Cleveland Police Force Mergers Survey

Ipsos interviewed 4,798 residents in the North East on behalf of Cleveland Police Authority. The survey gauges awareness of and attitudes towards the structure of policing in the region.

• Data is based on 4,798 interviews with residents aged 16+ in the North East.
• Fieldwork took place between the 7th and 23rd April 2006.
• Results are weighted by local authority area, age and gender (within authority area) to the known population profile of residents aged 16+.
• Where results do not sum to 100, this is due to computer rounding or multiple responses or the exclusion of don't knows or non-responses.
• An asterisk (*) indicates a finding of less than 0.5%, but greater than zero.
• Results are based on all respondents unless otherwise stated.

Awareness And Clarification Of Local Police Force

Q1 Which police force covers the area where you live?

	%
Northumbria	48
Cleveland	20
Durham	23
Don't know / can't say	6
Other	4

* Findings show that 85% of respondents correctly cite their local police force

 

Q2 In the North East there are three police forces, Northumbria, Cleveland and Durham. There are suggestions that the present structure of the Police service across England and Wales needs to change. The Home Secretary has asked police forces to consider whether they should merge with other neighbouring forces in their local region. Before this interview today, how much, if anything, would you say you knew about these suggestions?

	%
A great deal	6
A fair amount	28
Not very much	29
Heard of, but know nothing	18
Never heard of them	19
Don't know	*

 

Q3 Do you support or oppose the proposal that police forces in the North East should merge?

	%
Strongly support	12
Tend to support	16
Neither support nor oppose	12
Tend to oppose	19
Strongly oppose	26
Don't mind	7
Don't know	9
All support	27
All oppose	45

 

Q4 I am going to read out four options for future policing in the region. Once I have read through the four I would like you to tell me which you would prefer. Which of these four options would be your first choice?

	%
All three forces in the region to stay as they are	52
One force in the region which would merge all three existing forces — Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria	17
Two forces in the region — Durham and Cleveland merging and Northumbria remaining as it is	13
Two forces in the region — one which would merge the South of Durham with Cleveland forming the Tees Valley City Region, and another which would merge the North of Durham with Northumbria	12
Don't mind / No preference	4
Don't know / Not sure	2

 

Q5 And which would be your second choice?
Base: All who have a preference for future policing (4,510)

	%
All three forces in the region to stay as they are	15
One force in the region which would merge all three existing forces — Cleveland, Durham and Northumbria	11
Two forces in the region — Durham and Cleveland merging and Northumbria remaining as it is	35
Two forces in the region — one which would merge the South of Durham with Cleveland forming the Tees Valley City Region, and another which would merge the North of Durham with Northumbria	27
Don't mind / No preference	6
Don't know / Not sure	6

 

Q6 If all three existing forces were merged to create a single force across the North East, do you think the way your area is policed would improve, get worse, or would it make no difference to local policing?

	%
Would improve	19
Would get worse	38
Would make no difference	34
Don't know	8

 

Q7 And once it had been set up, do you think that a single merged force across the North East would cost less to fund, more to fund, or about the same as the existing structure?

	%
Cost less	23
Cost more	40
About the same	29
Don't know	8

 

Q8 Do you know how this would be paid for? If YES: How?
Base: All who think a single merged police force across the North East would cost more to fund (1,939)

	%
Yes — through Council Tax	64
Yes — through Income Tax	10
Yes — through some other method	7
No	12
Don't know / Not sure	7

 

Q9 Finally, do you agree or disagree that there should be a public referendum (public vote) before any decision is made about the possible restructuring of police forces in the North East?

	%
Strongly agree	58
Tend to agree	24
Neither agree nor disagree	1
Tend to disagree	9
Strongly disagree	8
Don't know / Not sure	1
All agree	81
All disagree	16