Agenda item

Purpose of the report: To inform the Residents Experience Board of partnership activity, led by the Community Safety Board, to tackle Anti Social Behaviour across Surrey, and how work at the county strategic level translates into local delivery, leading to better outcomes for the residents of Surrey.

Declarations of Interest:

None

Witnesses:

Joanna Grimshaw, Anti Social Behaviour Manager, Surrey Police

Chief Inspector Nolan Heather, Surrey Police

Jane Last, Head of Community Partnerships & Safety

Gordon Falconer, Community Safety Manager

Louise Gibbins, Community Safety Officer

Key points raised during the discussion:

1. An Officer began the item by summarising key points of the report; referring to the Anti Social Behaviour Crime & Policing Act 2014 as the trigger to generating a renewed response to tackling ASB across Surrey in a more efficient and practical way. The Officer explained work was underway to tackle anti social behaviour (ASB) across Surrey to provide better outcomes for the residents of Surrey.

2. One Member enquired about dispersal orders, what the order involved and achieved, as it was noted from Appendix four that these were used frequently across the county. It was explained that a dispersal order, under the new Act, was a tool that enables Police officers to remove people, for example in the town centre for behaving anti socially. Dispersal Orders allow the Police to order a person(s) to leave an area if an anti social behavioural situation was about to rise or was occurring. The Board were assured that a proportionality test would be carried out before an Order is placed to ensure that this power would not be abused and only used in appropriate circumstances.

3. These circumstances include;partnership working with perpetrators, no knee jerk reactions, never issue for a ‘youth issue/problem” and the order has to be very objective i.e. what’s the harm/risk to perpetrators vs benefit to other residents.

4. The Members of the Board requested more information on what resources where available to residents to promote how residents can contact regarding ASB. The Board were notified that there was a website which contained all the necessary information and links were also in place to direct the user to the district or borough that concerned them. Members’ implied there was a need for information to be more accessible, in terms of other advertising material and Officers assured this was a working progress.

5. The Chairman queried what information was available in the public domain and if not what measures were being carried out to convey the message to residents. Officers explained They discussed a map of ASB incidents which was based solely on police data (therefore may not be full picture) but was not publically accessible

6. There was a discussion around reasonability and how people’s perception differ in their views with what was acceptable and not acceptable behaviour. A Member highlighted that Anti Social Behaviour is usually associated with young people but in reality it’s not the case. Officers clarified that young people were not the biggest proportion of offenders and pointed out that the public often confuse ASB with nuisance and this is why young people are commonly mistaken for the main offenders. It was addressed that more work needed to be done on promoting a distinction between ASB and nuisance, so residents are clear between the distinctions.

7. The Chief Inspector promoted the new mobile data terminals, which allowed Police Officers to work more efficiently whilst out in their communities as the terminals made it easier to process and be granted authorisation for issuing a Dispersal Order in relation to ASB powers.

8. The suggestion to reinvigorate Neighbourhood Watches was put forward to the Board, to empower communities, to make sure residents knew what to be cautious of and stay better protected. The Cabinet Associate for Community Safety Services explained to the Board that Neighbourhood Watches were effective and running well in certain places and that any person could sign up to Neighbourhood Watches in their area.

9. Members made reference to the growing problem of fly tipping/littering and whether there were powers in place to control this issue. The Board were informed that in anticipation of a growing problem of fly tipping, the Council’s Environment Service was launching a strategy to combat this issue.

10. The Chairman queried whether the data in Appendix four was an accurate representation of the use of ASB Tools and Powers. The Community Safety Officer suggested that there could be a number of reasons why no legal enforcement was being carried out in some Districts or Boroughs. It was explained to the Board that when the new powers came in to use, staff were trained at a high standard but some Boroughs may not have chosen to exercise their new powers, continuing with the former option. Other areas may not have an enforcement officer in post, and some areas may have been reluctant to use the new powers because of the costs associated with them. The Chairman advised that the information shared here to be circulated to Members so some Boroughs can be more confident in enforcing action, as some Boroughs showed good practice in using these powers which deterred further crime.

11. One Member referred to the Surrey ASB strategy group “Putting Victims First” review and whether there will be an update on this paper. The Officer made clear that an update will follow in a year’s time, and it would entail what the CSB will be working towards in the next few years.

Recommendations:

a)    For Community Safety Partnerships and the Community Safety Board to keep the victims of Anti-Social Behaviour the focus of their work in tackling Anti-Social Behaviour in Surrey.

b)    The Board requests for a list of Borough tools and powers introduced by the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014

c)    The Board requests for a link to the Surrey Community Safety website to be shared to all Members

d)    The Board requests for Surrey Matters to publicise the work of the Community Safety Team to help provide residents with information on how to tackle Anti-Social Behaviour.