county
5. Crack down on knife crime
6. Stop crime before it happens

Do you think that Ms Jones has kept her promises?

What do you think of the Police?

Do you think trust in the Police has gone down, up or stayed the same?

Get in touch to let us know your views - contact details are here.

 

Questions to Donna Jones from Southampton Independents

"1. How can the public trust Hampshire Police, and give consent to the Police, when so many Police themselves clearly cannot be trusted?

I believe police officers can & should be trusted and we have thousands of police officers & staff who uphold the highest of standards. Trust & confidence in the MET police has been damaged following recent high profile national cases concerning the conduct of police officers, however I have not seen a dip in trust & confidence of local officers in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight Constabulary.

 

2. What have you done to regain trust of the public in the Police and what evidence do you have that your measures have actually increased trust?

I haven’t seen a need to regain trust as there hasn’t been a decline in trust & confidence in the police force here in Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

 

3. Why is the number of officers under investigation so high?

Please contact Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary for this information in relation to their staff.

 

4. How many officers have been formally disciplined since you became PCC? And why?

Please contact Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary for this information in relation to their staff.

 

5. How many officers have been dismissed since you became PCC? And why?

Please contact Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary for this information in relation to their staff.

 

6. Why and how is it that 96% of allegations resulted in no action, as reported by Ms Ferero?

Please contact Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary for this information in relation to their staff."

 

Labour Bankrupts Croydon Then Allows 15% Council Tax Increase - Could It Happen in Southampton? Yes. Here's Why...

Croydon Labour's Rose Is Dead

 

Croydon Borough Council in London voted this week to hit residents with a FIFTEEN PERCENT INCREASE TO COUNCIL TAX!

by Andrew D Pope, 10th March 2023

 

Co-Founder of Southampton Independents
and Former Independent Councillor Andrew Pope

 

Croydon Labour Makes Residents Pay For Labour Bankrupting Croydon

This massive increase to council tax bills is during:

• a cost-of-living crisis for citizens
  
• with inflation running at record levels
  
• energy bills through the roof
• mortgages doubling for many people 

And all with "Southampton boy" Rishi Sunak's Conservative Government running the worst-performing economy in the G7 of industrialised nations. It is no wonder that the Conservatives are so far behind in the opinion polls, given their atrocious record in Government. And it is no wonder that the Southampton Conservative Leader Councillor Dan Fitzhenry declined to comment, when we gave him the opportunity to defend the Conservatives locally and nationally.

But are Labour any better? No, they are not. The evidence is clear from Croydon, from Liverpool (more later) and here in Southampton. Southampton Council's own outgoing Chief Financial Officer issued the warning last month, and then left almost immediately after as exclusively revealed by Southampton Independents.

Labour or Tory, Same Old Story

As reported by Inside Croydon, Labour councillors abstained on the vote to allow the Conservative Elected Mayor to bring in a 15% increase to council tax. They had previously said that they would vote it down, but they caved into pressure, instead of standing up for Croydon residents.

It was Labour councillors that had allowed Croydon to slip into bankruptcy over years. They were running the Council. 

Previously, the Conservative Government brought in a law meaning that a Referendum was needed for council tax increases of 5% or more. But the Tories now are welching on that protection for citizens. It seems that the Government is going to allow Croydon Tories to impose 15% on citizens. That is not democracy. It is undemocratic, because the people of Croydon do not want it as proved by a heavily-backed petition.

 

Croydon Does Not Have A Functioning Democracy

It was Inside Croydon and local citizens - and not other media outlets - who exposed the Labour councillors for the charlatans that they are. Not only did Labour and Tory councillors let Croydon residents down, other media outlets did too. 

This is what passes for "democracy" in Croydon, with a failing Council, failing councillors and officers and local media who were not reporting on what mattered. It was only Inside Croydon, founding member of a community news network, that exposed the full truth.

Effectively, unelected bureaucrats were brought in from Whitehall (called an Improvement Panel) to take over from the failed councillors. 

So Croydon became not a democracy, but a bureaucracy imposed from Central Government, because councillors had abrogated their responsibility to represent the people and protect public money.

Then Labour were voted out, somewhat unsurprisingly, and an Elected Mayor was voted in, who is a Conservative. He claimed, somewhat echoing former Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, that "there is no alternative" to the 15% increase.

There are alternatives, in the decisions made, in spending priorities, in alternative budgets and in alternatives to the Westminster parties. They are called independent councillors. But Croydon has no independent councillors.

Croydon Labour councillors did not bring forward an alternative budget. If they had, perhaps they could have salvaged some respectability from their previous bankrupt decisions.

But they did not. Instead, by abstaining on the vote, they allowed the Tories to knife the public yet again.

So it is the people of Croydon who will be bailing out the finances of Croydon, caused by councillors who failed in their public duty to look after the public finances of the Borough.

 

Could It Happen in Southampton? 

Yes it could... Why and how?

Southampton Independents has reported on Labour-run Southampton City Council ever since we were formed. We have shown that they have spent public money on the wrong things, while neglecting the City and the priorities that residents want money to be spent on. I resigned from Labour because they were making the wrong decisions for Southampton and co-founded Southampton Independents.

We have reported on Southampton Labour councillors flogging off public land below market rates, and failing to get maximum value for the taxpayer. And doing it in secret, behind-closed-doors.

We have reported on the way they appointed senior officers in secret and handed out a fortune of public money to those senior officers while the finances of Southampton slip towards bankruptcy.

We have reported on the weak Conservative Opposition, who had control of the Council for just one year. Councillor Dan Fitzhenry as Leader of the Conservatives declined to comment when we asked him about his alternative budget. He did not have one. Yet we understand that Fitzhenry is telling his Conservative colleagues that they could take control of the Council in the all-out elections in May.

When you have a weak and incompetent Leader like Councillor Satvir Kaur, and a Cabinet that is clueless, with an Opposition that seems more like a cheerleader, it is the public that suffers.

That is exactly what happened in Croydon.

And in Liverpool too, also run by Labour... but more of that another time.

 

What Will Happen in Southampton?

If Labour continue with control of Southampton City Council, they will have to plug the financial blackhole that they have created, with the help of Conservative councillors and the chaotic Conservative Government that has slashed grant funding to councils since 2010.

One way to do that is to cut spending.

 

Can't Pay Won't Pay

Another is to put up council tax. They have already put it up AGAIN this year.

I have written to Southampton City Council Leader Councillor Satvir Kaur to offer her a right of reply. She has not responded.

I have also warned her that any such attempt to raise council tax along the lines of her Croydon Labour colleagues, will be resisted.

In Croydon, they have already began a "Can't Pay, Won't Pay" campaign and thousands of residents have signed up.

Could it happen in Southampton? Yes it could. Will it? We will see.

 

Nearly Three Months Later, Southern Daily Echo Corrects Reporting of Southampton Census - But Only After We Intervened

 

Daily Echo 1st December 2022

"11.6 per cent (of Southampton's population) is white" reported the Daily Echo in December 2022

The Southern Daily Echo has apologised for its coverage of the Census for Southampton by the Office for National Statistics. 

In a printed article on 1st December 2022, the Southern Daily Echo had previously reported that "11.6 per cent is white" of Southampton's population. Clearly this is false reporting of the facts. Anybody who lives in Southampton would say this is incorrect.

 

Daily Echo, p.5 1st Dec 2022

The false information appeared under the headline "Census reveals city of diversity" and was front page news under the headline "A REAL MIX - CENSUS DATA REVEALS HOW CITY HAS CHANGED - READ THE FULL REPORT ON PAGE FIVE" with a photo of Southampton's Bargate. 

 

"11.6 per cent is white" said the Echo

 

The article "full report" was in fact only half a page. It also appeared on the Echo website, which we understand has been corrected.

A second article written by another Echo reporter repeated the same misinformation.

Neither article provided any context or explanation for the false claim.

Southampton Independents campaigner and NCTJ-trained journalist Andrew Pope contacted the Editor of the Daily Echo, Ben Fishwick, with a set of concerns about the article's accuracy and how it could be interpreted. 

 

Former Councillor Andrew Pope
and our Co-Founder

Eventually, on 23rd February 2023, almost three months later, the Echo printed the correction, saying that: 

"We apologise for the error and are happy to correct the record."

The correction appeared on page 16, in the corner next to an article with headline "Pub set to expand" and above adverts that took up half of the page.

 

Daily Echo, 23rd Feb 2023, p. 16

 

 

The Correction

In actual fact, the ONS website clearly states in bold that:

"In 2021, 10.6% of usual residents in Southampton identified their ethnic group within the "Asian, Asian British or Asian Welsh" category"

Coincidence? You decide.

And the ONS site also clearly states that in 2011, that the ethnic group of usual residents was 85.9% white. By 2021, this had decreased to 80.7%.

We will leave you to draw your own conclusions as to how these "errors" were made, but you can see in the photo that the Echo "Correction" states that "the correct figure (of non-white Sotonians) is one in five"  - meaning the figure for white Sotonians is four in five - close to the 80.7% white figure above from the ONS. 

However, the Echo blames it on third party analysis, saying that:

"This was due to the stories being based in part on third party analysis of Office for National Statistics data".

Yet the ONS itself clearly states the above facts at the above link. We do not have any explanation as to how the ONS analysis could have been missed. We found it immediately using a Google search.

You can decide for yourself why it took so long to correct, and why the mistakes were made in the first place. The Editor of the Echo has been offered the right of reply.

We stand up for Southampton and its residents. That was why we were formed.

Conservative Leader Refuses To Comment On Southampton's Near Bankruptcy - Who Represents The People of Southampton and Our Money?

Improving Representation in Southampton

... Labour Council Leader does not respond and Southampton Liberal Democrats also have nothing to say

by Andrew D Pope, 4th March 2023

Former Independent
Councillor Andrew Pope
on BBC South Today

Labour, Lib Dem or Tory, Same Old Story

The Leader of the Conservative Group of councillors on Southampton City Council, Daniel Fitzhenry, has declined to comment on the Council being warned by the departing Chief Financial Officer of the City's near bankruptcy.

Conservative Councillor Daniel Fitzhenry
Photo: Southampton City Council

Councillor Fitzhenry told me:

"I am comfortable with our position on the budget, our approach and the differences between us and Labour, but thank you for the offer of the “right of reply”, which I will decline."

It is perhaps no surprise that he does not want to comment on our revelations, but it is disappointing for the people of Southampton who have a right to representation and who expect a functioning opposition by councillors.

Councillor Fitzhenry was named in our article on the dire financial warnings by John Harrison, who warned councillors at the February 2023 Budget Full Council meeting of a "precarious" financial position with unsustainable spending and reliance on depleted Council reserves.

As reported here, the Chief Executive Officer Mike Harris has also declined to comment.

 

Who is Representing the People of Southampton?

There are currently forty-eight councillors on the City Council, three per ward in the sixteen wards of the Council. Labour has a majority of councillors, with the Conservatives in opposition.

The Leader of the Council, Labour Councillor Satvir Kaur, has not responded to the offer of a right of reply. 

Labour Council Leader Satvir Kaur
Photo: Southampton City Council

Perhaps Councillor Kaur cannot find the words to defend the indefensible of leading the Council to the financial precipice.

Neither have Southampton Liberal Democrats provided any comment, although they have been approached. They have one councillor on the Council. 

There are now no truly independent councillors on the Council. In 2018, there were four, including me. 

 

Councillor Quits Labour... Sort Of...

However, around the time of the February 2023 Budget Full Council, one councillor has resigned from the Labour Party, Councillor Professor Barrie Margetts. Southampton Independents had been in touch with Councillor Margetts months ago. He said that he was considering his position, after being de-selected by Southampton Labour.

Councillor Barrie Margetts
Photo: Southampton City Council

From Cllr Margetts' public comments, he seems unsure whether he is in Labour or not. I would not say his comments make him truly independent at all, especially when he is praising the leadership of the Council as the City faces a financial mess.

 

How Is Southampton City Council Run?

So the Conservatives, Labour and Liberal Democrats have nothing to say when approached by Southampton Independents to comment on the financial mess. 

No doubt councillors had plenty to say in the Council Chamber at the Budget meeting, but most of that "hot air" (as many residents view it) goes unreported, apart from a smattering of coverage. Indeed, there was more local and national (here and here) coverage of what the departed Chief Financial Officer wrote in the report to councillors, than reporting of what councillors had to say.

This shows what passes for democracy in Southampton these days, with the Council operating a "Strong Leader and Cabinet" (SLC) model of governance that excludes the vast majority of councillors. 

The SLC model has been retained, instead of bringing in a modern committee system that the people of Bristol voted for in 2022 and also the people of Sheffield in 2021. The MCS is no panacea, but allows local ward councillors more of say than "Strong Leader and Cabinet". 

 

A More Democratic Future For Southampton?

It is interesting that at the point of the Referenda in both Bristol and Sheffield, that both councils were Labour-run under a SLC model.

The MCS is more democratic than a small group of Labour or Tory councillors leading Southampton to the financial precipice.

In May, there will be all-out elections for all fifty-one seats on Southampton City Council in May. 

 

Moving The Boundaries But Keeping the Westminster Parties?

There was a recent review of the boundaries by the Boundary Commission for England (BCE) that found that there was a need for three more councillors and a shuffling of the boundaries of the wards. Of course, there was a "consultation", but this did not seem to alter the decision to add more councillors.

 

Will The Point of Accountability (Elections) Lead To Change, Or More Of The Same?

We will see what the people of Southampton will say when they cast their votes, and whether independent councillors stand for election and if they will be elected instead of the Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat councillors that have proved they are not up the job of looking after the public money entrusted to them.

Improving Representation for Southampton residents