ASB White Paper 'Puts victims first'

The Home Office has published its anti-social behaviour White Paper, 'Putting victims first: more effective responses to anti-social behaviour', with a strong focus on a more 'locally driven' approach.

Addressing the Association of Chief Police Officers’ annual conference in Manchester Home Secretary Theresa May said:

"It’s clear the old top-down approach to the problem hasn’t worked – it was too bureaucratic, too complex and too time consuming.

"So we will make powers simpler, quicker, easier to enforce, more flexible and more effective. We are reducing the number of tools and powers by over two thirds - from 19 to 6."

The White Paper draws on last year's tools and powers consultation and contains 'significant reforms'. It is critical of the previous government's approach suggesting it was 'one size fits all' and overcomplicated, relying on 'bureaucratic targets' and 'pointless meetings'.

In addition to a more localised approach, ASB responses will be 'overseen by directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners' - ensuring that professionals are able to protect the public more quickly. It wants to see:

• agencies identifying vulnerable and repeat victims earlier, and responding at the first sign of trouble, through better logging of calls and managing of cases
• a simpler toolkit, including an injunction which can be secured in a matter of hours not months
• orders that can deal with ASB if it escalates into criminality yet are flexible enough to deal with a range of 'yobbish behaviour' including out of control dogs, public drunkenness and mini-motos
• the community getting involved in tackling ASB, for example through a Community Harm Statement to courts highlighting the impact of the behaviour on their daily lives
• agencies held to account locally by directly elected Police and Crime Commissioners, and by victims through the new 'Community Trigger'.

The White Paper proposes with the DCLG to extend existing discretionary grounds for possession to cover convictions of tenants, or members of their household, for offences committed at the scene of a riot. It also proposes to introduce 'a new mandatory route to possession' for tenants convicted of serious offences.

The drive towards a more localised approach to tackling ASB includes plans for Neighbourhood Justice Panels (currently being trialled across England and Wales) to deal with low-level crime and ASB. These do not require interventions from the criminal justice system but see 'parties work together to reach an agreed outcome including reparation to the victim.'