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- John Denham calls for community champions to tackle anti-social behaviour
John Denham calls for community champions to tackle anti-social behaviour
| Published | 9 February 2010 |
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Communities Secretary John Denham today issued a rallying call for an army of community champions to challenge anti-social behaviour in their neighbourhoods.
Mr Denham is determined that people who want to make a difference in their community have the training and hands-on support they need to work together to solve local problems. That is why he opening up a new programme of Government training to anyone suffering from anti-social behaviour in their neighbourhood. He wants to make clear that the Government is on their side and will back those who are working to make a difference.
He wants to give every citizen an opportunity to emulate people like Carole McCulloch from Nottingham who has got young people themselves involved in challenging anti-social behaviour and learning that they do have the power to get things done and Don Smith from Bristol who has set up a local office staffed by volunteers to work towards making the area feel safer.
This builds on the Government's Community Crime Fighters Programme which means that nearly 4000 members of the public have now been recruited and trained by the Home Office as part of the Justice Seen Justice Done campaign. The Programme is a training and support scheme for people who are already active in their community and who want to know more about what they can do to help tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.
Training events being run in every region across England will help equip people with the confidence and know-how to join together with their neighbours, police and council staff to take a stand against anti-social behaviour - an issue that can gnaw away at the fabric of strong communities.
These events will offer practical advice to local people and front-line staff on what can be done and how they can work together to tackle neighbourhood anti-social behaviour issues. They will pass on lessons from those who have succeeded in bringing about change through the power of collective action.
This call to action is being supported by a major campaign, which gets underway this week, to give 10 million households across the country the information they need to take action against anti-social behaviour. A new booklet being delivered to homes in areas where anti-social behaviour is a priority for local people and the council advises residents how they can get help if they are being affected by anti-social behaviour and how they can challenge their local police, council or social landlord if they aren't satisfied with how it is being tackled.
The booklet explains what people can expect from the police and other agencies and how they can work with them to solve problems in their neighbourhood. This follows a leaflet drop to more than six million households in 60 areas across the country in November as part of the Justice Seen, Justice Done campaign and comes on top of an extra £6m of funding given direct to 130 areas to address their particular local priorities on anti-social behaviour.
Perceptions of levels of anti-social behaviour have fallen to the lowest level since records began but anti-social behaviour remains a top priority. The Government is committed to driving down anti-social behaviour by supporting victims and making all local partners take fast and effective action against it.
There are a range of measures, including ASBOs, crack house closure orders and dispersals of groups, available for the police, local authorities, housing officers, social landlords and other front line practitioners, to use, and Government expects them to do so.
John Denham said:
"The Government has given police and councils strong powers and tools to deal with the scourge of anti-social behaviour. We should acknowledge how much has been achieved and take comfort in knowing the number of people who think it is a problem in their neighbourhoods has fallen to the lowest level since records began.
"But there are still some communities where such behaviour causes real misery. The public have every right to feel confident that the police and councils will give a high priority to tackling the problem, and they need to know where they can go to get answers.
"Local communities are at their strongest and most confident when residents themselves come together, work to shared goals and are actively involved in helping to solve the problems that affect them. I've had the opportunity of seeing first hand how neighbourhoods up and down the country have been transformed by the spirit and resilience of those determined to make a difference. I hope their example can inspire many others to get involved themselves to really shape the communities they live in."
Home Secretary Alan Johnson said:
"We will not tolerate anti-social behaviour. No one should have to put up with it or suffer in silence. It is essential that members of the public know exactly what help and support they are entitled to and who should be providing it if they find themselves a victim of anti-social behaviour. These leaflets will help ensure that message reaches millions of people.
"It is important the authorities clamp down on unacceptable behaviour through the use of ASBOs, and the other tough sanctions they have at their disposal, but communities themselves play an important role in challenging anti-social behaviour. A good relationship between Neighbourhood Policing teams and local residents and businesses means the authorities can provide a specific tailored response, taking tough action on the issues that matter most to people."
Peter Jackson, Managing Director of the Social Landlords Crime and Nuisance Group, said:
"Social landlords and their tenants have been in the vanguard of effective action to tackling anti social behaviour for almost fifteen years. Our experience is that best results are achieved where residents and organisations genuinely work together to challenge the anti social minority that cause so much misery and damage. Practical, timely and accessible information is vital if residents are to contribute fully to resolving anti social behaviour issues in their communities. Our goal is to make best practice common practice, thereby ensuring that everyone has access to high quality, comprehensive services regardless of where they live and we urge all relevant agencies to respond positively to this 'call to action.'"
Case studies
Carole McCulloch has been a community activist for many years, and now works for the Aspley and Bells Lane Partnership helping to run everything from youth clubs for teenagers to tea dances for the elderly. One of her latest innovations is to get young people themselves involved in challenging anti-social behaviour. School children go out spotting problems in their neighbourhood - whether smashed windows; litter and graffiti; or fly tipping - and then write letters to the authorities to demand action. It teaches the children a sense of ownership, responsibility and pride in their community and shows that they do have the power to get things done.
The young people realised that the estate wasn't as bad as they had perceived it to be and the services enjoyed working with the young people. Through the young people's perspective they highlighted issues and solutions services hadn't even thought of. Young people identified untidy gardens as part of the walkabout and these residents received letters from NCH Housing Patch Manager. As a result these gardens have been tidied by the residents. This does not always happen on adult walkabouts. Receiving a letter from a young person, who lives on the estate, certainly made an impact to residents who received them.
Don Smith has been an active member of his community in South Bristol for over 20 years. He was involved in setting up the Withywood Forum, South Bristol Community Watch and the Highridge Forum. All three organisations were focussed on improving their local communities and tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in partnership with the police, council and other agencies.
More recently Don attended the Community Crime Fighters conference and was really buoyed up by the whole experience and started thinking about what else he could do. He asked for help from his Safer Bristol Community Safety Officer (CSO) and decided he wanted to open a local office staffed by volunteers to work towards making the area feel safer, give people confidence to report and generally be a hub of events and activities. In July, HBH Community Action officially opened its doors.
The HBH office is open to residents 3 days a week and Don and other volunteers support local residents to report anti-social behaviour, fly-tipping, dog fouling, graffiti etc. and to challenge the police and the council when they think that there is something more they could be doing. Don has also nominated several areas of his community for Community Payback projects and this has helped to reduce anti-social behaviour by removing overgrown bushes, dumped rubbish and graffiti to make the areas feel safer and encourage more residents to use them.
Carole McCulloch and Don Smith are available for media interviews via the CLG press office.
Notes to editors
1. Communities and Local Government is supporting a range of activity as part of a cross-Government drive to ensure that the public is able to live in neighbourhoods free from the corrosive effects of intimidation and harassment. We want to see both police and local authorities using the anti-social behaviour powers they have been given in a way that is effective and responds to people's needs at the right time.
2. John Denham announced in November 2009 (http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/corporate/1388243) £10 million funding to 130 local areas. The training events and booklet being distributed from today are the second phase of our information campaign to people in 130 areas that have made tackling anti-social behaviour a priority and/or face a degree of challenge on anti-social behaviour in their area, building on work led by the Home Office, especially their Justice Seen Justice Done campaign. In the first phase, the Home Office distributed information to around 6 million households within the 130 areas and we wanted to build on that successful activity and leaflet the remainder of the households.
Tackling anti-social behaviour is the joint responsibility of a range of agencies and the best results are achieved where these agencies work together in partnership. The community can also play an important role in working with local agencies to take successful action against anti-social behaviour.
That is why we are organising regional training events which will provide an opportunity for front line staff and residents to learn more about the tools and powers available to tackle anti-social behaviour. By bringing local people together to share best practice we can encourage joint problem solving. There will be 3 training events running in each region in February to March this year and we are encouraging citizens, front-line staff and practitioners to visit www.asb-events.org (external link) or call 0845 680 9754 (9am to 6pm Monday to Friday) to register their interest in the events or sign up for a specific local event in their area as these become available. We are also linking to the sign-up website via www.direct.gov.uk/localcrime (external link), which is the anti-social behaviour information site promoted through our booklet and press advertising.
The whole community needs to know where to go to get help and that's why we've produced a short booklet setting out the role of the police and councils in tackling anti-social behaviour which also contains advice on how to go about contacting them. The leaflet will be delivered to over 10 million households in the following local authority areas over the coming weeks and can also be downloaded from the Communities and Local Government website
http://www.communities.gov.uk/communities/neighbourhoodrenewal/antisocialbehaviour.
| Region |
Local Authority Area |
| East Midlands | East Northamptonshire Corby Kettering Daventry Wellingborough South Northamptonshire Ashfield Bassetlaw Broxtowe Gedling Mansfield Newark and Sherwood Rushcliffe Boston East Lindsey Lincoln North Kesteven South Holland South Kesteven West Lindsey Blaby Charnwood Harborough Hinckley and Bosworth Melton North West Leicestershire Oadby and Wigston Derby Bolsover |
| London | Ealing Harrow Havering Kensington and Chelsea Westminster Bexley Enfield Hillingdon Merton Richmond upon Thames Sutton Redbridge Hounslow Southwark |
| North East | Darlington Hartlepool Northumberland Stockton-on-Tees County Durham North Tyneside |
| North West | Trafford Cheshire West and Chester East Cheshire Stockport Warrington Wigan Burnley Pendle |
| South East |
Brighton and Hove |
| South West | Bournemouth Poole Wiltshire Bath and N E Somerset Isles of Scilly North Somerset Plymouth Mendip Sedgemoor South Somerset Taunton Deane West Somerset South Gloucestershire |
| Yorkshire and Humber | Calderdale York East Riding of Yorkshire North Lincolnshire |
| West Midlands | Dudley Telford and Wrekin Bromsgrove Malvern Hills Redditch Worcester Wychavon Wyre Forest Solihull Cannock Chase East Staffordshire Lichfield Newcastle-under-Lyme South Staffordshire Stafford Staffordshire Moorlands Tamworth Herefordshire North Warwickshire Nuneaton and Bedworth Rugby Stratford-on-Avon Warwick |
| East of England | Cambridge East Cambridgeshire Fenland Huntingdonshire South Cambridgeshire Basildon Braintree Brentwood Castle Point Chelmsford Colchester Epping Forest Harlow Maldon Rochford Tendring Uttlesford Broxbourne Dacorum East Hertfordshire Hertsmere North Hertfordshire St Albans Stevenage Three Rivers Watford Welwyn Hatfield Southend-on-Sea Breckland Broadland Great Yarmouth King's Lynn and West Norfolk North Norfolk Norwich South Norfolk Thurrock |
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