Post 63 – 09/05/24 Reporting Procedure

There has been a lot of discussion on the forum recently about the best way to report incidents of student misconduct and so we thought that we would take this opportunity to discuss our recommended procedure and explain why we think that it is the best method for residents.

Firstly though, it’s worth emphasising that we think the most important reason for reporting incidents is to ensure that they get addressed effectively for your benefit.  We have heard of many cases of residents’ lives being blighted by the inconsiderate behaviour of a small minority of students and there is absolutely no reason why anyone should have to suffer in this way.

Secondly, if residents report all incidents that adversely affect them then this will help to build up a bigger picture of the type, and locations, of problems being caused by the presence of Royal Holloway.  There are some long-term measures that we want our councillors to lobby for but they need evidence to help justify any changes.  So please do not suffer in silence – report it!

When we first looked at the options for reporting and the advice published by the Egham Residents’ Association (based on the work led by the then councillor Sian Williams) we could see that it was complex, muddled and confusing for residents and we soon discovered that it was this, together with the lack of response to some reports, that was putting off many residents from reporting at all.  The needs of residents just hadn’t been considered.

Specifically, some of the issues that exist include:

• Each of the agencies involved (Surrey Police, Royal Holloway, the Environmental Health department at RBC and the Community Safety Team at RBC) claim to deal with different issues although there are some overlaps: both Surrey Police and the Community Safety Team at RBC claim to deal with Anti-social Behaviour (ASB) although there is no clear guidance for residents as to whom such an incident should be reported.
• The agencies have each developed their own reporting procedures to meet their own needs and they are disparate and incompatible with each other.
• There appears to be considerable confusion regarding what is noise and what is ASB (probably the most common issue complained of in respect of Royal Holloway students) or who should deal with it.  The Surrey Police website claims that ASB can include ‘noise nuisance from parties or playing loud music’ but we are aware of cases that have been reported to the police who have responded by saying that they don’t deal with such issues and advised the complainant to submit another report to the Council.  In other cases though, the police have attended properties following a report of noise from a party.
• The Environmental Health department claims to deal with ‘Statutory Noise Nuisance’ but doesn’t deal with ASB or any noise nuisance arising outside the boundary of a private property e.g. noise from a street or other public place.
• Incidents involving Royal Holloway students do not always fit neatly into one of the categories that the agencies attempt to define and address.  For example, if a noisy house party spills out into the street then should you be reporting statutory noise nuisance from a private property, ASB in the street or both?  Who knows?
• Some online reporting systems have been poorly implemented and even time-out – losing all your input – if not completed in time.
• The university publishes guidance that incidents thought to involve its students should also be sent to the university’s community team but none of the other agency’s online systems allow you to copy your report to the university and so a second report would be required.
• Not all residents have the same level of experience with IT systems and some are not comfortable navigating online forms but can send an e-mail.  Consequently, we tried to ensure that our recommendation would be as simple and inclusive as possible.

We realised though, that each of the agencies had an e-mail address and so we concluded that the best method for residents was to report incidents by sending a single e-mail describing the issue and how it affected them and to ensure that each e-mail includes Surrey Police, Royal Holloway, the Environmental Heath department of RBC and the Community Safety Team at RBC in the ‘TO’ line.  That’s it – simple.  Clearly though, any emergency issues should be reported to the police by calling 999.

One possible criticism of this method is that each incident may be reported to one or more agency needlessly.  This should not be a problem though, as they have all agreed to share reports with each other anyway.

In 2021 the four parties signed a Memorandum of Understanding to formalise the way in which information about student-related ASB would be shared and actioned.  The agreement makes it clear that it is still the responsibility of the ‘lead agency’ to respond to and deal with incidents but by sending the report to all four agencies, the ‘lead agency’ is automatically informed in all cases with no thought required by you, the resident, irrespective of the specific circumstances of any individual disturbance.

In the fullness of time, we would like to see the authorities work together to provide a single e-mail address for all complaints but until this happens, we remain convinced that a single e-mail to all four agencies every time is the best option for residents.

For further details of the process, and the email addresses themselves, please refer to the article on the website.