New Anti-Social Behaviour Policy Launches
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A fresh approach to tackling and reducing
anti-social behaviour (ASB) has been launched by East Kent
Housing.
The new ‘harm centred’
ASB Policy looks in detail at the effects
of anti-social behaviour on victims, witnesses and communities and
will see East Kent Housing staff:
- visit every tenant, where appropriate, who reports an incident
of ASB to find out the full extent of the problem and explain how
their complaint will be investigated
- use a scoring matrix, created by Kent Police following the
Fiona Pilkington case, to identify if the person, who has made the
complaint, is vulnerable and at risk from the effects of ASB
- hold a ‘case conference’ meeting with appropriate partners,
such as Kent Police, Social Services and the local council, to
discuss ways to resolve the case, if a high risk is
identified.
- discuss all options available, their likely impact and any
limitations with the tenant and agree an action plan and timeframe
to be followed.
- visit the other person (s) involved in the ASB report, if
agreed by the tenant who has made the complaint, to ensure both
sides of the report can be fully investigated.
- agree an action plan with the person causing the ASB and
supporting them to change their behaviour.
- keep in regular contact with the tenant throughout the
investigation to keep them updated on progress made and
further action to be
taken.
Early intervention and partnership working are
central to the policy that clearly sets out:
- how the victim(s) and the alleged
perpetrator(s) of anti-social behaviour will be treated throughout
the investigation
- the different non-legal and legal powers that
can be used to tackle ASB
- the range of ways ASB can be reported to East Kent Housing
Jan Hatcher, Area Manager with responsibility
for Anti-Social Behaviour, said: “Tackling anti-social behaviour
was one of the original priorities for our tenants when East Kent
Housing was set up. Over the last year we have been working
closely with local tenants and leaseholders, our partners and staff
to create this new robust policy, which really puts the needs of
our tenants and leaseholders at the heart of how we will deal with
ASB. The policy shows that we will not tolerate this type of
behaviour and we want all our tenants and leaseholders to enjoy
their homes without the fear of anti-social behaviour. If a small
minority of people’s chosen lifestyles interferes with or disturbs
others, this policy sets out the actions we will take to stop them.
I have really high hopes for our new policy and I’m sure that by
working with our partners we will be able to make our estates safer
and better places to live and visit.”
Inspector Guy Thompson from Kent Police said:
"It is vital that housing providers identify repeat and vulnerable
victims of ASB and put processes in place to assess and manage any
risks effectively. By working with Kent Police and using the
same risk assessment criteria, East Kent Housing now has the
building blocks in place to work with multi agency partners."
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