topic: Antisocial behaviour

Anti-Social Behaviour

Anti-social behavior can blight neighbourhood life. Whilst the police, council, housing associations, courts, Fire & Rescue service and others can take action, wider community action can be the key to resolving things in the long-term, including through community planning.

Anti-social behavior can blight neighbourhood life. Whilst the police, council, housing associations, courts, Fire & Rescue service and others can take action, wider community action can be the key to resolving things in the long-term, including through community planning.

In more detail

Anti-social behaviour (ASB) is the day-to-day incidents of crime, nuisance and disorder that can make neighbourhood life a misery.   ASB has been defined in law as:

  • behaviour by a person which causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more persons not of the same household as the person.
  • conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person; and conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person’s occupation of residential premises; and conduct capable of causing housing-related nuisance or annoyance to any person.

The video above is of Ron Hogg, the Police and Crime Commissioner for County Durham, speaking about Antisocial Behaviour and the 'Community Trigger' introduced by the Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (see below).

Types of ASB

The police classify ASB under three broad headings related to its effect :

  • personal ASB is behavior targeted at an individual or group rather than the community at large. An example might be name calling and abuse aimed at a particular family.
  • nuisance ASB is where the behavior affects the community at large rather than an individual or group. An example, might be loud parties held late at night.
  • environmental ASB is where the incident is not aimed at an individual or group but affects the shared environment. An example, might be tagging graffiti.

Examples of the type of activities referred to as ASB include things which communities might imagine could be dealt with through the local planning system, including:

  • abandoned vehicles
  • the inappropriate use of vehicles resulting nuisance
  • rowdy or inconsiderate behaviour
  • rowdy or nuisance neighbours
  • littering and particular with needles and other drugs paraphernalia
  • animals kept or managed inappropriately
  • trespass
  • nuisance phone calls
  • street drinking
  • prostitution-related activity
  • noise
  • street-begging in a menacing way
  • letting off fireworks.

In fact, these issues and ones similar to them can be addressed through legislation dealing with ASB and less formal approaches led by the police, council, social landlords and community organisations.

 Antisocial Behavior, Crime and Policing Act 2014

This law reformed the way agencies deal with anti-social behaviour.  It simplified the range of actions that agencies can take.  The law reduced a confusing array of different powers involved to these six (the first two of which effectively replace the Antisocial Behaviour Order or ASBO which is now obsolete).  The six tools for dealing with ASB are:

  • injunction – the court forbids someone from doing something. In an residential setting, an injunction can be issued in response to behavior which causes ‘nuisance and annoyance’.  In non-residential areas (eg the high street) an injunction can be issued if behavior causes ‘harassment, alarm or distress’.
  • Criminal Behaviour Order – if the court believes someone who has already been convicted of a crime will continue to cause anti-social behavior, it can make a Criminal Behaviour Order to stop them doing this anti-social behaviour.
  • Dispersal Powers – these allow the police to direct people to leave a public place and not return for a specified time.
  • Community Protection Notices and Orders – designed to stop ongoing environmental anti-social behaviour. They can be used against individuals or organisations.
  • Public Spaces Protection Order – aims to tackle nuisance or a problem in a public area. The order applies to everyone using that public area.
  • Closure of Premises – prevents entry to a building because the use of that place has resulted in anti-social behaviour. This could be a house, a pub or club or a council office etc.

All the agencies involved in tackling ASB are committed to trying to prevent problems occurring and/or intervening early where they can.  To do this, the police, council and other bodies use things like:

  • verbal and written warnings
  • mediation
  • Acceptable Behaviour Contract – written agreement between a young person under 18 who has been involved in ASB and the police and the council which is witnessed by theparents. By signing the agreement, the young person commits not to be involved with anti-social acts in future.

The police and the council use these techniques before they can take a case to court.  Dealing with ASB formally through the legal system is likely to be a lengthy process, but is likely to be much quicker than produing a neighbourhood plan which, in any case, will not be able to target ASB in the way the lcoal community wants.

Community Trigger and Community Remedy

What is, and isn’t, ASB is a subjective judgement.  The same behavior can affect people in different ways.  What is acceptable in one community is not necessarily in another.  The best way of dealing with ASB effectively also varies.  The Antisocial Behavior, Crime and Policing Act 2014 put the focus on the effect of ASB (rather than the behaviour which caused it), which makes the matter even more subjective.   The law is clear that frontline professionals, police and council officers, are expected to use their judgement rather than following a ‘one size fits all’ approach.  Resolving ASB in an area in the long term depends on the local community.  The expectation is now that agencies will work with communities and victims. There are two measures designed to give victims and communities a say in the way anti-social behaviour is dealt with:

  • Community Trigger- which gives victims the ability to demand action, starting with a review of their case, where the locally defined threshold is met.
  • Community Remedy – which gives victims a say in the out-of-court punishment of perpetrators for low-level crime and anti-social behaviour.

Crime and Disorder Legislation is a presentation made by Leanne Burrows which covers the way the law for dealing with ASB has developed in England over the past 20 years:

Key Facts:

Antisocial Behaviour covers a range of things which communities might think they could be addressed through a neighbourhood plan.  The Antisocial Behavior, Crime and Policing Act 2014 set out a new framework for policing and dealing formally with ASB which should make it easier for communities to deal formally with problems.  There are also less formal approaches led by communities, social landlords and councils which may deal with problems more quickly.  The new law includes community based measures designed to give victims more influence.

Page Links from here

ASB Help is a charity set up to help the victims of antisocial behaviour.

The Home Office has published a  Guide to the Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Police Act which is available as a PDF

Citizens Advice has a guide for dealing with ASB

Problem Neighbours is a website giving advice on dealing with difficuklt neighbours, set up by John Rowlinson who is a property investor and software developer

Neighbour Nuisance and Antisocial Behaviour is a factsheet from the Local Government Ombudsman aimed at people who are having difficulty in gettingtheir council to take action

In this toolkit:

Noise and Nuisance

Police and Policing Plans

Neighbourhood Management

Local Public Services

 


OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.

created: 2016-06-27 09:35:57 by: admin status: f published

HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation)

Crowded privately-owned accommodation with a constant turnover of tenants, some of whom behave badly and landlords who seem to see the neighbourhood as simply somewhere to take rent from without putting anything back into it…

Crowded privately-owned accommodation with a constant turnover of tenants, some of whom behave badly and landlords who seem to see the neighbourhood as simply somewhere to take rent from without putting anything back into it...

In more detail

Poorly managed Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) can endanger the lives of tenants and reduce the quality of life in neighbourhoods in which they are focused.  Parliament has given local councils powers to licence some types of HMO; and to ask government for approval to extend these powers more widely to cover HMOs in certain areas.

Legal Definition
An HMO is a building or part of a building (like a flat) which is occupied as a main residence by more than one household (individuals count as separate households and accommodation like Bed and Breakfasts don’t count as HMOs unless they are not the occupants main residence)in return for some form of payment (rent, fees etc) and:

  • In which more than one household shares an amenity (or the building lacks an amenity) such as a bathroom, toilet or cooking facilities
  • OR which is a converted building that is not entirely self-contained flats (whether or not there is also a sharing, or lack, of amenities as described above)
  • OR which is a converted building made up entirely of self- contained flats but where the standard of conversion does not meet the minimum that is required by the 1991 Building Regulations, and more than one third of the flats are occupied under short tenancies.
  • AND which is occupied by at least three people, none of which is the resident landlord.

Licensing of HMOs
The Housing Act 2004 introduced licensing for HMOs. Under the law there are two types of HMO licensing: mandatory and additional licensing:
Licensing is mandatory (compulsory) for all HMOs which have three or more floors and are occupied by five or more persons forming two or more households.

Councils can impose additional licencing on other sorts of HMO in its area which are not subject to mandatory licensing. A local council can do this if it considers that a significant proportion of these HMOs are being managed poorly enough to cause a problem to tenants or the wider neighbourhood.

Before designating an area to be subject to additional licensing, the local council must be sure that a significant proportion of HMOs in that area are causing problems for tenants or the neighbourhood due to poor management. The council must then apply to government to allow it to extend licencing to the area. The landlords who would be affected are consulted and government approval is needed.

Once an area has been designated, the licensing of HMOs in it becomes compulsory.  HMO licensing requires landlords to apply for a licence every five years from the local council to run the property as an HMO. The council can issue a licence for a shorter period if it decides to and it can charge landlords a fee to cover the costs of licensing. Councils do not have to inspect premises to licence them, but they can. They can also require other information that will show the HMO is well- managed.

In making a decision about whether to licence an HMO, the council must decide whether the accommodation is suitable and fit to be used for the purpose; whether the persons running it are fit to do so; whether the property is unsafely overcrowded. Landlords must for example fit smoke alarms, have gas and electrical appliances periodically tested and issue statements of rights to tenants. The council can attach conditions to the licence including stipulating how the licence holder must respond to the behaviour of tenants and the way the property is used.
Unlicensed HMOs

If the council turns down an application to licence a property for use as an HMO, there is a right of appeal to a Residential Property Tribunal. If the landlord is unsuccessful on appeal, then the property may not be used as an HMO. The offence of running an HMO that needs a licence without a licence is punishable by a fine of up to £20,000 on conviction. The council may also gain a rent repayment order for the value of up to 12 months Housing benefit paid to tenants at the property.

Planning Permission

Local councils can require new HMOs to gain planning permission by using what is known as a 'Article 4 Direction'.  Some councils have adopted this across their whole council area.  Others only require planning permission to convert housing to use as an HMO in certain specified neighbourhoods.  In the video below, Councillor Jane Urquhart of Nottingham City Council explains how her council decided to require new HMOs to gain planning permission before conversion:

Key Facts:

Landlords of certain kinds of HMO must apply to the council for a licence.  Councils can apply to require additional licensing.  Operating without a licence can cost landlords in fines and rent repayments. Many urban councils have taken up additional licensing. You can find out what the rules are about licensing in your neighbourhood from your council.

Page Links from here

HMO Lobby is a network of community groups throughout England who want action on poorly managed HMOs.

The HMO Network provides information about HMOs and licensing.  See also - Government information on HMOs 

In this toolkit, see:

Antisocial Behaviour

Noise and Nuisance

Licensing


OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.

created: 2016-06-24 11:28:00 by: admin status: f published

Licensing

Some of the commercial activities which are most likely to cause a neighbourhood nuisance – like the supply of alcohol, for example – are licensed by the council. Communities can influence local licensing policy…

Some of the commercial activities which are most likely to cause a neighbourhood nuisance - like the supply of alcohol, for example - are licensed by the council. Communities can influence local licensing policy...

In more detail

A license is a permit which is issued by an authority to own or use something, do a particular thing, or carry on a particular trade etc.  The following activities are regulated by your local council in line with policies which they publish and consult on (within the framework set by Parliament).  Which means, if these activities are a problem in your neighbourhood, then you may be able to use your council’s licensing system (rather than the planning system) to address them:

  • Licensed Premises and Clubs - which serve hot food and/or alcohol and may provide entertainment like dancing and live music (see below)
  • Sex Clubs - which include lap and pole dancing venues, strip shows, peep shows and live sex shows.  Venues providing these forms of entertainment (unless infrequently) can be required to be licenced as sexual entertainment venues.  A council Sexual Entertainment Venue policy spells out the terms and details of how this is achieved in the same way as the council’s Licensing Policy applies to other licensed premises.
  • Sex Shops and Cinemas - have to be licensed under the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1982.
  • Gambling Premises – the Gambling Act 2005 requires premises including gaming centres, betting shops, casinos and bingo halls to have a Gaming Premises Licence issued by the council.  Other venues with gaming machines etc may need a gaming permit.
  • Scrap metal dealers
  • Skin piercers – includes tattoo parlours, acupuncturists and electrolytic hair removal as well as cosmetic ear and body piercers.
  • Taxis and private hire vehicles.

Licensed Premises

Licensed Premises – anywhere which is used  for the retail sale of alcohol; supply of alcohol to club members; to provide a  ‘regulated entertainment’ (which includes plays, films, indoor sporting events, boxing or wrestling, dance performances, performance of live music and playing recorded music); or to provide of public late night refreshment (hot food or drink for consumption on or off premises between 11pm and 5am, including mobile vans etc) requires a Premises Licence (or a Temporary Events Notice or a Personal Licence).  Operating conditions can specify a limited duration for the licence.  If the conditions do not set a time limit, then the licence is valid indefinitely, on payment of an annual fee, until it is revoked, lapsed or surrendered.

Members’ Clubs have an equivalent type of licence – the Club Premises Certificate – which allows these activities on club premises.

Licensing Committee

A committee of councillors, called the Licensing Committee (or something similar) amkes decisions about granting licences.  It is a non-Executive committee of the council which works in a similar way to the council's planning committee.  The decisions it makes are based on law, local policy and on the basic requirement of the council to look after local economic, social and environmental wellbeing (rather than on the basis of politics).

Statement on Licensing Policy

The Licensing Act 2003 requires Licensing Authorities (which are local councils) to issue an Statement of Licensing Policy.  The law also says that councils must consult publicly on this policy and review it regularly, for example every 3 years.  The Statement of Licensing Policy must further the objectives of licensing which are: to prevent crime and disorder; public safety; to prevent public nuisance; and to protect children from harm.  As well as explaining how the council will further these objectives through its licensing role, the policy  can set out:

  • how the council relates its licensing and planning functions
  • the processes for granting licenses and for enforcement action
  • the ways in which residents can make representations and petition in relation to licensing matters
  • the arrangements for reviewing licenses
  • licensing of open spaces
  • policy on issuing temporary licenses and personal licenses.
  • Temporary licenses and personal licenses are alternatives to premises licenses.

Designated Public Place Orders

In addition to the licensed activities above (and others which may be licensed in some areas), the Criminal Justice and Police Act 2001 gives councils powers to issues Designated Public Place orders.  These are used to create alcohol restricted areas – which may also be called alcohol restricted areas, controlled drinking zones etc.  It is an offence to drink alcohol in one of these areas after having been requested not to do so by a police officer.

Key Facts:

Activities which require a licence from the council include running hot food establishements, retail sale of alcohol, live music, sex clubs and sex shops, gambling premises, scrap metal yards, tatoo and skin piercing parlours and taxis and minicabs.  As well as making decisions on whether to license these activities on a site by site basis, the council must consult on its licensing policy.

Page Links from here

In this toolkit, see:

Public Health

Your Local Council


OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.

created: 2016-06-02 10:37:28 by: admin status: f published

Empty Homes

Houses and flats that could be providing homes for people instead left empty, can attract squatters and antisocial behaviour…

Houses and flats that could be providing homes for people instead left empty, can attract squatters and antisocial behaviour...

In more detail

There are more than 200,000 homes that have been empty for more than 6 months in England and although that figure has been declining, it still represents a massive underused asset.

Local Council Action

If you supply the following details to your local council, they should take action to investigate an empty property:

  • Full address of the property
  • Type of property, for example, bungalow, flat, semi-detached house
  • A description of the external condition of the property
  • Length of time it’s been empty
  • Any additional information about the property, for example about the owner or any known occurrences of nuisance
  • Your contact details.

There are limits, however, on what your council can do to tackle the problem.  Councils normally try to contact property owners to see if there ware ways of bringing their property back into use. If property-owners are reluctant, councils have some legal powers they can use, including:

Compulsory Purchase Orders - the council needs to show they have taken steps to encourage the owner to bring the property into acceptable use before considering compulsory purchase.  Councils may not have the resources available to do this.

Charges and Enforced Sales- councils can issue and enforce charges against a property.  If the owner fails to meet the terms of a statutory notice or where someone owes Council Tax or other debts to the council, they can enforce the sale of the property to pay for them.

Unsecured properties - councils can issue orders to owners to make their property secure.

Empty dwelling management orders - councils can issue an empty dwelling management order (EDMO) to make sure that an empty property is used for housing. The property must have been empty for two or more years and not be on the market to let or sell.  An EDMO allows the LA to  ‘step into the shoes’ of the owner and make sure that empty properties are occupied and managed properly. The local authority can then bring the property back into use, but ownership does not change hands.

The video above features the work of Empty Homes Doctors - a local social enterprise, in Leeds.

Community action

It is hard to take action on empty homes because, of course, the property in question belongs to an owner with rights over how it is used.  However, community organisations can 'name and shame' social housing and private landlords who leave properties empty for long periods of time without any good reason.

 

Key Facts:

Two hundered thousand homes that could house half a million people are left empty for more than sixth months - and the neighbourhoods in which they stand empty can suffer as a result.  Communities can ask the local council to look into why property has been left empty and to attempt to get the landlord to look at alternative uses.  Communities can also name and shame social and private landlords who leave homes empty without good reason. 

Page Links from here

You can check the number of empty homes by local council area on the DCLG website 

Empty Homes is an independent charity which used to be called the Empty Homes Agency.  It provides advice and runs campaigns including Empty Homes Week.

In this toolkit, see:

HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation)

Social Housing


OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.

created: 2016-05-22 12:23:18 by: admin status: f published

Noise and Nuisance

Noise and neighbourhood nuisance often spur community action to improve the neighbourhood. They may be relevant issues in local planning, but a neighbourhood plan probably isn’t the most direct way of tackling these issues…

Noise and neighbourhood nuisance often spur community action to improve the neighbourhood. They may be relevant issues in local planning, but a neighbourhood plan probably isn't the most direct way of tackling these issues...

In more detail

If noise and nuisance are problems in your neighbourhood, the council may be able to take action on grounds of public health - and there are some actions that can be taken through the local planning system.  In general, however, the first thing to try is to see if issues can be sorted out without resort to regulation or local plans.

Planning concerns

Noise and light pollution are both relevant issues in local planning.  Noise needs to be considered, for example, when new developments might cause nuisance to neighbours; or when the existing levels and profile of noise in an area make it unsuitable for certain new types of development.   Light pollution is considered in planning in similar ways.

Nuisance?

In common law, ‘nuisance’ covers just about anything (apart from the law itself) which stops you enjoying your rights, including those arising from your property, as a tenant or an owner-occupier.   If you suffer some real and substantial loss because, for example, of the way a landowner (which could be the council, or a housing association, or a business as well as a householder) uses, or allows others to use, their property, then you may be able to go to court to sue for damages or to seek an injunction to prevent a recurrence of the nuisance.

Statutory nuisance

Parliament has given particular bodies duties to deal with certain kinds of defined ‘statutory nuisance’.  For example, local councils (acting with their public health hat on rather than as planning authorities) must periodically - inspect their areas for, investigate complaints of, and take action to stop or prevent any of the following which are ‘prejudicial to health’ or a nuisance:

  • smoke, fumes or gases emitted from premises
  • dust, steam, smell or other effluvia arising on industrial, trade or business premises (effluvium means ‘a thing which flows’, but in this context it means liquid or gas waste products or pollution)
  • 'accumulations and deposits' (accumulation means ‘a thing which is built up’, but in this context it means rubbish, rubble, soil or other solid waste products or pollution; and deposits means materials that have been left or dumped)
  • noise or artificial light emitted from premises
  • insects emanating from industrial, trade or business premises (for example, cockroaches, fleas or beetles that damage and destroy crops or attack the fabric of other buildings)

And :

  • an animal kept in such a place or manner so as to be a nuisance or a health hazard
  • any premises which are kept in such as state so as be a nuisance or a health hazard
  • any vehicle, machinery or equipment in a street which emits noise that is a nuisance or health hazard.

Statutory nuisance covers both public and private nuisances.  (That is - when the damage applies to several people at once, or just one person).   If councils are satisfied that there is, or is likely to be, a statutory nuisance, they can serve an abatement notice on the person responsible for the problem.   A notice can give the person a period of time to remedy the situation.  Failure to comply after this term is a criminal offence.

Community dialogue

It is not easy to show that something is 'prejudicial to health' and 'nuisance' is defined in this context as anything (except the law itself) which results in ‘unreasonable’ reduction in amenity or environmental quality.  Neighbours usually have different views of what is reasonable and what is not.  This makes enforcement action difficult.  Although there are some things you can do about noise and nuisance through neighbourhood planning and the council may be able to do more using public health and environmental law, more issues are resolved by talking them through - perhaps as part of a community planning process.  Community dialogue – enabling people to talk about the issues and to agree what is reasonable for your neighbourhood – may often offer the best chance of a long-term resolution and improvement.

Key Facts:

Nuisance is anything which stops people from enjoying the use of their property.  That can include things like noise and light pollution - and these things may be relevant issues in planning new development.  The council can take action on a much wider range of 'statutory nuisances' which can include things like build-ups of waste; dangerous animals; badly maintained properties or vehicles; as well as light, noise and other sorts of pollution. The best way to tackle neighbourhood nuisance, however, is usually throughcommunity dialogue.  That is, creating space for people to talk and agree standards of behaviour for the neighbourhood.  This could be part of a community planning process.
 

Page Links from here

Law and Environment is a website produced by the UK Environmental Law Association.

Noise Nuisance provides advice and support to people affected by noise problems

The government guide to Resolving Neighbour Disputes

In this toolkit, see:

Antisocial Behaviour


OR you can use the navigation menu above right to look at other parts of the toolkit.

BIRMINGHAM COMMUNITY PLANNING TOOLKIT DEFINITION SHEET This sheet may be reproduced in paper or electromic or any other form but please mention it was made by Chamberlain Forum Limited for Birmingham City Council supported by Department for Communities and Local Government.

created: 2016-05-12 12:01:40 by: admin status: f published