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Will the riots panel change policy?

The Communities and Victims Panel has travelled to towns and cities across England collecting evidence for its investigation into why the riots took place. But what's the point, asks Alison Benjamin
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House of Reeves furniture store on fire in Croydon during August's riots. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

In a half-empty hall last Tuesday night, Nicola explained how she had never felt frightened in her own home until the events of August 8 unfolded around her. "It was extremely scary, there was lots of smoke. I was really worried about my 96-year-old neighbour."

Nicola lives in a flat at Reeves Corner, in Croydon, where the flames of a 100-year-old furniture shop being burned to the ground is one of the enduring images from the summer riots that took place in England.

She has a view on why the disturbances occurred, and she wants to share it with the members of the riots panel, which is in the borough to hold a public meeting as part of its investigation into why the looting and violence took place.

The Communities and Victims Panel, convened by the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, in place of an official inquiry, has travelled to 10 parts of London and five towns and cities across England collecting evidence for its interim findings next month, before a final report in March 2012.

Chaired by former Jobcentre Plus chief executive Darra Singh, the panel has met with a selected audience of local traders, police officers, community workers, young people and councillors at each location. Croydon is only the second public meeting.

The mood in south London is sombre as residents, shopkeepers and commuters relive their, in some cases terrifying, experiences and add their voices to the numerous theories for what caused the unrest.

Nicola pins the blame on parents and absent fathers. Clive, a disabled resident who lives yards from the ashes of the furniture store, says the council's planning department should never have allowed 5,000 new dwellings in the vicinity without building accompanying facilities. Michael, who works in the borough, singles out youth club closures. "What have you got in their place?" he asks. "After a few weeks of having nothing to do in the school holidays this was excitement for kids." A middle-aged woman from nearby Thornton Heath admits that she was tempted to join in. "I did consider going out in the riot. No one would have caught me." So what stopped her? "You'd be destroying your own community," she says.

Graham Reeves, the furniture store owner, calls for tough sentences for people who engaged in the "mindless violence", but he agrees with Michael, and many others at the meeting, that the UK should be investing in its young people to prevent any re-occurrence. "We need to help them get employment and give them something to do," he tells me after the meeting has ended.

There were no young people at the Croydon meeting, but Singh tells me the panel is talking to many on its tour. They are saying "they don't feel listened to" and "are anxious about their future", he says. The panel also hopes to hear from rioters themselves about their motivations.

It was clearly a cathartic 90 minutes for many participants, which is no bad thing. But it is doubtful it will have any impact on policy, given the plethora of government action plans due shortly, from tackling troubled families to stamping out gang culture.

The Metropolitan police is carrying out its own riots inquiry. So will the criticism voiced to the panel in Croydon about the lack of officers on the streets make any difference? "Our remit is to listen to what people are telling us and report back," says Singh. "We welcome these other initiatives to tackle what is such a major issue and we're inviting anyone who has set up their own inquiry to feed it into our work."

Fine words, but if the panel is just a sounding board it should not pretend to be more than that and come clean about its inability to affect change.

• The panel is meeting in Tottenham, north London, on 3 November.

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