I WOULD like to encourage your readers to give their views to the Hampshire Police and Crime Panel on how the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is tackling cyber fraud in our communities.

The panel’s role is to scrutinise and support the work of the Commissioner, Michael Lane, to ensure he delivers the commitments made in his Police and Crime Plan, including confronting online crime.

Cyber fraud is now the most common crime in the country, with more than 5.5 million online offences taking place each year, according to the most recent crime survey of England and Wales.

Residents are invited to share their thoughts in response to six key questions on cyber fraud. Any feedback submitted will be taken to a public proactive scrutiny session on 26 January 2018, where the Panel will examine the effectiveness of the Commissioner’s response in this area and look to identify any areas for improvement. The views collected will be crucial to the work taking place at a local level to help combat cyber crime in order to keep the people of Hampshire and Isle of Wight safe and protected when they go online.

Please take the time to respond to this important issue.

Visit the Hampshire Police and Crime Panel webpages at www.hants.gov.uk/hampshire- pcp/pcp-news/cyberfraud.htm before 8 January 2018.

Councillor David Stewart, Chairman of Hampshire Police and Crime Panel.