The Fairfield Independent Review has now opened its engagement with the public — or ‘call for evidence’. This has two parts:
- A public call for evidence: asking Londoners (aged 18+), and those working in relevant voluntary and community sector or support organisations, to share their experiences and views through a public survey, written submissions or by attending one of 12 in-person Citizens’ Engagement Forums we are organising across London.
- Engagement with the Metropolitan Police Service: evaluating the Met’s work and progress through observation of and engagement with officers and staff, alongside a bespoke survey of officers and staff.
We want to hear from as many people as possible who have experienced crime and policing in London. This could mean you have been directly affected, for example, as a victim of crime, as a witness, or as someone who has been stopped and searched. You could also have been indirectly affected, for example, as a family member of a victim of a crime or through your local community.
We particularly want to hear from people who have experience relating to issues highlighted in the Casey Review of the standards of behaviour and internal culture of the Metropolitan Police Service in 2023. We also want to hear from the general public across London, and Metropolitan Police Service officers and staff.
How you can contribute
There are three ways to share your views with the Review. Everyone can contribute through the survey and/or by making a written submission. Due to the time needed for in-depth group conversations, we can only invite a limited number of people to take part in Citizens’ Engagement Forums, but the Review team will read and consider every survey response and written submission we receive.
All contributions will be reviewed by Dr Fairfield and her team.
1. Online Survey
Open to: All London residents aged 18+
What it involves: Answering questions online about your experiences and views — this takes around 15-25 minutes. The survey is anonymous – we don’t collect any information that identifies you.
When: The survey is open from 5 March to 30 April 2026.
How to take part: Complete the online survey.
2. Written submissions
Open to: All London residents aged 18+ and those working in relevant voluntary and community sector or support organisations
What it involves: Sharing your views and experiences in your own words using an online form (up to 4,000 characters). Written submissions are anonymous, we don’t collect any information that identifies you. Organisations providing a submission may choose to waive this anonymity by providing the name of their organisation.
When: You can submit throughout the engagement period (5 March to 31 July 2026).
How to take part: Complete the written submission form.
3. Citizens’ engagement forums
Open to: People who register their interest and are selected by the Review team – we want to make sure that we include people from across different areas of London and that reflect the diversity of Londoners.
We plan to run 12 Citizens’ Engagement Forums in venues within each Metropolitan Police Service Basic Command Unit area (which are how the Met splits its police units geographically). These forums will bring together Londoners to discuss and develop recommendations for how the Met can improve its service.
Please note that we can only invite a limited number of people to take part in Citizens’ Engagement Forums, so we warmly encourage you to also complete the survey and/or provide a written submission to ensure you are able to share your views with the Review team.
What it involves: Taking part in a group discussion facilitated by members of the Review team in your local area. There will also be an opportunity on the day to have a more confidential one-to-one discussion with a member(s) of the Review team.
When: From May 2026.
How to register your interest: Complete the expression of interest form by 24 April 2026. We will contact you if you are selected to take part.
Confidentiality and doing no harm
It’s critically important to us that you feel confident to talk to us and share information. A central principle of this Review is to do no harm. This means:
- Safeguarding — we have clear procedures to respond appropriately if someone is at risk of harm
- Preventing re-traumatisation — we use trauma-informed approaches and provide access to support services
- Protecting your data — we handle all information securely and confidentially
Your information will remain confidential except in rare circumstances where we’re legally required to share information (for example, if there’s a safeguarding concern involving a child or vulnerable adult, or suspected terrorism, money laundering, or child abuse).
Citizens’ Engagement Forum discussions and any confidential one-on-one discussions with members of the Review team will be anonymised when we report what we’ve heard — we won’t identify you or include details that could identify you.
The survey and written submissions are anonymous — we don’t collect any information that identifies you.
You can read our full ethical and safeguarding framework for more details about how we protect participants. If you would like more information on how we protect your data, please read our full privacy notices for the survey, Citizens’ Engagement Forum, and written submissions.