anti-social behaviour - five is the magic number
Theresa May announced on 30 January 2012 that the Government
will set up pilot schemes this Summer forcing authorities to act if
people in five separate households complain about anti-social
behaviour from a particular neighbour. This is an attempt to
address the situation where victims repeatedly report the same
problem but without any action seemingly being taken. This
so-called "community trigger" aims, in Ms May's words, to stop
"horror stories of victims reporting the same problem over and over
again".
This announcement comes after high profile cases highlighted the
need for more targetted action. A case which received a lot of
media attention was that of Fiona Pilkington who killed herself and
her disabled daughter after repeated harassment from youngsters.
She had complained to the police at least 33 times.
what this means for social landlords
But will it work? Reflecting on the Pilkington case, the
community trigger would only have been achieved if four other
residents had also been complaining. Eight police forces are
currently trialling new ways of dealing with ASB complaints aimed
at helping those who are vulnerable or who have reported lots of
problems. The Home Office has also announced a new Crime Prevention
Injunction which aims to replace a number of remedies, including
ASBIs, ASBOs and Individual Support Orders. Commentators are
already warning of the dangers of replacing a number of remedies
with one which has yet to be tested. Watch this space....
need advice?
We have specialists in our team who have years of experience in
dealing with ASB. If you need a renewed approach or help with a
long running nuisance issue, give us a call.
