East Cambridgeshire District Council

There are 5 Neighbourhood Panels in East Cambridgeshire serving

• South area
• Soham and East area
• West area
• Littleport
• Ely

All Panels are open for the public to participate in, and you will be very welcome to come and have your say !

Each Panel is made up of Parish, District and County Councillors along with community representatives invited to become panel members. Local residents are welcome to attend and raise their own issues of concern. At Panel meetings there is discussion about local concerns such as crime, anti-social behaviour, health, environment, transport, highways, housing and children and young people's issues. Decisions are made about which issues are most important to focus efforts on in the next 3 months. Each Panel also agrees what actions need to be completed between meetings and who will be responsible.

To date, ALL issues of concern which have been raised by local residents have been actioned.

For detailed information on each area look at the Neighbourhood Profile, individual area Newsletters and the dates of the Panel meetings listed in the links section below.

So, it's all about local action, and improvement for your area!

Links:

• Neighbourhood Panels Frequently Asked Question Information
• Cambridgeshire Constabulary website - North area profile
• Cambridgeshire Constabulary website - South area profile

Documents:

Neighbourhood Action Group Minutes:

For further information please contact:

Julie Cornwell, Partnerships Officer
Telephone: 01353 - 665555
Email: customerservices@eastcambs.gov.uk

Background:

The introduction of Neighbourhood Panels to the District is an important initiative, with the intention of providing improved citizen engagement with public services and the community. The initiative has arisen from national policy and a successful local 'pilot'.

In April 2005 the Home Office launched a national policy to introduce Neighbourhood Policing into each constabulary by 2008. The Southern Division of Cambridgeshire Constabulary (which covers all of the East Cambridgeshire District) was chosen to be a 'pathfinder' force and introduced neighbourhood management of the police in the District in 2007.

An important aspect of Neighbourhood Policing is 'citizen engagement' and the constabulary have launched 'e-cops', along with other initiatives, to help inform and involve people in their local community. As well as this, the police have worked with the Local Strategic Partnership (which includes the District Council) to set up 'Neighbourhood Panels'.

A pilot Neighbourhood panel ran in the Soham and East area for a year until October, 2007. The pilot was a great success, and was extended across the District in the form of the 5 Neighbourhood Panels. The extended pilot ran until the end of March, 2009.

Neighbourhood Panels in East Cambridgeshire continue to be demonstrably effective in addressing local issues, in unblocking lines of communication, in developing true 'partnership working' and in bringing about local improvements.