24 February 2016 – 965.2015-16 – Freedom of information request – Precept consultation – responses from North Yorkshire
Request
I write in connection with your request for information which was received by Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) for North Yorkshire on 14 January 2016. Please accept our apologies for the delay in providing you with a response. I note you seek access to the following information:
How many of the declared 900 respondents as of 12 Jan 2016 to the “Consultation on setting the police precept in North Yorkshire” Vote NOW http://ow.ly/WBjKL were from North Yorkshire and how you determined this?
Also how many of those respondents were unique respondents and how you determined this?
Response
Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information
To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within the OPCC. I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by the OPCC.
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the located information to you.
In total, 1752 people responded to the consultation on the precept. This included a telephone survey, an online survey and a hard copy leaflet survey. The breakdown of responses was:
- Online survey – 1337 respondents
- Telephone survey – 403 respondents
- Email, telephone, leaflet return, street interviews – 12 respondents
- Total respondents – 1752
Results of the telephone survey
- 73 per cent wanted to increase the precept by 1.99 per cent
- 7 per cent wanted to increase the precept by more than 2 per cent
- 20 per cent wanted to freeze the precept
Results of online survey
- 57 per cent wanted to increase the precept by 1.99 per cent
- 5 per cent wanted to increase the precept by more than 2 per cent
- 38 per cent wanted to freeze the precept
You can see a comprehensive report on the results here https://www.northyorkshire-pfcc.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/Precept-report.pdf
The online survey could be completed by anyone, irrespective of their location. This is the nature of an online survey. The OPCC could have asked people to complete further questions like, where do you live (providing a pull down list) or ask people to add their post code. However there is no real way of validating the information people submit, as a user could make any selection. Furthermore, it just takes them more time to complete the survey.
However, as part of the survey the OPCC did ask people whether they wanted to subscribe to their newsletter and if so, what their postcode was. By using this information to filter those living in North Yorkshire the following results can be provided:
Of the 1337 people who completed the survey 257 people provided their post code, from inspecting the postcodes on the first three characters, all 257 people lived within North Yorkshire or on the border.
The responses of these people were:
- Freeze 31 12%
- Increase by 1.99% 210 82%
- Increase by more than 1.99% 14 6%
Two people provided their postcode but did not take part in the survey.
Adding the 257 confirmed residents from the online survey to the 403 telephone participants (as confirmed North Yorkshire residents); means 660 confirmed North Yorkshire residents completed the precept survey. 660 is above what would be needed for the results to be deemed statistically accurate and representative of the area.
There is no way to determine how many of the online survey respondents were unique.
Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.
Complaint Rights
Your attention is drawn to the attached sheet which details your right of complaint.
If you have any queries concerning this request, please contact me quoting the reference number above.