Anti-social behaviour (ASB) can have a debilitating impact upon a person’s health and well-being and a devastating effect on the wider community also. Being scared inside your own home or even too frightened to leave your own front door is something that should not happen. However, unfortunately it does. ASB Help receive enquiries from ASB victims on a daily basis, struggling to know where to turn to, where to report matters to and seek advice as to what they can do about their situation. Luckily, there are a lot of effective non legal and legal tools out there to address ASB and these are used by organisations such as Local Authorities, Police, and housing providers up and down the country. Nevertheless, there are times when cases slip through the net and victims continue to suffer from ASB. It is in these circumstances whereby the Community Trigger/ASB Case Review proves to be an invaluable tool. Introduced into legislation by the ASB Crime and Policing Act 2014, the Community Trigger set out to provide victims with a voice and function as a safety net ensuring that the partner agencies work collaboratively together to determine the most appropriate solution.
As straightforward as this may sound, there is an enormous disparity across England and Wales in the administration and delivery of the Community Trigger process, with various additional caveats being added to the threshold and in some areas a lack of an appeals process. In response to this inconsistency, ASB Help launched the PLEDGE which seeks to encourage all agencies involved in the Community Trigger process to embed best practice into their policy and procedures and help us in our mission to ensure that the community trigger is not a postcode lottery and that any victim of persistent ASB (when the threshold is met), regardless of where they live, are truly given a voice and partners work together and problem solve to secure a satisfactory resolution.
The word PLEDGE stands for: –
ASB Help welcome interested organisations to take a look at what the Pledge is and how subscribing to it will show your commitment to victims of anti-social behaviour. Please get in touch if you would like to be part of the PLEDGE or you would like to receive further information abo
Here are some of our frequently asked questions to aid your understanding of what the Pledge entails and how you can join.
A. The first step in taking the pledge would be to complete the self assessment/questionnaire and submit it to admin@asbhelp.co.uk. This can be found in the useful documents below
A. You can access ASB Help’s best practice guidance from the ASB Help
practitioner website (coming soon!). All guidance is in word format to enable you to tailor it to your organisation.
A. We provide the following documents: A self-assessment checklist to inform
your policies and procedures are legally compliant and incorporate best
practice. We also provide best practice wording on the community trigger and
an example terms of reference document to help govern review meetings. This
covers contentious issues such as information sharing and how to formulate a
strategy to bring an end to the anti-social behaviour as well as how to
guarantee the victim’s voice is heard. We also provide a Chair’s pack and
supplementary guidance on the range of legal and non-legal interventions
available to practitioners to resolve anti-social behaviour. We will regularly add
to this resource with up to date content we identify as being helpful to
organisations.
A. No. ASB Help is a charity committed to helping victims of anti-social
behaviour and we provide this guidance for free. ASB help can assist with
more bespoke guidance which would involve visiting an organisation and
reviewing their policies and procedures to offer best practice advice. A
nominal fee to cover expenses would be requested. ASB Help can recommend
consultancy services to assist with wider anti-social behaviour management.
Please email ASB Help directly to obtain further information about this. ASB
Help is not insured or qualified to provide legal advice.
ASB HELP is a Registered Charity committed to helping victims and practitioners managing anti-social behaviour.
The ASB Help charity number is 1152851. Email: www.asbhelp.co.uk
A. Joining the ASB Help PLEDGE shows the community you are committed to
identifying and supporting victims of anti-social behaviour. It demonstrates
your willingness to work collaboratively to bring an end to anti-social
behaviour as well as steadfast determination to deter such behaviour in the
future. By utilising ASB Help’s best practice guidance, you are signalling to
stakeholder’s you have embraced the spirit of the community trigger and you
are meeting your obligations to the community.
A. Yes, you can publish the ASB Help PLEDGE in your marketing material.
ASB Help will also publicise your organisation has joined the PLEDGE but we
reserve the right to remove any publicity if we identify concerns that an
organisation is not adhering to the commitments in the PLEDGE.
ASB Help will always endeavour to work collaboratively with practitioners and partner agencies across England and Wales to promote and attain the best possible outcome for the victim. It is our hope that our expertise and experience will be used as an asset by practitioners in all cases that we consult on, however it must be noted that we do NOT have jurisdiction over local agencies and cannot compel partners to undertake specific action.
We will continue to offer objective advice to victims and practitioners alike and hope that in doing so we can promote best practice in ASB case management as well as raising awareness of victims rights.
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