Community Confidence Survey

Community Confidence Survey

A survey was designed to gather views on the community and policing in Irvine Fullarton. Hosted on the Scottish Police Authority’s Citizen Space the survey contained 15 questions and ran from 6th February to 26th March 2023. Questions were made available online via social media channels and on paper via community organisations with a freepost envelope to the SPA office for returns. There was also the option to request another format if required.

In total 50 responses were received. The findings were published in April 2023 and key findings included:

• Most respondents agreed or strongly agreed that Irvine Fullarton had a sense of community, describing the residents as friendly and down-to-earth making the area a nice place to live. However, some responses recognised how the impacts of deprivation effected the community.
• Regarding confidence in policing, the highest proportion of respondents expressed low levels of confidence in police for ‘Tackling antisocial behaviour’. (54%, n=27). The most of respondents scored ‘Medium’ for their level of confidence in the majority of other indicators.
• In relation to trust in policing, a ‘High’ degree of trust was observed across two indicators ‘To care about people like you’ (46%, n=23), and in general (42%, n=21).
• Focusing on police performance, the highest proportion of respondents thought that ‘In general’ the police are doing ‘A very good’ or ‘somewhat good job’ (42%, n=21). However, people thought the police were doing ‘A somewhat poor’ or ‘Very poor job’ in relation to ‘Tackling anti-social behaviour’ (46%, n=23). These results are similar to SPA national polling conducted in Jan/Feb 2023.
• The vast majority of respondents had not noticed any change in local policing engagement in the last 6 months (88%, n=44); nor had their view on local policing changed in the same timeframe (84%, n=42).
• Many responses reflected that they feel there is a lack of visible policing within the area which is said to influence perceptions of policing. Some respondents noted that inaction in relation to anti-social behaviour had also impacted their opinions on policing.

Community Confidence Under 16s Survey

Between the 20th February 2023 and 26th March 2023, the Scottish Police Authority (SPA) and Police Scotland ran a survey in six local schools with students from the Irvine Fullarton area to gain views on policing from those under the age of 16 as part of the Community Confidence Action Research Project.

Schools were invited to take part and contribute to the design of the questions. A range of questions were made available on paper and via the SPA’s Citizen Space platform (with the paper questions simplified in case needed for younger age groups). It was at the discretion of schools on how these questions were made available to pupils. In total 82 responses were received and of these 79 provided consent and were analysed for this report.

Pupils in Irvine Fullarton had a generally positive view of the police; with responses identifying that the police are there to “keep you safe” and to help the community.

A greater level of police focus on addressing drug use, drug crime, and vaping in area was suggested by many respondents.

Tackling anti-social behaviour (including speeding, littering, and graffiti), targeted police presence in the mall and beach, and building better relationships with young people are issues that matter to pupils.