Community Trigger workshop with Merseyside PCC - 23/06/21
Helping victims of ASB to get the right response
More than 30 community safety organisations will receive training today to ensure victims of anti-social behaviour get the right response, thanks to the region’s Police Commissioner.
Emily Spurrell has united with charity ASB Help to run the online workshop today (Wednesday 23rd June) which aims to increase awareness and understanding of the ‘Community Trigger’.
The Community Trigger, also known as the ASB Case Review, was introduced in 2014. It is a legal tool which gives victims of persistent anti-social behaviour the right to demand that local agencies review their response.
A member of the public can request a Community Trigger from their local council if they have reported three incidents of anti-social behaviour in the preceding six months, and they feel further action is needed to resolve their case. Anyone can activate the community trigger, including practitioners, with the consent of the victim.
Once a Community Trigger is activated, the local council must notify the other organisations involved, including the police, local health teams and registered providers of social housing, and hold a multi-agency case review, which sees all the various agencies come together to identify actions that can be taken to resolve the case.
If a victim is not happy with the response, they can appeal to the Police Commissioner who will examine the case review and may ask the agencies to conduct a further review of their case.
Today’s virtual training will be led by ASB Help’s Chief Executive Rebecca Brown, and is due to be attended by 33 representatives from partner organisations, including each of the region’s five Local Authority community safety partnerships, Merseyside Police, Merseyside Fire and Rescue and a host of housing associations and community organisations.
Merseyside’s Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell said: “The Community Trigger was brought in seven years ago to give victims of persistent ASB who feel nothing is being done and no-one is listening, the chance to get answers.
“Yet sadly, this important legal tool is still little known and little understood. I wanted to change that here in Merseyside, so that all the agencies involved in the process know how it should be used and feel confident promoting it to victims in their area.
“Anti-social behaviour is often, wrongly, viewed as ‘low-level’, but for victims who are repeatedly and persistently targeted it can have a hugely damaging effect, leaving people too scared to leave their front door and even afraid while they are inside their own home. It causes fear, stress, anxiety, depression. People who are subjected to this type of treatment deserve to get help and, if it isn’t forthcoming, they deserve to know why.
“I hope by running this training event today, more people will be able to come forward and get answers promptly and proactively. Crucially, I hope it will give more victims the confidence to come forward if they are suffering.”
ASB Helps’ Rebecca Brown said: “The community trigger is an essential mechanism for both victims and practitioners. It enables victims to use their voice and explain clearly the harm being caused to them and give their opinion on what a resolution would look like. For practitioners, it gives them back some control to raise the profile of a case and collaborate with community stakeholders to create an action plan to resolve it.”
Organisations were also invited to take ‘The ASB pledge’ – a six-point commitment which asks agencies to promote awareness of the Community Trigger, ensure their process is accessible and inclusive and puts the victim first
What would the abolition of Section 21 mean for private landlords and victims of ASB?
Often, local communities hold landlords responsible for the anti-social behaviour that takes place in their properties. The National Landlords Association says that in a survey of over 4,000 landlords, 14% reported tenants engaging in anti-social behaviours such as noise, drugs and prostitution over the last 12 months.
Currently, Section 21 can be used by landlords in England and Wales to evict tenants after a fixed term tenancy ends if there is a written contract, or during a tenancy which has no fixed end date if tenants are engaging in these behaviours.
Landlords can use ‘no fault’ Section 21 notices to gain possession of their property, without having to put neighbours, often the victims of the anti-social behaviour, through an ordeal at court giving evidence. The current Government wish to abolish Section 21, leaving landlords feeling “powerless” to deal with anti-social tenants who are affecting their neighbours and community. If it is abolished, a Section 8 notice will have to be used, allowing landlords to repossess a property if they can provide enough evidence to satisfy a court.
This may mean that victims of Anti-Social Behaviour will have no choice but to testify in court if they want the problem resolved. This process is costly, lengthy and puts the already distressed victim through further, unnecessary stress. Furthermore, in cases where the main issue is noise, alcohol or drugs, which are common complaints, it can often end up as your word against theirs. Additionally, neighbours and other tenants may be too scared to testify in court, or even report the issue in the first place.
Campaigners including the National Landlords Association and the Residential Landlords Association believe that Section 8 is not fit for purpose and are forming a coalition to seek retention of Section 21.
Read the full article here: https://propertyindustryeye.com/landlords-worried-about-anti-social-tenants-protest-against-abolition-of-section-21/
Housing Associations and the Community Trigger
Much of our work on the Community Trigger has focused on councils and police, mainly because they represent the lead agency across England and Wales. However, housing associations are a key player in Community Safety and named as one of the relevant bodies in the Community Trigger legislation. What are housing associations doing to promote it then?
Large Housing Associations
A sample of the really large housing associations brought in disappointing results. All of the following have no information on the Community Trigger (also called the ASB Case Review):
- London and Quadrant Housing
- Clarion Housing
- Home Group Housing
- Sanctuary Housing
- Guinness Partnership
- Riverside Housing
- Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing (2 separate websites)
Clarion Housing claims on its website to be the largest housing association in the country, owning and managing 125,000 homes over 170 local authorities, representing 360,000. That is 360,000 tenants who are not being informed about the Community Trigger. Housing association websites direct people to the police for some types of anti-social behaviour but miss an opportunity to let their tenants know what to do if the police do nothing about it (or the council or indeed the housing association itself). This is concerning.
Locally Led
Some housing associations tell me they cannot put information on the Community Trigger on their website because they have houses in more than one local authority area and of course the way it is activated differs from one area to another. There are some easy ways around this:
Regenda Housing give information about the Community Trigger and a link to the government website to find your nearest local authority. Unfortunately this will fall down at the last hurdle because where the police is the lead agency, the local council tends not to publish any information about the Trigger.
A much better way can be seen in One Housing who have been wonderfully proactive in setting up a specific Community Trigger email address for victims, explaining that they will then forward it onto the relevant local authority. Some lead agencies don't even bother setting up a specific email address or giving a direct telephone number so this is impressive from One Housing.
An alternative would be to link into our Community Trigger Directory so that victims can easily search for their local area and find the exact page they need on the council or police website. It is important that all tenants of registered providers of social housing know that this safety net is available to them. We encourage all housing associations to look at adding this important information to their website. Don't forget housing associations can also activate a Community Trigger on the victim's behalf to push a case review and get something done about the anti-social behaviour.
Anti-Social Behaviour debate in the House of Commons (7/2/2019):
It is great to see Anti-social behaviour being debated in the House of Commons. It shows that MP’s are taking an interest in the concerns of their constituents and are using their voice to try and bring about change. It was noted that the only thing that is currently mentioned more in Parliament is Brexit, showing that the issue of anti-social behaviour is finally at the forefront of many MP’s agendas.
One particular MP who has been very passionate about improving anti-social behaviour is Diana R.Johnson, the Labour MP for Kingston Upon Hull. She stated that in 2018, it was found that 40% of national respondents think that crime and anti-social behaviour is a problem in their area, which is up from 25% in 2015. In addition to this, the Office for National Statistics found there was a 13% increase in people witnessing or experiencing anti-social behaviour between October 2017-September 2018. This number is worrying and highlights the issue is getting worse rather than improving.
Johnson states that “feeling safe where we live, work and play is important to us all, and anti-social behaviour can make people’s lives miserable”. 950,000 children have experienced some form of crime and anti-social behaviour, with 2.2 million of them worried about this issue. It shows that it is not just adults who experience anti-social behaviour and are worried by it; it is an issue that people of all ages are worried about.
One major point that was mentioned repeatedly in this debate, was the budget cuts implemented on the police force and what that means for victims of anti-social behaviour.
Keith Hunter (the National lead for Police and Crime Commissioners on Anti-Social Behaviour) believes that anti-social behaviour is often the start of more serious criminal behaviour if it is not checked and dealt with early on. He also believes that when the public and police retreat from public spaces, there will always be a section of society who will use that space for their own anti-social purposes. Then, the public become too scared to use the space again, and the bad behaviour is reinforced. One example to support his theory is budget cuts to Humberside Police. Since 2010, the budget of Humberside Police has been cut by 31%, with the Humberside PCC saying that the “services are stretched to breaking point”. This poses the question of how is anti-social behaviour meant to be dealt with effectively, when the police have no resources or funding to do so?
In addition to Humberside Police cuts, in November 2018, Bedfordshire police had to suspend its 101-call service for a few hours due to budget cuts, in order to focus on more serious crime, 999 calls. This results in the anti-social behaviour crimes being ignored, leaving victims frustrated and upset.
Despite national police budget cuts, local police forces are trying to make the best of a bad situation. For example, Humberside police have developed a mobile “cop shop” to move to areas where problems develop and are showing videos in local schools which demonstrate the effects of anti-social behaviour. It is hoped this will educate children and show them the effects of anti-social behaviour. Furthermore, when neighbourhood policing was introduced in Lancashire, one area went from 120 anti-social behaviour incidents a month to 10-15 incidents a month. This is a significant difference and shows just how powerful a police presence in a community can be. Many police forces and MP’s have expressed their frustration at being unable to roll out early intervention schemes to try and prevent anti-social behaviour, as they do not have the resources or funding to do so.
The consensus throughout this debate was that constituents are fed up of constantly flagging up and reporting anti-social behaviour and feeling like nothing is being done. Communities are being destroyed, leaving people upset, frustrated and frightened. This is something we see daily at ASB Help, and we share this frustration. For example, an issue mentioned in Parliament and one we get many e-mails about is neighbour disputes. Hull constituents reported that they must fill in numerous diary sheets as evidence, and then no action is taken. Hull City Council say they need these diary sheets to show a pattern of behaviour, however even then the behaviour may not be serious enough for a conviction, resulting in an eviction of the neighbours causing the behaviour. It can take as long as eight months for eviction, which is added distress for victims.
So, what next? This debate discussed some options of what should be implemented to try and improve the situation. The Government needs to invest more funding into the police, and also local councils. This will result in less police cuts, with more of a focus on Anti-social Behaviour, with more police presence on the street and the funding to carry out early interventions. The re-introduction of ASBO’s was also mentioned by some MP’s, who felt that this gave the police more power to sanction people. It was also suggested the Criminal Justice System should be reviewed, as it should be seen as a progressive system which helps people to get out of this behaviour and change. However, it is felt that is should also be prepared to sanction people who want to continue with this behaviour. Of course, this is a complex issue, with no “one size fits all” solution.
Police Distance
My last blog was about the Switchboard Stress of trying to contact local councils to find out some information about the Community Trigger. A member of the public commented on the post on our Facebook page that they had been one of the people I was concerned about: trying to activate a Community Trigger through the telephone number given, only to find it was the council's main switchboard and no-one knew what it was or who to put her through to!!
In the interest of a balanced argument, I want to follow this up with a blog about the distance we now feel from the police. I have documented before how calling the 101 number to activate a Community Trigger can be just as frustrating as a council switchboard. Why? The same reason - the staff officer answering the call does not know what the Community Trigger (or ASB Case Review) is!
Faceless Organisations
I believe there is a real problem when an organisation distances itself and essentially becomes faceless. We suffer from council and police distance - perhaps it is more common with the council, but we are used to being able to talk to the police aren't we? When I was overseas once, I lost my passport. I went to the local police station in a small town and was able to immediately report the missing passport (essential if I was to get an emergency one processed by the Embassy). I could not do that today in my home city as the local police station has very limited opening hours and outside of those no-one answers the doorbell (I suspect it doesn't work). Once a police car pulled up whilst I was looking to report something and the officer told me I could not report it to her because she didn't actually work there.
We know there are less bobbies on the beat and more stations are closed. So if it is not an emergency the 101 number becomes the main and sometimes only way to talk to the police. That would be particularly true for the house-bound, the sick, those with disabilities or scared to leave their home because of the anti-social behaviour of their neighbours.
The 101 Number
I make a lot of different phone calls and yet the only one I get billed for, which is not covered by my unlimited minutes, is when I need to make a call to the police's non-emergency 101 number. I personally think that is bizarre. If the police wants to minimise people wrongly using the free 999 emergency number, it might be a good start to make its alternative free! I can call a council anywhere in the country, I can call my bank and people on other mobile networks to me free of charge, but I cannot call the police. This immediately puts up a layer of police distance.
Cost aside, an important article about Crimestoppers caught my eye last month about why more people are using this free, anonymous service to report crime and anti-social behaviour. There are a number of reasons for this, including the fact that some people find it very difficult to talk to the police directly. The simpler reporting process that Crimestoppers offers is also significant. Then the article cites the fact that people have problems reaching the police non-emergency number, 101.
"There is in some parts of the country an element of frustration with 101," says Mr Hallas, Crimestoppers CEO. "They know if they call us they will be answered pretty quickly."
The issues are well known and it was referenced in a Westminster Hall discussion on anti-social behaviour in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire. Emma Hardy, MP for Hull West and Hessle stated that:
"I am sure she is as aware as I am of the number of dropped calls to the 101 service and the number of incidents that actually get reported. If she goes out and talks to people in the community, she will find that most of them never even bother ringing 101 to report antisocial behaviour, because they know they may be on hold for more than 40 minutes."
A BBC article in August gives further evidence of this for people in Wales with a staggering 135,389 of calls being abandoned or redirected last year.
Getting Someone to Act
In that same debate, I was delighted to see that the Minister responsible for anti-social behaviour, Victoria Atkins, highlighted the Community Trigger as follows:
"If I may, I will let the hon. Lady know about the ability of victims of antisocial behaviour, or someone acting on their behalf, including a Member of Parliament, to request a formal antisocial behaviour case review - I do not know whether she is aware of this - which is called a "community trigger". I like talking about it, because colleagues should be aware of it and they can use it if requested by their constituents. It enables victims of antisocial behaviour to ensure that their voice is heard when they believe they have not had a satisfactory response to repeated complaints of antisocial behaviour, and it forces agencies to act. The relevant bodies in a local area must agree on and publish their case review procedures. Therefore, if she believes that the relevant agencies in her constituency, have not acted on reports of antisocial behaviour in Hull and East Riding, that is a possible solution for her constituents."
However, let's just reflect on both this blog and my Switchboard Stress blog. Ms Atkins, I am sorry to say that some people can only activate their Community Trigger by calling 101 - that same number which some people have despaired of calling. Others have the option of calling their local council and getting lost in the deliberations of a switchboard operator who has no idea what they are talking about. Or there might be an unwieldy online form. A victim of persistent anti-social behaviour should not need to jump through so many hoops to shout out for help. Come on public servants - there is a real opportunity here to choose to NOT be a faceless organisation, reduce that police distance and let people who are suffering have access to help.
Is this not common sense? I have no idea why police websites do not give an email address to relieve pressure on their 101 number, nor why Community Trigger webpages can't give a direct line number rather than switchboard. The Community Trigger is for people who feel they have nowhere to turn, who need help and are desperate. It is so unfair to set them up like this and create such distance. Is it any wonder people give up?
And what is the risk of a victim of persistent anti-social behaviour giving up on reporting it and feeling like there is nowhere to turn? At one end of the scale, suicide like we saw with Fiona Pilkington. At the other end of the scale, a victim taking matters into their own hands and committing a crime in their desperation to stop the anti-social behaviour. In the 21st century when thanks to technology and the internet, we are more connected than ever, how is it that police distance is only widening?