PCC encourages communities to stand against ASB

MERSEYSIDE'S Police Commissioner is using the launch of ASB Awareness Week to encourage victims to report incidents and to know their rights. Emily Spurrell is supporting the national week of action, runs until:- 9 July 2023, which aims to encourage communities to take a stand against ASB to make their areas safer.

This year, the campaign has a particular focus on the ASB Case Review; a powerful tool for victims of ASB. Previously known as the:- 'Community Trigger,' the ASB Case Review enables victims who have reported persistent anti-social behaviour, but are unhappy with the response they've received, to request to have the case reviewed.

Anti-social behaviour is any action that causes distress or affects another person's quality of life. Common forms of ASB are:- vandalism or graffiti, noisy neighbours, drunk or rowdy behaviour and people gathering and causing annoyance.

Local authorities, social housing landlords and the Police all have powers to deal with anti social behaviour and victims are encouraged to keep a record of incidents to help with any investigation and ensure action can be taken.

Merseyside's Police Commissioner Emily Spurrell said:- "Tackling anti-social behaviour is something that matters to people all year round, that's why I have made it a top priority in my Police and Crime Plan. ASB can ruin lives and devastate communities, so reporting it early is so important to prevent things from escalating. It's also vital that victims, who believe their complaint has not been adequately responded to can request action, and that is why I am encouraging them to consider the ASB Case Review. A recent survey showed only 6% of people know about the ASB Case Review and 50% of ASB victims and witnesses said they did not report the issue because they 'didn't think anything would be done. These statistics show work still needs to be done and I want to reassure the public that Merseyside Police and partner agencies across the 5 local authorities are fully committed to tackling and preventing ASB. I regularly join officers and local Councillors on walkabouts to meet residents in some of those hot spot areas to better understand what they are facing and discuss local solutions. I'm also investing in initiatives which are focused on preventing ASB from taking place in the first place. Through my Youth Diversion Fund, I am determined to provide better opportunities for young people across our Region, while my new Neighbourhood Resilience Fund is designed to empower our local community groups to be able to tackle some of the issues they are seeing in their areas. Everyone deserves to feel safe where they live. I hope this week can highlight some of the positive work which is going on across the Region, day in day out, to improve the safety in our communities, helping people to feel happier in their neighbourhoods."

Through the ASB Case Review, victims of repeated ASB who have reported the issue (usually on 3 occasions) can request action via their relevant local authority. Agencies including Councils, the Police, local health teams and registered providers of social housing are duty bound to come together to hold a multi-agency meeting to decide whether the threshold for the case review has been met.

If the threshold is met, a case review will be undertaken by the partner agencies. Agencies will share information related to the case, review what action has previously been taken and decide whether additional actions are required. The review encourages a problem solving approach aimed at dealing with some of the most persistent, complex cases of anti social behaviour.

When a request for a case review does not meet the threshold, a victim's vulnerability will be considered to establish whether a review should proceed.

You can find out more about the ASB Case Review, the threshold and escalation procedure as well as contact details for using the Case Review process depending on which Local Authority you live in here: ASB Case Review

Merseyside Police's Assistant Chief Constable Jon Roy said:- "We are encouraging people to report instances of ASB, because although reports of this type are 9.6% lower for the first 6 months of the year in comparison to 2022, we know that some people don't report ASB when they see it or experience it. We are better able to tackle these problems when people report what is happening in their community, so please tell us. During this awareness week, we will also be highlighting the provisions of the ASB Case Review (formerly known as the community trigger), which gives victims of persistent anti-social behaviour the right to request a multi-agency case review. We don't underestimate the impact that ASB can have on individuals and communities, particularly when victims are experiencing it repeatedly. All local authorities have a link on their website that you can use to request a case review. Some of the policing activities planned for the week include:- focusing on specific concerns raised by local communities, increased patrols within parks and Town Centres, and other hotspots that will see targeted days of action. There will be plenty of partnership work too, with joint patrols and walkabouts, plus School talks on ASB and water safety."

Now in its 3rd year, ASB Awareness Week is a national campaign organised by ASB and community safety specialists RESOLVE, and backed nationally by the Home Office, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Local Government Association (LGA), National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) and the National Fire Chiefs' Council (NFCC).

Rebecca Bryant OBE, Chief Executive of Resolve added:- "ASB is not low-level. It can have a devastating and long lasting impact on the lives of victims and communities and can be a precursor to more serious crime. It is important that the challenge of ASB continues to be given the priority it needs so that people everywhere feel safe in their homes and communities. We are delighted that the Police Commissioner, Merseyside Police and local partners are supporting this hugely important campaign. It is vital to develop partnership approaches across communities to deal with the growing challenges around ASB."

If you are experiencing anti-social behaviour or are a victim of a crime, you are encouraged to report this to Merseyside Police via the Force's website. You can also report via social media direct messaging to the force's account on:- Twitter, or on Facebook. Alternatively, you can call:- 101.

You can also anonymously report areas where you feel unsafe because of anti-social behaviour via:- 'StreetSafe' website. The information you submit will help to identify the areas that need improvements to make our streets safer. Please note:- 'StreetSafe' is not for reporting crime or incidents!

Afghan homelessness fears as LGA warns of asylum and resettlement pressures

THERE is a risk of Afghan families becoming homeless and ending up in temporary accommodation due to a housing shortage and long waiting lists as the Home Office (HO) deadline for them to leave hotels rapidly approaches, the Local Government Association (LGA) says at the start of its Annual Conference, 4 July 2023.

Around 8,000 Afghan individuals and families - housed at 59 temporary bridging hotels across the country; have been served notice by the HO to leave by the end of August and provided details of available support for them to find their own settled accommodation.

Councils have a proud history of stepping up during humanitarian crises and supporting asylum seekers and refugees to settle in the UK and rebuild their lives. They are working hard to support Afghan households served with eviction notices with enhanced case working, involving Councils, Government and the community and voluntary sector, attempting to help them to find accommodation.

It is good that Government has responded to the LGA's call for additional funding and provided Councils with £35 million of new money to support this case working in hotels and to fund potential homelessness demand. A 2nd Local Authority Housing Fund round of £250 million has also launched with a focus on helping Councils source homes to house Afghans.

However, the LGA said the acute shortage of housing available across the country and short timeframe until the end of notice periods is making the ability to quickly secure appropriate accommodation for all Afghan families in bridging hotels extremely challenging. Councils are increasingly concerned that many will end up needing homelessness support if families; some of whom are vulnerable and include children; fail to find properties or refuse the offer they receive.

At the start of its Annual Conference in Bournemouth, which will see more than 1,300 local Government leaders, Councillors, ministers, and other key national organisations come together to debate a wide range of issues, the LGA said Government needs to urgently hit the switch on a radical reset on the current relationship with Councils on asylum and resettlement schemes.

The LGA said there must be better engagement with Councils and the HO must take proper account of local concerns and impacts. A genuine partnership is urgently needed with local Government to better plan how to meet our pressing housing needs in the short and the long term across all asylum and resettlement schemes.

The LGA said Councils are also growing increasingly frustrated about a lack of recognition of existing local pressures and a failure to adequately engage with Councils on the ground about the complexities they face as they try to manage the impact on local services and community cohesion as a result of ongoing asylum and resettlement pressures.  These include:-

• As the weather has improved, the number of small boat crossings have increased. Hotels continue to be used by the HO to house asylum seekers with little improvement on notice to Councils of where and when they will be stood up. Councils are also concerned around the increased use of room sharing and changes to regulations around licensing for large properties, both in terms of their responsibilities to keep people safe and the impact on local services of the rapid rise in numbers of new arrivals, often well over agreed limits.
   

• These hotels continue to also be used to accommodate unaccompanied asylum-seeking children while they wait to be transferred to Council placements under the national transfer scheme. The HO does not appear to take any account at all of the impact on the local Council's ability to carry out its statutory duties in relation to those children and potentially other children in the area when deciding where to stand up these hotels and there is no legal mechanism to force them to do so.
   

• Councils with proposed large sites in their local areas - which are proposed to be used to accommodate asylum seekers and reduce the reliance on hotels - need urgent clarity from Government on the implications for local services, the cohorts who will be arriving and the expectations for how long the sites will be used.
   

• The number of homeless Ukrainian refugee households has more than doubled in just over 6 months - with almost 700 households currently living in temporary accommodation. Recent additional funding could help reduce homelessness risks for new arrivals, but we remain concerned that there is no funding beyond the 1st year for Councils for their support for Ukrainian households and funding for arrivals in 2023 has halved. The LGA is calling on Government to review funding to ensure all families are helped over time to find permanent homes, jobs, and Schools.
   

• The change to the roles and responsibilities for Councils proposed in the Illegal Migration Bill, with a need for joint planning on the location of possible detention sites and the planned consultation with Councils on potential numbers of arrivals via resettlement routes.

New LGA Chair Cllr Shaun Davies, in his 1st speech at the Annual Conference, will say today:- "Councils have a proud history of stepping up and supporting asylum seekers and refugees to settle in the UK and rebuild their lives. But combined pressures from Government asylum and resettlement schemes are growing on Councils. We are at crisis point. We want to work with the Government to get this right. Not just in a way that best supports the people arriving in the UK, but also tackles the unsustainable pressures on our local services and on our communities."

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