Avon and Somerset Police and Crime Plan Consultation Focus Groups

Following the Victims’ Needs Assessment, Victims’ Voice Project and the Victim Evaluation Panels, TONIC were asked by Avon and Somerset OPCC to facilitate some focus groups to hear feedback on the new PCC’s draft Police and Crime Plan 2025-29 priorities.  

The five priorities outlined by PCC Clare Moody were:  

• Strengthening Neighbourhood Policing  

• Reducing Violent Crime  

• Preventing Crime  

• Protecting Victims 

• Improving Standards of Policing 

TONIC were asked to gather the opinions of women, victims and individuals with a disability to complement other consultation work being conducted with other demographic groups by the OPCC. All focus groups were conducted online via Microsoft Teams and most had a mixture of all three target groups. The sessions lasted two hours, inclusive of a comfort break, and involved discussions around how participants felt the priorities could be achieved and any examples of good local practice.  

Five focus groups were conducted over the space of three weeks. TONIC researchers organised and co-produced an accessible focus group with the SARSAS Autism and Learning Disability Advisory Group. Thus, in total, 36 individuals participated in a focus group, of which 31 were women, 22 were victims and 13 had a disability.  

Following the completion of the focus groups, TONIC researchers produced a comprehensive report detailing the findings and highlighting areas of perceived best practice that were identified by participants. To complement the report and ensure the OPCC received as much detail as possible, a document containing detailed notes that were taken during focus groups was also sent to the commissioners.