Official Statistics

Anti-social behaviour order statistics: England and Wales 2013 key findings

Published 18 September 2014

Applies to England and Wales

1. ASBOs issued

  • in total, 24,427 ASBOs were issued between April 1999 and December 2013; the highest number of ASBOs issued annually was in 2005 (4,122); since then, there were year-on-year falls in the number issued between 2005 and 2012
  • in 2013, 1,349 ASBOs were issued, a 2% increase from the 1,329 ASBOs issued in 2012
  • in total since 1 June 2000, 86% of ASBOs have been issued to males; and 36% of ASBOs issued to juveniles
  • a greater proportion of ASBOs (60%) have been issued following conviction for a criminal offence rather than following an application
  • 25% of ASBOs issued on application to juveniles in 2013 were accompanied with an Individual Support Order (ISO); this is an increase from 18% in 2012 and is just below the 2009 peak of 26%

2. ASBOs breached

  • of the 24,323 ASBOs issued between 1 June 2000 to 31 December 2013, 58% (14,157) had been breached at least once; of those breached, 75% (10,651) were breached more than once; if an ASBO is breached, on average it is breached five times
  • in 2013, there were 862 ASBOs breached for the first time, a 3% decrease compared to 2012 and the lowest number of breaches since 2003
  • juveniles have accounted for 42% of ASBOs breached; just over two-thirds of juveniles had breached their ASBOs at least once by the end of 2013, compared to just over half of adults
  • on average, 29% of ASBOs were breached within the year they were issued; on annual basis, this ‘in-year breach rate’ has remained relatively stable since 2009 at around 30%

3. Sentencing for ASBOs breached

  • of the 14,157 ASBOs breached at least once, 53% (7,503) resulted in courts imposing a sentence of immediate custody, with an average custodial sentence length (ACSL) of 5.0 months; a further 23% (3,200) resulted in a community sentence being imposed