Help with anti-social behaviour

Our charity, Key, provides our domestic abuse support services. If you are suffering from abuse at home or know someone who is, please call Key’s confidential domestic abuse helpline on 01772 435865. The line is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

You can also use live chat with an advisor on www.keycharity.org.uk, text 07790 971237 or email clarehouse@keycharity.org.uk.

Women experiencing domestic abuse can also contact the National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247 to talk in strict confidence and to get advice.

Men experiencing domestic violence can contact the Men’s Advice Line at 0808 801 0327.

We will record your complaint and take details of what is affecting you and the person affecting you. We will also ask for relevant information or supporting evidence that may be required, including the dates and times of incidents, what happened, who was involved, and how it made you feel. Sometimes an investigation is not possible, for example, when a complaint is anonymous, and more information must be required to enable an investigation.

Sometimes, someone suffering from ASB might be frightened to reveal their identity. We encourage people suffering from ASB to come forward in person so that they can provide us with as much detail as possible so that we can investigate their concerns.

If we can investigate your report, one of our community safety officers will contact you within five working days (or one working day for domestic abuse, hate crime, violence or threats of violence).

We will introduce ourselves and explain how we can help. We will:

• Ask for details regarding the issues affecting you
• Ask for details of others who have witnessed the ASB and who we may need to speak to
• Ask questions to enable us to assess the risk and vulnerability of you and your household or others affected by the ASB.

We will then:

• Consider whether we need to make any support referrals
• Discuss evidence-gathering and provide you with diary sheets and/or agree on other methods of recording further incidents, such as audio equipment (The Noise App), photographs, video recordings of incidents, etc.

Consider any safeguarding concerns for the person causing the ASB or their household.

• Discuss how we can work with other partners where appropriate, such as the police
• Discuss possible early intervention measures to resolve matters quickly, such as visiting the person causing the ASB to discuss allegations of tenancy breaches, issue tenancy warnings, and make referrals to mediation
• Ask for your permission to visit the person causing the ASB. We will not disclose your identity unless you permit us to do so. Please note that we may be unable to maintain anonymity if the incident details identify you.

If the matter is urgent and there is a serious risk of violence, we will consider whether an application for a without-notice injunction is appropriate. We will be clear on what action we can and can’t take and agree on an action plan with you.

The next steps will depend on the particular nature of the case and the action plan we agreed on.

We may:

• Speak to other witnesses
• Gather further evidence
• Review our case management system to see if we have received previous complaints and whether any warning markers exist
• Write to the person causing the ASB to advise them of the allegations received and arrange to visit them to discuss matters
• Work with our partners, such as police, fire service, social services, drug and alcohol support services, and mental health teams to take a joined-up approach
• Consider non-legal tools and early intervention measures
• Consider legal action if it is reasonable and fair to do so.

We will monitor the case and keep you updated as your case progresses.

• Issuing written tenancy warnings
• Signposting perpetrators of ASB to support services which may help reduce or stop the ASB from repeating.

This is an effective way of resolving disputes involving an independent and impartial third party - the mediators. It provides a safe, structured and positive environment for parties in dispute and seeks to change behaviour, resolve conflict and prevent issues from resurfacing. 

We will close your case after resolving the ASB issues affecting you. If, upon our investigations, the issues affecting you are not considered ASB, or there needs to be more evidence to enable us to take action we may close your case. In these circumstances, we will clearly explain why we cannot take action or what evidence is required to resolve your case satisfactorily.

We may also close your case if you have stopped reporting any further issues to us, as we need to know whether the ASB is continuing for us to consider any relevant actions to resolve matters. When we close your case, we will send you a satisfaction survey, as we value any feedback you give us to help improve our service.

If you are unhappy about how we have handled your case, you can use our complaints procedure. 

The Government introduced ASB Case Reviews (formerly Community Triggers) to help the police, local councils and housing associations work better together to combat anti-social behaviour.

The changes are designed to streamline existing processes, making sure that people’s problems are quickly dealt with to reduce anti-social behaviour in our communities.

ASB Case Reviews

An ASB Case Review is a process you can use if you have reported anti-social behaviour and believe no action has been taken.

Victims of persistent antisocial behaviour can request a multi-agency case review.

If the matter matches the criteria, the police, local council and housing association (if appropriate) must come together to review the situation.

How does it work?

• You can use an ASB Case Review if you have reported anti-social behaviour to your local council, the police and/or a housing association three times about separate incidents in the last six months, and you think that no action has been taken, or
• Five people in the local community have reported similar incidents of anti-social behaviour separately to your local council, the police and/or housing association in the last six months, and they feel that no action has been taken or
• You have complained to your local council, the police and/or a housing association once about an incident or crime motivated by hatred (hate incident /hate crime) in the last six months, and you consider there has been no action taken.

A co-ordinator will contact the relevant agencies in the area, including any housing associations who are involved by virtue of their tenant requesting a review, to discuss what actions have been taken. These agencies will review the response you have received and make recommendations as to how the problem can be resolved.

To find more information on ASB Case Reviews, including how to request a review (formerly known as a Community Trigger), in your local areas, visit CT Directory - ASB HELP

While all crime is damaging to our communities, we take hate crime extremely seriously and recognise the traumatic effect that hate crime can have on the victim and our diverse communities.

Victims of the crime may suffer physical injuries or endure emotional trauma; news of the hate crime can spread quickly throughout a community, increasing fear and lessening people’s willingness to express their identity and go about their daily lives.

We will take a ‘victim-centred’ approach when responding to hate crime, and we encourage victims and witnesses of hate crime to report all incidents.

Crimes committed against someone because of their disability, transgender identity, race, religion or belief, or sexual orientation are hate crimes.

You can report hate crime anonymously online at Crimestoppers (0800 555 111).

Call 999 if you’re reporting a crime that’s in progress or if someone is in immediate danger.

If the crime isn’t an emergency, call 101 or contact your local police -
www.police.uk/

We consider hate crime to be capable of being anti-social behaviour (ASB) and a breach of tenancy. This means that we will deal with a hate crime under our ASB Policy.

All hate crimes are recorded and investigated where possible. We will record your complaint and take details of what is affecting you and the person affecting you. We will also ask for relevant information or supporting evidence that may be required, including the dates and times of incidents, what happened, who was involved, and how it made you feel.

Sometimes an investigation is not possible, for example, when a complaint is anonymous, and more information is required to enable an investigation.

Sometimes, someone suffering from hate crime might be frightened to reveal their identity. We encourage people suffering from hate crime to
come forward in person so that they can provide us with as much detail as possible so that we can investigate their concerns.

If you report offensive graffiti to us, we will remove this within 24 hours.

Non-urgent repairs will be completed within five working days.

We will act as a third party and report the incident to the police if you have not already done so if you consent to us reporting the hate crime on your behalf.

If we can investigate your report, one of our community safety officers will contact you within one working day.

We will:

• Ask for details regarding the issues affecting you
• Ask for details of others who have witnessed the hate crime and who we may need to speak to
• Ask questions to enable us to assess the risk and vulnerability of you and your household or others affected by the ASB.

We will then:

• Consider whether we need to make any support referrals
• Consider any target hardening measures, such as extra door locks, security lighting, etc., where appropriate
• Discuss evidence gathering and provide you with diary sheets and/or agree on other methods of recording further incidents, such as audio equipment (The Noise App), photographs, video recordings of incidents, etc.
• Discuss liaising with other agencies where appropriate, such as the police, if you have reported a hate crime to them
• Consider any safeguarding concerns for the person causing the ASB or their household
• Discuss possible early intervention measures to resolve matters quickly, such as visiting the person causing the ASB to discuss allegations of tenancy breaches, issue tenancy warnings, and make referrals to mediation
• Ask for your permission to visit the person committing the hate crime. We will not disclose your identity unless you permit us to do so. Please note that we may be unable to maintain anonymity if the incident details identify you.

If the matter is urgent and there is a serious risk of violence, we will consider whether an application for a without-notice injunction is appropriate. We will be clear on what action we can and can’t take and agree on an action plan with you.

The next steps will depend on the particular nature of the case and the
action plan we agreed on.

We may:

• Speak to other witnesses
• Gather further evidence
• Review our case management system to see if we have received previous complaints and whether any warning markers exist
• Write to the person causing the ASB to advise them of the allegations received and arrange to visit them to discuss matters
  Work with our partners, such as police, fire service, social services, drug and alcohol support services, and mental health teams, to take a joined-up approach
• Consider non-legal tools and early intervention measures
• Consider legal action if it is reasonable and fair to do so.
  We will monitor the case and keep you updated as your case progresses.

We will use a range of tools when tackling hate crime, including prevention, support and enforcement, in a proportionate and flexible response, including the following:

• Issuing written tenancy warnings
• Signposting perpetrators of ASB to support services, which may help reduce or stop the ASB from repeating
• Acceptable behaviour contracts. These are signed by the person causing ASB and are a commitment to stop causing issues affecting others
• Mediation. This is an effective way of resolving disputes involving an independent and impartial third party - the mediators. It provides a safe, structured and positive environment for parties in dispute and seeks to change behaviour, resolve conflict and prevent issues from resurfacing.
• Injunction order. We can obtain this order from the County Court that can instruct someone not to do something, such as; not play excessively loud music or not to threaten violence against anyone. If a person breaches an injunction order, we can apply for contempt, and the person could receive a custodial sentence, a fine or both. The courts can, in some cases, grant a power of arrest or an exclusion area as part of the order. They can also attach positive requirements, which order the person to do something rather than not to do something, such as attending an alcohol support programme
• Possession order. We can apply for a possession order if the person causing the issues is a Progress Housing Group tenant. Once the court grants a possession order, this can sometimes lead to eviction. However, the courts view eviction as a last resort. They will expect the landlord to have tried, or considered, other measures before considering eviction as the most appropriate course of action. The courts can, in some cases, suspend a possession order on terms
• Demotion order. This alternative to possession proceedings can result in the tenant’s tenancy being ‘demoted’ from an assured tenancy to an assured shorthold tenancy. This means they have less tenure security and rights for a fixed period.

We will also work in partnership with the police and local authorities. If appropriate, we will ask them to consider the tools and powers they have to tackle ASB, such as closure powers, which can result in premises associated with persistent ASB being closed to stop further ASB from being committed. The police also have dispersal powers, and local authorities can issue community protection notices (CPNs) or delegate powers to social landlords to obtain CPNs.

If it is necessary to commence any legal action, you may need to attend court to give evidence in any legal proceedings. Your community safety officer will support you throughout this process. We will clearly explain the legal process and arrange for your transport to and from the court if your attendance is required. We can also arrange for you to visit the court before any hearing so that you can see the court’s layout in advance.

We will close your case when we have resolved the issues affecting you.

If, upon our investigations, there is not enough evidence to enable us to take action, we may close your case. We will clearly explain why action cannot be taken or what evidence is required for us to progress your case to a satisfactory resolution.

We may also close your case if you have stopped reporting any further issues to us, as we need to know whether the incidents are still continuing for us to consider any relevant actions to resolve matters.

When we close your case, we will send you a satisfaction survey, as we value any feedback you give us to help improve our service.

If you are unhappy about how we have handled your case, you can use our complaints procedure. Please ask for our ‘complaints and compliments’ leaflet or visit our compliments and complaints page.

A mate crime is when somebody befriends someone in order to take advantage of them.

Typically someone who is committing a mate crime will target a person with a learning difficulty such as Asperger's syndrome or autism.

They may be somebody that the person has known for a long time like a support worker or family member or they may be somebody they met recently like a new friend

A mate crime could be something like:

• Lending somebody money all the time and never getting it back
• Being asked to buy things for friends
• People always visit someone's home for a party or to eat all their food
• Making a vulnerable person commit sexual acts against their will.

Level one complaints are urgent and warrant a response within 24 working hours. This type of anti-social behaviour may include but is not limited to:

• Violence
• Threats of violence
• Hate crime
• Severe harassment
• Serious criminal activity which is causing harm to a person(s) or community where action has to be coordinated with other agencies
• Dangerous dogs (breed defined by the Dangerous Dog Act 1991).

Level two complaints warrant a response within five working days. This type of anti-social behaviour may include but is not limited to:

• Juvenile nuisance
• Noise nuisance
• Criminal damage (including the removal of graffiti)
• Harassment that does not involve threats to the victim
• Alcohol-related incidents that may need a multi-agency response 
• Clash of lifestyle.

At the end of the discussion, we will have agreed on an action plan with you that describes what you should do and what we will do to rectify the problem.

If you can identify the perpetrator then we will probably need to interview them. We will not interview them unless you give us permission to do so and unless it is safe. Where you ask us not to speak to them we will discuss with you how we are then able to take your complaint forward.

Where appropriate we will agree a witness support plan should you wish to engage with our witness support service. If appropriate we will provide extra security for your home.

If the case does not involve threats, violence or serious harassment then we may suggest that you discuss the problem with the other person and we may be able to get a mediator to help. Mediators are experts in helping people resolve disputes and this service is free of charge.

We can’t take action against somebody simply because someone has complained about them - we need evidence.

The most important evidence you can gather is by keeping a diary of events that you see or hear. We can provide a diary and advise you how to fill it in, or we can give you a voice recorder to record events as and when they happen.

We may also need to collect other evidence such as photographs or video recordings of the incidents and speak to other people who have witnessed the incidents. We understand that it can be difficult for people to come forward if they are suffering anti-social behaviour but it is always better to get evidence from victims and witnesses.

You need to tell us how the incident made you feel.

We will warn perpetrator(s) in person about their behaviour and ask them to stop it immediately and we will let you know how and when we have done this. We will ask the perpetrator to work with us to try to change their behaviour.

If we feel that they are suffering from ill health (such as mental illness) or lack of support then we may try to resolve the situation by referring them to other agencies that can help to change their behaviour.

If these actions fail then we will consider taking legal action.

A county court can give us the power to evict a tenant if their family or friends behave anti-socially.

We can apply for a possession order if the person causing the issues is a Progress Housing Group tenant. Once the court grants a possession order, this can sometimes lead to eviction. However, the courts view eviction as a last resort. They will expect the landlord to have tried or considered other measures before considering eviction as the most appropriate course of action. In some cases, the courts can suspend a possession order on terms. 

A demotion order changes the tenancy to a tenancy type that reduces the number of rights they have as our tenant.

If we receive any further complaints of anti-social behaviour during the period of the new demoted tenancy, we may present the case to the county court, which has the power to end the tenancy immediately.

This alternative to possession proceedings can result in the tenant’s tenancy being ‘demoted’ from an assured tenancy to an assured shorthold tenancy. This means they have less tenure security and rights for a fixed period.

We will also work in partnership with the police and local authorities. If appropriate, we will ask them to consider the tools and powers they have to tackle ASB, such as closure powers, which can result in premises associated with persistent ASB being closed to stop ASB from being committed further. The police also have dispersal powers, and local authorities can issue community protection notices (CPNs) or delegate powers to social landlords to obtain CPNs.

If it is necessary to commence any legal action, you may need to attend court to give evidence in any legal proceedings. Your community safety officer will support you throughout this process. We will clearly explain the legal process and arrange for your transport to and from the court if your attendance is required. We can also arrange for you to visit the court before any hearing so that you can see the court’s layout in advance.

The police and local authority have the power to close a property where there is evidence of serious and persistent anti-social behaviour.

An injunction is an order which can be granted by the courts and issued to anyone over the age of 10. They aim to prevent anti-social behaviour and to force those people who have committed it to take steps to change their poor behaviour.

We can obtain this order from the county court that can instruct someone not to do something, such as not playing excessively loud music or not threatening violence against anyone. If a person breaches an injunction order, we can apply for contempt, and the person could receive a custodial sentence, a fine or both. In some cases, the courts can grant a power of arrest or an exclusion area as part of the order. They can also attach positive requirements, which order the person to do something rather than not to do something, such as attending an alcohol support programme.

The police and local authority have the power to close a property where Class A drugs are being used or dealt. A closure order can be given at magistrates’ court for a specific length of time, such as three, six, nine or 12 months. No one is permitted to enter the property during this period, including our employees.

All ASB complaints are recorded and investigated where possible. We will take details of what is affecting you, the person(s) affecting you, and any other relevant information or supporting evidence that may be required, including the dates and times of incidents, what happened, who was involved, and how it made you feel. 

Sometimes an investigation is not possible, for example, when a complaint is made anonymously, and there is not enough information to enable an investigation to take place. We know that there are some cases when someone suffering from ASB might be frightened to reveal their identity, but we encourage people suffering from ASB to come forward in person so that they can provide us with as much detail as possible so that we can investigate their concerns.

Following you reporting ASB to us, a case will be logged on our system for a dedicated community safety officer to contact you within the following timescales, depending on what type of ASB you report:

One working day

• Domestic abuse
• Hate crime
• Violence or threats of violence.

Five working days

• Alcohol-related ASB
• ASB in communal areas
• Criminal activity
• Nuisance caused by dogs
• Acts of intimidation
• Noise nuisance
• Drug use, dealing or storage/cultivation
• Youth ASB.

Your dedicated community safety officer will contact you and complete the following:

• Introduce themselves and explain their role
• Obtain further details regarding the issues affecting you
• Obtain details of others who have witnessed the ASB and who we may need to speak to
• Ask questions to enable them to make an initial assessment of the risk and vulnerability of you and your household or others affected by the ASB
• Consider whether any support referrals are required for you
• Discuss evidence gathering and provide you with diary sheets and/or agree on other methods of recording further incidents, such as audio equipment (The Noise App), photographs, video recordings of incidents, etc.
• Provide The Noise App information, if necessary
• Consider any safeguarding concerns for the person causing the ASB or their household
• Discuss liaising with other agencies where appropriate, such as the Police if there have been calls for service, Police warrants executed or reports of criminality
• Discuss possible early intervention measures to resolve matters quickly, such as visiting the person causing the ASB to discuss allegations of tenancy breaches, issue tenancy warnings, and make referrals to mediation
• Seek your consent to visit the person causing the ASB. Your identity will not be disclosed unless you have given consent to do so. Please note that it may not be possible for us to not identify you if the specific ASB incident clearly identifies you
• If the matter is urgent and there are serious risks of violence or actual violence, your community safety officer will consider whether an application for a without-notice injunction is appropriate
• They will be clear on what action can and can’t be taken, to manage your expectations
• Agree an action plan detailing the next steps in the case.

The next steps will depend on the particular nature of the case and the action plan agreed with your community safety officer.  The next steps may include, but are not limited to:

• Speaking to other witnesses
• Contacting supporting agencies
• Gathering further evidence
• Reviewing our case management system to see if there have been previous complaints received to assess the history of the case, and whether any warning markers exist
• Writing to the person causing the ASB to advise them of the allegations received and arranging to visit them to discuss matters
• Working with our partner agencies in a joint approach to tackling ASB, such as the police, fire service, social services, drug and alcohol support services, and mental health teams
• Monitoring the case and keeping you updated as your case progresses
• Considering non-legal tools and early intervention measures
• Considering legal action to tackle ASB if it is reasonable and proportionate to do so.

We aim to tackle what can often be diverse or complex issues around ASB using a range of tools including, prevention, support and enforcement, in a proportionate and flexible response to the challenges that ASB presents, including the following:

• Issuing written tenancy warnings
• Signposting perpetrators of ASB to support services, which may help to reduce or stop the ASB from repeating
• Acceptable Behaviour Contracts. These are signed by the person causing ASB, who gives a commitment to stop causing issues that are affecting others
• Mediation. This is an effective way of resolving disputes by involving an independent and impartial third party - the mediators. It provides a safe, structured and positive environment for parties in dispute, and seeks to change behaviour, resolve conflict and prevent issues from resurfacing.
• Injunction order. This is an order that can be obtained from the county court that can instruct someone not to do something, such as; not to play excessively loud music or not to threaten violence against anyone. If a person breaches an injunction order, an application can be made for contempt, and the person could receive a custodial sentence, a fine or both. The courts can in some cases, grant a Power of Arrest or an exclusion area as part of the order. They can also attach positive requirements, which order the person to do something, rather than not to do something, such as attending an alcohol support programme.
• Possession order. An application can be made if the person causing the issues is a Progress Housing Group tenant. Once a possession order is granted, this can in some cases, lead to the person(s) being evicted. However, the courts view eviction as a last resort and will expect the landlord to have tried, or considered, other measures before they will consider eviction as the most appropriate course of action. The courts can in some cases, suspend a possession order on terms.
• Demotion order. This is an alternative to possession proceedings, which can result in the tenant’s tenancy being ‘demoted’ from an assured tenancy to an assured shorthold tenancy. This means that they have less security of tenure and rights for a fixed period.

We will also work in partnership with the police and local authorities, and if appropriate, we will ask them to consider the tools and powers that they have to tackle ASB, such as closure powers which can result in a premise associated with persistent ASB being closed to stop further ASB being committed. The police also have dispersal powers and local authorities can issue community protection notices (CPNs), or delegate powers to social landlords to obtain CPNs.

If it is necessary to commence any legal action, and you are required to attend court to give evidence in any legal proceedings, you will be supported throughout this process by your community safety officer.  We will clearly explain the legal process to you, and arrange for your transport to and from the court if your attendance is required. We can also arrange for you to visit the court before any hearing so that you can see the layout of the court in advance.

We will close your case when we have resolved the ASB issues affecting you.

If upon our investigations, the issues affecting you are not considered to be ASB or there is not enough evidence to enable us to take action, we may close your case. In these circumstances, we will clearly explain why action cannot be taken, or what evidence is required in order for us to progress your case to a satisfactory resolution.

We may also close your case if you have stopped reporting any further issues to us, as we need to know whether the ASB is still continuing in order for us to consider any relevant actions to resolve matters.

When we close your case, we will send you a customer satisfaction survey, as we value any feedback you give us in order to help improve our service. 

If you are unhappy about the way that we have handled your case, you can use our complaints procedure.