Carrying out Police Board Consultation

Guidance on working with your local police force

In order to protect the refugee family you will be welcoming from harm, and to ensure their new neighbourhood is safe to live in, the Home Office ask you to have your local police check the area you find accommodation in. Your Safer Neighbourhood Policing Team (or equivalent) will be able to provide a view on the property being used for a refugee family, which will be considered as part of the application process. Carrying out this process will enable the Police to highlight any safeguarding concerns such as community tension, hate crime or anti-social behaviour in the immediate vicinity of the property.  

It’s particularly important for those groups who are investing in buying property, or signing a tenancy agreement to seek this consent of your Safer Neighbourhood Team prior to purchase or signing an agreement. 

Who should I speak to?

All Police Forces will have a Safer Neighbourhood or Neighbourhood Policing Teams. These are small groups of officers who are responsible for policing within a specific area.  To find the Safer Neighbourhood Policing team in the area in which the refugees will be living, please visit www.polivce.uk

When you are contacting the relevant team, do keep in mind that they have lots of responsibilities so it may take some time for them to come back to you.  If you are not receiving a response, do ask Reset for help, as we can often ask the Home Office to follow up with the relevant team.  

When should I contact my Safer Neighbourhood Team?

You should contact the Safer Neighbourhood Team when you have found a property but prior to purchase or signing a tenancy agreement. 

What should I ask the Safer Neighbourhood Team to do?

You should complete section A of the Police Consultation Form (available as a word download on this page),  and ask them to complete section B and return this to the Home Office team listed on the form within 7 working days of receipt.

Keep in mind that you may not see a copy of the completed form, so you should keep in contact with the Police team to keep up to date on the progress of this form.  The Home Office will be in contact with you should there be any problems with the property.