It is an online polling function with a number of intentions:

· It will allow Londoners to select and vote, every month, for up to three issues of concern in their area.

· It will allow you to keep track of issues and concerns on your ward. You can use this information to feed back to the ward panel meeting and help direct what content to issue on your social media channels.

· It is similar in concept but not identical to the previous SNT ward priorities set by the ward panels at their regular meetings.

The VYC search function is based on synonyms. So, a user cannot type any word or phrase into the search bar then select and vote for it. For example, while the search function does recognise “mugging” you cannot select that word. The search bar will give you the options of “Business robbery”, “Personal robbery” or “Theft from a person”. This list of synonyms is exhaustive, but the designers will not have been able to identify every possible issue. However they will be able to see what terms people are entering in the search bar, and they will add further concerns based on this data.

Once a person has selected a concern or added a new one to the existing list, they can vote for the concerns.

Having voted, they will be taken to a page where they can see their votes and where they have the option to “Tell Us More”. After clicking through “Tell Us More”, they will be able to provide more detail about their concerns via an online form, such as where and when it is happening and who is involved. They will also be able to enter their details so that if needs be, the local Safer Neighbourhood Team can contact them to gain more detail. The words on the form have been carefully written so that the person submitting the concern should not automatically expect a response, even if they do enter full contact details.

Once the form is complete, they will be able to review and submit it.

Submitted forms will come through to the relevant SNT mailbox, and will be checked every shift that the team is on duty.

It is at the discretion of the local borough how the information gained is managed.

However, it is quite possible that intelligence could be submitted via the forms, and if that happens it will be mandatory to create a record on the criminal intelligence system.

The website will record the results of previous months’ polls, that the user and everyone else will be able to see.Police, SN