People

Safety and activity

• Many residents do not visit Wandsworth’s town and local centres often at night, and a large amount never do
• Fewer people visit any of the town centres in the late night (midnight – 6am) compared to the evening (6pm – midnight)
• The main reasons for not using the night time are feeling unsafe, poor lighting and a lack of activities 
• Aggressive drunken behaviour and street harassment by men is an issue
• Many people with protected characteristics such as women and the LGBTQI+ community do not feel safe in the borough at night
• Women’s perception of night time is still affected by the tragic death of Sarah Everard 
• More activity (places open later), CCTV, more police, male education, rough sleeper support and better lighting is needed to improve safety at night
• People do not know what is happening in their town centres and require better communication

Young people

• Many young people do not feel safe travelling around the borough at night alone and they have nowhere to get help if phone batteries die
• Young people want and need more places to go to feel more connected to their communities, and where their parents can feel they are safe
• Violence amongst young people at night often starts with a disagreement in school  
• The youth community feels unsupported by the police and there is distrust between young people and the police  

Night workers

• Night workers are anxious about going home at night, especially down quiet, dark roads. Many have had negative experiences
• Transport is a key issue, with unreliable and expensive options in the borough at night
• There a lack of amenities for people working in the night

Safety

• Promote later opening hours for a range of businesses in alignment with Council policies, with a greater consideration of safety benefits and the consideration of the night-time work force
• Improve street lighting through well-considered interventions that respond to the local area, prioritising locations that night-time users tell us are problematic, ensuring they are creative, warm and welcoming as well as practical
• Encourage, where appropriate, spill out spaces of cafés, restaurants and bars onto back streets to improve activity and contribute to a sense of safety (through table and chair use where practical), with consideration of local residents and those with mobility issues
• Work with local businesses to consider practical solutions to improve perceptions of safety at night, such as locking gates, placing bins in appropriate places and ensuring walkways are kept clear
• An enhanced ‘place-based’ approach to existing Council and Police joint working to identify crime hotspots, security interventions, consider more CCTV, tackle Violence Against Women and Girls and provide greater police presence and faster response rates in areas of need
• Police, Council and businesses to work together to reduce crime through initiatives such as Ask for Angela / Wave training, Good Night Out campaign, White Ribbon and Women’s Night Safety Charter, continued torch walks, with aspirations for Purple Flag status
• All new drinking establishments expected to undertake sexual harassment training provided by the Council as a proposed condition in their licence, and encourage existing establishments to undertake training too
• Council to partner with external organisations to offer bystander, personal safety and self-defence training, including for disabled people who are more likely to experience harassment at night
• Enhanced communications and outreach support at night offering help to rough sleepers, people suffering mental health problems and women escaping domestic abuse

Young people

• Work with young people, community services and town centre partners to create safe spaces for young people to spend time in at night and reconnect with the community
• Better monitoring and communication with Police and partners of disputes in schools to stop escalation of incidents into the night
• Police to continue to build trust with young people by attending schools, youth clubs and community centres to provide clarity around stop-and-search and gain a better understanding around why young people carry knives
• Youth workers to accompany police at night for shared learning
• Encourage young people to attend activities in the evenings and visit new places through buddy schemes, detached youth work, targeted youth support, cycle training, travel training or youth club buses
• Provide tools for young people on ways to help them stay safe at night such as education on their rights surrounding stop-and-search, bystander training witnesses, and impacts of substance misuse and littering

Older people

• Encourage activities and events in the evening for older people that are affordable and accessible
• Provide specialised transport (like Wandsworth Community Transport shuttle services) at night for less mobile members of the community
• Discuss accessibility on buses with TfL

Night workers

• Build on our engagement with night workers to continue to monitor their needs to provide desired amenities and access to out-of-office hours services
• Seek to improve safety for all night workers such as hospitality staff, cleaners, taxi drivers and NHS workers, with the Council leading the way on supporting its own staff working at night such as carers and housing officers
• Provide amenity space for bus, HGV and delivery drivers to access toilets, healthy food and rest space at night
• Manage the delivery sector to have a more harmonious relationship with pedestrians, avoiding pavement obstruction and tackling antisocial behaviour

Learning

• Provide workshops and resources for parents and young people through schools on gender-based violence, social media, bullying and gang crime
• Campaign targeted at men and male-only sessions held around sexism, including boys to men mentoring, that puts the focus on men and boys to change their behaviour whilst avoiding placing blame on individuals and encouraging collaboration, de-escalation and male pride instead
• Campaigns advocating zero tolerance for intimidating drunken behaviour, sexism, discrimination against people with protected characteristics such as race, age, disability and being part of the LGBTQI+ community and for improving adult attitudes towards young people