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
Victims' Survey 2021
If you have been a victim of or reported a crime in the past three years, The Victims' Commissioner want to hear from you. The Victims’ Commissioner will use your valuable feedback to help ensure future victims receive the support and justice outcomes they need.
Results of the survey will feed into a report charting the victim experience of the criminal justice system and victims’ services in 2020.
More information on the survey and the link to the survey itself can be found here:
https://victimscommissioner.org.uk/policies/victims-survey-2021/
In the media: Discussing noise complaints and neighbour disputes
ASB Help are featured in this weeks Scottish Sunday Express, discussing the significant increase in noise complaints, neighbour disputes and public nuisance calls. ASB Help reported an increase in complaints of 25%-300% across the board, with most of these related to noise.
Read the full article here - Scottish Sunday Express article
Our website also contains lots of information and advice regarding noise and neighbour disputes.
Nightingale Taskforces
ASB Help has opened a national conversation about ASB management and suggested the concept of Nightingale Taskforces.
More information can be found here: Nightingale Taskforces
The open letter to the UK Home Secretary can be found here: Open Letter
A good example of practitioners using the Community Trigger...
ASB Help are very proud of PS Wyn Jones of Northamptonshire Police for being the first police officer we know of to activate the Community Trigger for a case of anti-social behaviour in his area. PS Jones recognised the benefits of the Community Trigger and by invoking it himself, the case is being managed collaboratively by every partner agency in the area promptly and proactively. Be ahead of the curve and follow in the footsteps of PS Jones.
Join our ASB Pledge here
Learn more about the Community Trigger here
Be part of our ASB Pledge!
Thank you Solihull Community Housing for hosting me this week to talk to you about the PLEDGE. Very encouraging that we have so many partners wanting to take the PLEDGE and work with ASB Help on promoting the voice of victim’s of anti-social behaviour. Particular thanks to Victim Support in Plymouth, Hyde Housing, Sheffield City Council, Leicestershire Police, Stoke City Council and Surrey Police….Be part of this campaign and get in touch with ASB Help today to find out more about how we can help you to deliver the best service to your residents.
You can find out more information on the Pledge here
North-East Threshold Confusion
Earlier this year I visited Middlesbrough and gave a training on the Community Trigger to a few agencies through a Resolve ASB regional meeting. There I learned something rather interesting ... and also extremely concerning.
One of the delegates told me that in their local area when a Community Trigger is raised, and it relates to one of their tenants, the police (lead agency) contact them to find out what log of the incidents they have. They send through a record of the reports of ASB and their responses. If the lead agency is satisfied with this log, and can see action was taken (on paper), they tell the victim the threshold has not been met.
No, no, no, no, NO!
Such a log should confirm that if there were 3 or more reports of ASB in the past six months, then yes, indeed the threshold has been met. The case review meeting should then be held to determine whether the right action has been taken and what more can be done.
It is hard enough to activate a Community Trigger in most parts of the country. Victims of anti-social behaviour in the North-East have an added layer - agency confusion over the threshold.
Now it starts to make sense that in our first report Northumberland reported 39 Triggers but that all 39 Triggers had not reached the threshold. Likewise County Durham had 5 and Darlington 4, South Tyneside 3, and Gatehead 2, all of which didn't meet the threshold. Hmm - suspicion rises. Not met the threshold, or on paper it looks like action was taken, so the lead agency has decided that equates to not meeting the threshold.
It makes me want to tear my hair out in frustration. Re-read the legislation please.
Sunderland Trigger versus the Legislation
The plot thickens when I look at Sunderland Council's website and the way they explain the Community Trigger:
Criteria for activating the Community Trigger:
- Three or more complaints from an individual about the same problem, over a six month period, where no action has been taken by relevant agencies
- Five individuals complaining about the same problem where no action has been taken by relevant agencies
Sunderland has defined 'no action' as:
Victim did not receive an initial acknowledgement;
No subsequent contact has been made with victim following initial complaint;
Issues identified were not followed up or no action occurred;
Outcomes and/or case closure not reported to victim.
The dreaded two-tier threshold AND the addition of 'no action taken' - not even 'unsatisfactory action' as was discussed during the pilots, but 'no action' and then a helpful summary of what that means. This does NOT empower victims at all - this basically says if victims receive an acknowledgement and told what is happening (or not going to happen) and perhaps even that the case has been closed, they cannot activate the Community Trigger. There is no opportunity for victims to question what has been done, nor for agencies to come together to problem solve the situation.
Let's see what the legislation says about the threshold:
(4)In a situation where—
(a)an application for an ASB case review is made, and
(b)at least three (or, if a different number is specified in the review procedures, at least that number of) qualifying complaints have been made about the anti-social behaviour to which the application relates,
the relevant bodies must decide that the threshold for a review is met.
See our latest report, pages 20-21, for our comments on the confusion surrounding the threshold which we believe should be standardised and certainly legal!
Practitioners: here is our guide to correctly publicising your Community Trigger: https://asbhelp.co.uk/practitioners-hub/asb-case-review-practitioners/
If you are a victim of anti-social behaviour in the North-East that has been unable to activate the Community Trigger, do get in touch with us and let us know what happened.
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/
Stalking Protection Orders – a step in the right direction to tackle stalking within the United Kingdom:
Harassment can be defined as: “the act of systematic and/or continued, unwanted and annoying actions of one party or a group, including threats and demands”.
There are many types of anti-social behaviour within the category of harassment, with one of them being stalking.
Stalking can be defined as unwanted or obsessive attention by an individual or group. The Crime Survey for England and Wales reports that 1 in 5 women and nearly 1 in 10 men aged 16-59 have been victims of stalking since the age of 16.
The Stalking Protection Bill has been developed in 2019 to introduce Stalking Protection Orders, which are civil orders that police can apply to enable them to tackle stranger stalking quicker and more effectively. This bill has been developed by the Government and has been given royal assent, in a bid to tackle violence against women and girls in the United Kingdom.
The new stalking protection orders will allow for both restrictions and requirements for perpetrators and will carry a criminal penalty if these are broken. Importantly, the police apply for the order themselves, saving the victim stress and worry at an already traumatic time. The new orders can apply to any case of stalking but is designed specifically for occasions where stalking occurs outside of a domestic abuse context and will allow the courts to ban perpetrators from entering certain locations and contacting the victims. Furthermore, it will also force the perpetrator to seek help, often in the form of a mental health assessment. By addressing the issues of the perpetrator also, it should help to stop re-offending.
In addition to the Stalking Protection Orders, the Home Office has provided £4.1 million to fund the Multi-Agency Stalking Interventions Programme, which aims to improve responses to stalking within the Criminal Justice System. Furthermore, £50,000 a year will be provided to the National Stalking Helpline, ensuring that victims will continue to have someone to contact if they feel in danger or need advice.
Victoria Atkins (Minister for Crime, Safeguarding and Vulnerabilities) said that the new Stalking Protection Orders will “provide safety and security for victims earlier than ever before”. Furthermore, Baroness Bertin added that the new orders will ensure victims “do not have to wait for prosecution before protection kicks in”.
If you are a victim of stalking, then do not suffer in silence. See our page on Harassment, read our stalking case studies or visit the National Stalking Helpline for more information.
NEWS RELEASE: SAFETY NET FAILING VICTIMS
Agencies Ignore Victims of Anti-Social Behaviour at their Peril
Legislation is ignored and victims of anti-social behaviour continue to be held at arm’s length, a new report finds.
Work undertaken by charity ASB Help identifies numerous failing with the Community Trigger, also called the ASB Case Review, introduced as part of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. This power was designed to empower victims, enabling them to insist on a multi-agency case review to get results and stop the behaviour that was having such a devastating attack on their lives.
In practice, however, the process is fraught with problems. The key issues are that:
- there is no-one taking overall ownership of the Community Trigger or any aspect of anti-social behaviour from a victim perspective;
- the Community Trigger is inaccessible and unknown meaning that many victims who would be entitled to activate it are unaware of its existence;
- there is great confusion over how to use the Community Trigger with thresholds used that are contrary to the legislation; and
- the statutory guidance was quietly updated on Christmas Eve 2017 missing an opportunity to promote the Community Trigger and continues to be ignored.
One victim’s experience shows the impact of repeat, persistent anti-social behaviour and the problem victims continue to have in getting results:
“It took me 28 months to finally get rid of my antisocial neighbour just before Christmas. The stress and sleep deprivation he caused wrecked my mental and physical health. It was easier for the authorities to just ignore me than do something about him.”
Jennifer Herrera, Chief Executive Officer of ASB Help said: “Paying more attention to victims of anti-social behaviour through effective usage of the Community Trigger will give them the protection and support they deserve. Yet it also has the potential to identify perpetrators and embrace early intervention which could help stem the tide of knife crime and other serious crime. We are appalled at the way victims continue to be fobbed off by agencies and left to suffer in silence with a hugely detrimental effect on their quality of life.”
Ends
About ASB Help
ASB Help is a national UK charity seeking to assist victims of anti-social behaviour as to their rights – who they should report the anti-social behaviour to and crucially, what to do if they do not get a satisfactory response. The charity is represented on the Home Office Anti-Social Behaviour Strategic Board.