Success for Question Time-style events about crime

Question Time-style events, giving Solihull residents the chance to quiz officials about crime and public safety issues, are set to be held every three months.

Previous public meetings, held in both Kingshurst and Knowle, were packed out by members of the public who wanted to put their questions to representatives from West Midlands Police and Solihull Council.

At the St Barnabas Church meeting last summer, organised in response to a number of serious crimes in the north of the borough, residents grilled the panel about police response times, anti-social behaviour and cuts in youth services.

Superintendent Simon Inglis told this week’s Crime and Disorder Scrutiny Panel that it was proposed to hold the meetings on a quarterly basis, with the intention that they are moved to different communities around the borough.

While the previous two took place in the Meriden constituency, the next is set to be held in neighbouring Solihull.

Gillian Crabbe, Solihull Council’s community safety and partnerships manager, suggested that social media had allowed word of the events to spread and told councillors that the meetings had laid the ground for conversations about how the public could support crime prevention initiatives.

“[At the Kingshurst meeting] we had in excess of 150 people,” she said. “I’ve never been to a public meeting where there were so many individuals there. And the Knowle one was just as successful.

“What it did generate was that there were lots of people within the audience … saying ‘tell us what we need to do and we will do it’.

“It has energised a lot of concerns and worries but also a response from the public.”
Cllr Diana Holl-Allen (Con, Knowle) said that the significant attendance at the most recent meetings was in sharp contrast to those held in the past, where only a handful of residents would turn up.

“We used to do these way back and we had the fire [service] and the police and everyone was there and if we were lucky we would get three members of the public.”

The Solihull Police Partnership Team confirmed this week that the next meeting would be held at Solihull College’s Blossomfield Campus on Wednesday 23rd May (starting at 7pm).

Chief Superintendent Bas Javid, from Solihull Police, Ian Smith, Solihull Station Commander from West Midlands Fire Service, and Cllr Tony Dicicco, the council’s cabinet member for stronger communities and partnerships, are scheduled to attend.

Read more: https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/local-news/success-question-time-style-events-14556562