Putting victims first: more effective responses to antisocial behaviour
This written ministerial statement on the antisocial white paper was laid in the House of Commons on 22 May 2012 by Theresa May and in the…
This written ministerial statement on the antisocial white paper was laid in the House of Commons on 22 May 2012 by Theresa May and in the House of Lords by Lord Henley.
I am later today publishing ‘Putting victims first - more effective responses to antisocial behaviour’. It sets out the government’s plans to deliver on the commitment to introduce more effective measures to tackle antisocial behaviour, and puts them in the wider context of the our reforms to the policing and criminal justice landscape and work to turn round the lives of the most troubled families.
The term ‘antisocial behaviour’ masks a range of nuisance, disorder and crime which affects people’s lives on a daily basis: from vandalism and graffiti; to drunk or rowdy behaviour in public; to intimidation and harassment. All have huge impacts on the lives of millions of people in this country. None are acceptable.
Many police forces, local authorities and social landlords are working hard to to deal with these problems. However, too often, the harm that antisocial behaviour causes, particularly when it is persistently targeted at the most vulnerable people in our society, is overlooked. At the heart of our new approach is a fundamental shift towards focussing on the needs of victims, rather than the type of behaviour.
We know what victims of antisocial behaviour want. First and foremost they want the behaviour to stop, and the perpetrators to be punished for what they’ve done. They want the authorities to take their problem seriously, to understand the impact on their lives and to protect them from further harm. They want the issue dealt with swiftly and they don’t want it to happen again.
The mistake of the past was to think that the government could tackle antisocial behaviour itself. However, this is a fundamentally local problem that looks and feels different in every area and to every victim. Local agencies should respond to the priorities of the communities they serve, not to those imposed from Whitehall. From November this year, directly elected police and crime commissioners will be a powerful new voice for local people, able to push local priorities to prevent antisocial behaviour from being relegated to a ‘second-tier’ issue.
The government does, however, have a crucial role in supporting local areas. We will do that by:
- focusing the response to anti-social behaviour on the needs of victims - helping agencies to identify and support people at high risk of harm, giving frontline professionals more freedom to do what they know works, and improving our understanding of the experiences of victims
- empowering communities to get involved in tackling anti-social behaviour - including by giving victims and communities the power to ensure action is taken to deal with persistent antisocial behaviour through a new community trigger, and making it easier for communities to demonstrate in court the harm they are suffering
- ensuring professionals are able to protect the public quickly - giving them faster, more effective formal powers, and speeding up the eviction process for the most antisocial tenants, in response to recent consultations by the Home Office and Department for Communities and Local Government
- focusing on long-term solutions - by addressing the underlying issues that drive antisocial behaviour, such as binge drinking, drug use, mental health issues, troubled family backgrounds and irresponsible dog ownership
It is vital that those who will be affected by these changes, from the professionals who will use the new powers, to victims seeking protection from targeted abuse, can continue to shape the reforms so that we get them right first time. We will therefore publish a draft bill for pre-legislative scrutiny before introducing legislation.
Copies of ‘Putting victims first’ will be available in the Vote Office. You can also download the anti social behaviour white paper Putting victims first: more effective responses to antisocial behaviour
Tuesday, 22 May 2012
Date: Tue May 22 09:41:45 BST 2012