On 7th February 2011, the Government unveiled a range of new measures to tackle anti-social behaviour aimed at providing better protection for communities.
Subject to the consultation, five new tools will replace eighteen of the existing formal powers. The aim is that they will be more flexible, quicker to obtain and less bureaucratic for Police, courts and other local agencies, making it easier to deal with persistent offenders.
Proposal
The Government are proposing a radical streamlining of the toolkit with more effective sanctions which it is aimed will help professionals and the courts to stop anti-social behaviour at an earlier stage, these are:
- Repeal the ASBO and other court orders for anti-social individuals and replace them with two new tools that bring together restrictions on further behaviour and support to address underlying problems – Criminal Behaviour Order that can be attached to a criminal behaviour order – Crime Prevention Injunction that can quickly stop anti-social behaviour before it escalates
- Ensure there are powerful incentives on perpetrators to stop behaving anti-socially – for example, by making breach of the new orders grounds for eviction from social housing
- Bring together many of the existing tools for dealing with place-specific anti-social behaviour, from persistent litter or noisy neighbours to street drinking and crack houses into a Community Protection Order (Level 1 and 2)
- Bring together existing police dispersal powers into a single Police Direction Power to direct people away from an area for anti-social behaviour
- Make the informal and out of court tools for dealing with anti-social behaviour more rehabilitative and restorative and
- Introduce a Community Trigger that gives victims and communities the right to require agencies to deal with persistent anti-social behaviour
The Anti-social Behaviour consultation will last for three months ending on the 3rd of May 2011. Once the consultation has closed the government will review all the comments from members of the public and practitioners. When a decision is made as to whether the proposals will go ahead the legislation will need to be passed by parliament and will not come into force immediately. We do not have a time line for any changes to the ASB tools and powers.
For furhter information and to have your say on the proposal directly please visit the Home Office website on: http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/publications/consultations/cons-2010-antisocial-behaviour/