council – The Community Planning Toolkit

Local Planning System

Planning permissions and local plans are not isolated decisions or policies – they are part of a local planning system which is joined up to national policies…

Planning permissions and local plans are not isolated decisions or policies - they are part of a local planning system which is joined up to national policies...

In more detail

The local planning system is based on the idea that alongside the rights of landowners, the wider community has an interest in and rights to do with how land and buildings are developed.

These rights and interests arise from:

the effect that development has on immediate neighbours
the wider effects of development, for example on the capacity of local infrastructure and on the local taxpayers who maintain it
the idea of neighbourhood community: that all of us who live in an area have a legitimate interest in its value as a place in which to live and work.

Balance

The planning system aims to balance these rights and interests - personal and social - with a view to deciding what development should go ahead. The system is concerned with spatial planning: not simply how individual plots of land and buildings should be used and developed; but also how they relate to each other to create places. This includes transport links and other links between them and the shared systems for serving them; and the relationships between where people live and where they will work. By balancing the rights of people with an interest in a place, the planning system is our shared way of shaping places.

Democratic and Coherent

It is a democratic system - the authorities in charge of the planning system are the councils we elect.

The video above is of the Planning Committee meeting in Birmingham which took place on 23 June 2016.

The system is participative as well as representative: we are able to take part through consultation on planning decisions and as participants in making plans. But the system is based on law and on objective policy which aims to ensure that all parties are treated fairly. Local plans are subject to a National Planning Policy Framework which is based on law agreed by Parliament. When decisions about planning permission are made, they have to fit with national and local policy. When a new local plan is made, it must fit with existing national and local policy - in the form of the local development framework).

Limiting and Enabling

The planning system says what can or cannot be developed. It does not say what will be developed - that is up to the owners of the land. Local plans set limits and enable development within those limits. They are not prescriptive. The planning system allows for some development to go ahead that is outside the terms of what local plans enable. In these cases, however, the developer may have to pay some contribution to the community to compensate.

Key Facts:

The local planning system balances the righst and interests of land-owners with the wider community. It is democractic because the authorities in charge of it are the councils we elect. But planning decisions must fit in with local and national planning policy. New local plans must fit in with national policy and the existing local framework. Plans set limits on development, but they enable development within those limits. Plans and planning decisions are enabling rather than prescriptive: they say what may happen; not what will happen.

Page Links from here

The Plain English Guide to the Local Planning System is published as a PDF by government

The CPRE website has a useful section Planning Explained and the Planning Help site

In this toolkit, have a look at:

National Planning Policy Framework

Local Development Framework

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: 2016-07-26 19:49:34

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Council Powers

The modern local council originated in the industrial cities of England in early Victorian times when citizens campaigned for democratic bodies to do the things together that people could not do effectively as households or communities. In more recent times, councils have been seeking to deliver services with communities rather than to them. In the process, they are rediscovering their cooperative heritage…

In more detail

Modern local government in England dates back to 1835. The Municipal Corporations Act of that year enabled citizens to set up their own borough council in order to do things collectively that could not effectively be done as individuals. This included things like: setting up a police force; providing water supplies and street cleaning; drainage and sewerage. Corporations had to produce public accounts to show how taxes had been spent. These 'corporations' as the early councils were called, were the legal embodiments of the communities they served. Although voting was restricted, it was widened during the century (women gained the vote in municipal elections in 1869). Manchester and Birmingham were the first places where citizens petitioned for a local council, but they were joined by cities and boroughs - particularly in the industrial Midlands and North.

During the 20th century, Parliament gave councils further powers and responsibilities. This trend had reversed by the end of the 20th century (public transport, water supplies and higher education colleges were, for example, removed from council control) but by the beginning of the 21st century, councils had commonly come to be seen as the (rather 'faceless') local agencies of central government. More recently, however, a series of laws have given councils more leeway to act entrepreneurially and more independently of central government, but cooperatively with local communities and business. This includes:

the Local Government Act 2000 gave councils the purpose of sustainable development (ie to do anything that improves local economic, social and environmental wellbeing)
the Local Government Act 2002 enabled councils to borrow more easily to fund investment in local wellbeing
the Local Government Act 2003 enabled Business Improvement Districts
the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007 enabled local people to establish parish councils in more urban areas
the Localism Act 2011 confirmed that councils have a power of general competence (they can do anything which could be legally done by an individual).

The video below is by Lambeth Council. It presents how the council aims to work cooperatively with local people to find local approaches and solutions that work: 'doing with communities, rather than to neighbourhoods'.

Not all councils call themselves 'cooperative councils'. All local councils are, however, looking for ways to achieve more by working collaboratively with communities. You might not always be able to get your council to back what you want to do to improve the neighbourhood. But it is worth looking at the powers the council has - and that your councillors exercise on your behalf - to see whether there are ways of working cooperatively. Some of these powers are listed in the links below.

Key Facts:

Modern local councils were set up because citizens campaigned for them. Councils helped businesses and communities to make cities thrive by enabling them to act together, to do things they could not do effectively individually. During the last century, Parliament gave councils a lot of services to run. By the end of the century, councils tended to be seen as rather faceless, bureaucratic organisations that did what government told them, rather than acting on behalf of local communities and business. A series of legal changes have, however, strengthened the independence of local councils and encouraged them to collaborate with communities and business to improve services. Not all councils call themselves 'cooperative councils', but all councils are interested in helping communities and local businesses to make better places to live and work.

Page Links from here

In this toolkit, see:

Local Democracy

Sustainable Development

HMOs (Houses in Multiple Occupation)

Licensing

Noise and Nuisance

Neighbourhood Management

Local Planning System

Devolution

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

created: 2016-07-26 15:00:08

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Local Councils

All local authorities in England have the same aim. Which is: to improve the economic, social and environmental wellbeing of their area and the people that live there. Councils, however, have different sets of powers and responsibilities for achieving this end. Councils fall into five, or six, main types.

In more detail

In this toolkit, when we refer to ‘the council’ we are referring to the principal local authority with responsibility for local planning which is:

the city or metropolitan borough council, if you live in one of the old metropolitan county areas
the borough council, if you live in London
the unitary council, if you live in an area outside London or the metropolitan areas which is covered by one
the district council, if you live in an area outside London or the metropolitan areas which does not have a unitary council.

The five, or six, main types are of council are:

City, Metropolitan Borough and London Borough councils

There are 68 of these: 32 London boroughs covering Greater London; and 36 city and metropolitan borough councils in the metropolitan county areas: Tyne & Wear; West Yorkshire; South Yorkshire; Greater Manchester; Merseyside; and West Midlands.

These councils are the only principal local authorities in their areas and have responsibility for local planning, licensing, housing, waste collection, education, social services, public health and council tax.

Outside London, they are also responsible for transport, police and fire services. In London, these are the responsibility of the Mayor of London alongside strategic planning and regional development.

Some authorities – like Liverpool, Salford, Doncaster and Hackney - have an elected mayor and in these cases, the mayor acts in effect as the executive head of the council (with the same powers over local planning and other services as the council has).

Councils are starting to form Combined Authorities covering, for example, Greater Manchester or the West Midlands. These authorities will be led by an elected mayor who will have powers depending on the details of the devolution deal agreed with Whitehall, but including strategic planning and regional development and resembling these of the Mayor of London.

Unitary councils

There are 55 of these covering a mixture of urban and country areas. Unitary councils covering cities and large towns include Bristol; Leicester; Nottingham; Portsmouth; Derby; Reading; Middlesbrough; Hull; Peterborough; Slough; Blackpool; Luton; Brighton & Hove; Bournemouth; Milton Keynes; Plymouth; Southampton; and Stoke-on-Trent.

These councils are the only principal local authorities in their areas and have responsibility for local planning and the same wide range of services covered by metropolitan boroughs and cities (see above) except that police and fire services are managed at county level.

Some authorities – like Bristol and Leicester – have an elected mayor and (as above) the mayor acts as the executive head of the council. (In other words, (s)he acts with the power of the council, not with additional powers.

Some of these authorities may become involved in Combined Authorities. For example, the West of England Combined Authority which includes Bristol and Bath and will cover an area roughly the same as the county of Avon which was created by local government re-organisation in 1974 and abolished in 1996. The responsibilities of Mayors of Combined Authorities would depend on agreements with Whitehall, but be likely to include strategic planning and regional development and be akin to those of the Mayor of London.

County councils

There are 27 of these covering mainly rural areas. These councils are part of a two-tier structure with district councils (below). Districts lead on local planning, but county councils have responsibility for strategic planning, waste management, education, social services, transport, police and fire services.

District councils

There are 201 of these covering the same area as the county councils above. Some cover cities and large towns including Preston, Gloucester, Northampton, Norwich, Oxford, Cheltenham, Cambridge, Watford, Hastings, Dartford, Maidstone, Dover, Burnley, Corby, Redditch, Warwick and Worcester. They are responsible for local planning and licensing and for housing, waste collection and council tax.

Parish councils

There are about 8000 of these covering about one third of the country, mainly in rural areas. These councils may also be known as town councils or community councils. Where they exist, they are the bodies which lead neighbourhood planning. Where there is no parish council (which is the case in most urban areas), the lead body for neighbourhood planning is called a neighbourhood forum. A nieghbourhood forum is not a local council, but a partnership of people and organisations with an interest in the area.

Key Facts:

In the metropolitan areas and in towns and cities covered by unitary councils, there is one layer of local council which has responsibility for the full range of services including planning. In London, boroughs have resposibility for most things including local planning, but the elected Mayor of London is reposnible for transport, policing and strategic planning. Outside London, at present, elected mayors have no special powers beyond those of the local council, but devolution to Combined Authorities is likely to change this.

In many, less urban areas, there are two-tiers of local council at county and district level. The district tier has responsibility for local planning and the county has responsibility for strategic planning. Parish councils - which can lead on neighbourhood planning- exist mainly in country areas. They can, however, be set up in urban neighbourhoods. Where there is no parish council, a neighbourhood forum can lead on neighbourhood planning. A neighbourhood forum is not a sort of council.

Page Links from here

Local Government Association is the national body representing local councils in the UK.

The National Association of Local Councils represents parish and community councils in England and Wales.

You can find your local council here using your postcode and the same government site explains what services your local council provides.

Also, in the toolkit:

Councillors

Devolution

Local Democracy

Dealing with Antisocial Behaviour

Noise and Nuisance

Licensing

Planning

Managing Neighbourhoods

Delivering Local Public Services

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

created: 2016-07-20 17:06:28

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Planning Enforcement

Councils don’t just write plans (or adopt those written by communities) and issue planning permission; they are responsible for enforcing planning decisions…

Councils don't just write plans (or adopt those written by communities) and issue planning permission; they are responsible for enforcing planning decisions...

In more detail

Planning Enforcement is the process by which your council investigates and resolves complaints about breaches of planning control. As well as looking into complaints about development taking place without planning permission, the council investigates the use of buildings for activities which have not been permitted. So, for example, the planning enforcement part of your local council can look into and take action:

against householders who have extended their property without getting necessary permission
against businesses which are using domestic property to carry on commercial activities without getting the necessary change of use approved.

If things like unpermitted development or the use of homes and garages etc for commercial activities is a problem in your neighbourhood, then planning enforcement is the way your council can help. The council may also be able to take enforcement action on issues like hazardous substances, illegal encampments and unauthorized advertising.

Action

In carrying out planning enforcement, the council has to balance:

the rights of individuals to use or alter their property in the way they wish;
the need to safeguard the character and quality of neighbourhoods;
the public interest in upholding planning policies for the local area.

The council can take legal action, but will generally try to remedy the situation through other means first. This is in line with the National Planning Policy Framework which says enforcement action should be proportionate. The range of enforcement action open to the council includes:

taking informal action including advice, mediation, warning in cases of a genuine mistake and minor mistake
or granting retrospective planning permission – to regularize the situation when this is in the public interest
or issuing a notice or order

Orders and Notices are:

Planning Contravention Notice – which requires the developer to provide information to enable the council to decide on further action
Enforcement Notice or a Planning Enforcement Order – these require action to be taken on the part of the developer to remedy the breach in planning control. The latter can be used even if the normal time limit for taking enforcement action has passed if the council believes there has been deliberate action taken to conceal the breach from them
Stop Notice – these are used with Enforcement Notices to require action which may be in breach of planning control to cease
Temporary Stop Notice – as above but used without an Enforcement Notice to enable councils to take immediate action to halt a breach
Breach of Condition Notice – requires compliance with planning conditions within a time period.

Councils can also:

apply to the High Court for an injunction to halt a breach in planning control
ask a magistrate to agree to provide Rights of Entry to property to investigate a suspected breach
take special actions in the case of listed buildings and protected trees
take action on breaches in consents to store hazardous substances on premises
take action on unauthorized advertising hoardings, fly-posting and graffiti
take action, with the police, on illegal encampments.

Key Facts:

Councils have a range of enforcement actions they can take against unpermitted development. Planners will investigate complaints and may take action. They will, however, balance the rights involved and try to achieve the best result through informal action if they can.

Page Links from here

Planning Permission

Planning Profession

Tree Preservation Orders

Conservation Areas

Local Plans

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

created: 2016-07-18 10:37:21

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Councillors

Councillors are the representatives we elect to run our local council. A key way of improving the area and influencing services in the neighbourhood (including ones that aren’t run by the council) can be by working with your local councillors…

Councillors are the representatives we elect to run our local council. A key way of improving the area and influencing services in the neighbourhood (including ones that aren't run by the council) can be by working with your local councillors...

In more detail

Councillors are the people we elect to run the local council. They represent localities called 'wards'. Wards vary in size between a few dozen people (in some rural parishes) to more than 25,000 people in large cities where each ward elects three councillors. Councillors are usually elected for a term of four years, after which they must either stand again, or retire. Being a councillor is an unpaid job, although councillors may be paid expenses and an allowance. In larger councillors, the allowance can amount to the equivalent earnings from a part-time job. For senior councillors who are chosen to serve in executive positions, the allowance may amount to the equivalent of earnings from a full-time job. Sitting at the top of the tree in the council and accountable only to the public, councillors are reported to by the paid officers of the council.

The video below is by Areeyanan Satthamsakul. She interviewed councillors in Birmingham about what they do and why they became councillors, as part of her Masters degree in Media at Birmingham City University:

Councillor Roles

Councillors from all the wards that make up a council area – collectively – make up the local council. If there is no directly elected mayor, the local council chooses a council leader. In most larger councils, the leader appoints up to ten councillors to serve as cabinet members responsible for portfolios like social services, children and young people’s services, economic development etc. The rest of the councillors who are not cabinet members may serve on two sorts of committee:

Overview and scrutiny committees – these usually mirror the portfolios of cabinet members and exist to scrutinise the decisions made by the relevant cabinet members
Regulatory committees – these are committees dealing with issues like planning, licensing and highways which exercise particular powers given to the council by Parliament aside from the general power which local councils have to do anything that improves the wellbeing of their area.
Councillors may also serve on other joint boards, management committees etc as representatives of the full council.

In a few councils which have voted to return to the committee system of governance (which was mainly used before the leader and cabinet model described above was adopted), the leader of the council (who is called the chairperson) does not appoint cabinet members. Instead the council as a whole decides on the formation of committees to make decisions about how services are run. The voting members of these committees (who are all councillors) elect a committee chairperson who represents the committee.

As well as serving on committees and, possibly, as part of the executive of the council (ie as a cabinet member or chair of a committee), all councillors also:

take up complaints and suggestions and undertake casework on behalf of the people in their wards;
act as local leaders, for example in helping to produce local plans
represent the council at local events and on things like the governing boards of local schools
at election times, campaign for their own election or the election of other councillors from the same party.

Standards

Councillors are elected by the people and it is an important principle that whoever the people elect serves regardless of what officers of the council or anyone else may think of their suitability, skills etc. Each council, however, publishes a set of standards which should be made available to the public. Councillors are expected to maintain these standards. If councillors break them, then the council can take disciplinary action. Councillors are subject to the normal laws of the land and if they break those laws, they may be prosecuted and convicted the same as any other member of the public.

Key Facts:

Councillors are the democratically elected representatives of the people who are in charge of local government. All sorts of local authority – parish, district, city or borough councils - are run by councillors. They are in charge of the council - paid officers are accountable to them. Apart from observing the standards agreed by the council and, of course, the law, they are accountable only to is - the voters - at election time.

Page Links from here

Stand for what you believe in - is the Local Government Association's guide to becoming a councillor (PDF). It is part of their Be A Councillor resource.

Also see Operation Black Vote's FAQ sheet on becoming a councillor and the Local Leadership Centre

In the toolkit, see:

Local Democracy

Local Councils

Civil Society

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

created: 2016-07-14 14:24:15

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Local Development Framework

The policies and rules set out by your local council which help them to decide how to deal with development proposals. Neighbourhood plans (led by the community) and local plans (led by the council) form part of the framework alongside other higher level documents.

In more detail

The Local Development Framework is the spatial planning strategy for a council area. It describes how the area can be developed and the restrictions on development and explains why they exist. The local development framework is made up of:

the local core development strategy - which is related to the overall strategy of the council for developing the whole area it sovers
local development documents - which are high level plans which might cover several neighbourhoods
a statement of community involvement - describes how communities can be involved in shaping the framework
local development scheme - lists the schedule
annual monitoring reports

And may also include:

supplementary planning documents (SPDs - these include local plans and neighbourhood plans)
local development orders (these include community-led development orders as well as those declared by the council)
details of any simplified planning zones.

Plans are hierarchical. The Local Development Framework in your area MUST fit inside the terms of the National Planning Policy Framework. Supplementary Planning Documents - including neighbourhood plans - MUST fit within the terms of the Local Planning Framework.

The video above is an explanation of the Local Development Framework by Ron Tate of the Royal Town Planning Institute

Key Facts:

The Local Development Framework is the spatial planning strategy for your area. It consists of a number of documents which you can find online and/or by contacting your council planning department. The Local Planning Framework includes policy that any neighbourhood plan for your area must fit in with. In turn, it must comply with the terms of the National Planning Policy Framewprk set by government.

Page Links from here

In this toolkit see:

Spatial Planning

Local Planning System

National Planning Policy Framework

Local Plans

Neighbourhood Plans

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

created: 2016-07-11 15:43:05

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Devolution

Devolution in Scotland and Wales means more powers for national Parliaments and Assemblies, but what does it mean for English towns and cities? And for the neighbourhoods we live in…

Devolution in Scotland and Wales means more powers for national Parliaments and Assemblies, but what does it mean for English towns and cities? And for the neighbourhoods we live in...

In more detail

Devolution means passing decisions, powers and resources down to a lower, more local level. It can apply at:

national level – passing decisions and budgets from Whitehall to regional and city-regional levels
local level – passing decisions and budgets from the Town or City Hall to neighbourhoods.

National level

In England, the government has devolved powers to the Mayor of London and is in the process of devolution to Combined Authorities centred on Manchester, Birmingham, Liverpool, Sheffield and elsewhere. Combined authorities cover a number of existing local councils which are committed to work together in return for devolution of budgets and responsibilities from government. It is likely that Combined Authorities will be led by directly elected mayors. The video below is of an Institute for Government discussion of the likely effect and challenges of devolution in respect of public services (this quite a long video).

Local level

A number of local councils, including Leeds and Birmingham, have devolved powers to area commitees. These committees are made up by councillors - they have been elected and are accountable for their decisions. Local committees, however, enable them to make decisions about the areas they represent. Alternative ways of local devolution in cities could include local directly elected mayors for neighbourhoods or setting up local parish councils in some neighbourhoods. The video below is from The Guardian newspaper - it features Councillor Simche Steinberger who is a councillor in LB Hackney, talking about how he hopes planning devolution can bring communities together.

Key Facts:

Devolution means making decisions at a mroe local level. It can apply at national level and at city level. It does not mean handing over power and responsibility for spending public money to people who are not democratically accountable.

Page Links from here

In this toolkit:

Your Local Council

Local Democracy

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

created: 2016-07-03 10:37:08

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Public Health

Responsibility for public health was returned to councils (from the NHS) in 2013, but the council was in any case responible for a wide range of environmental health regulation and enforcement that relates to neighbourhood wellbeing…

In more detail

Public health is concerned with helping people to stay healthy (rather than curing them when they are ill). It includes things like diet, physical activity, alcohol and drugs, sexual health, environmental health, controlling infectious diseases and preventing accidents. Local councils were responsible for public health up until 1974. In 1974, responsibility for most of public health – apart from environmental health and health and safety at work – was transferred to the NHS.

In 2013, local councils were given back responsibility for public health and set up local Health and Wellbeing Boards with NHS and other representatives to coordinate and improve public health provision and tackle health inequalities.

Council Public and Environmental Health Responisbilities

Councils have responsibilities and powers in a range of areas in environmental health which communities may find relevant to neighbourhood improvement, including:

Inspection of food premises and food hygiene grading – councils inspect shops, restaurants, take-aways etc to ensure that hygiene standards are adequate.
Pest control and clearing property – the council is responsible for ensuring property owners deal with nuisance arising from infestation by rats, cockroaches, bed bugs etc. This may take the form of offering free or charged services to deal with pests. Councils may also provide a property clearing service to disinfest and clear properties of rubbish, faeces and other unpleasant and dangerous waste including that resulting from flood damage.
Pollution control – the council has powers to regulate environmental pollution including by light and noise from buildings.
Smoking – local councils are responsible for enforcing regulations on smoke-free premises.
Contaminated land – councils and the Environment Agency have responsibility for identifying and managing contaminated land .
Fly tipping and street litter – local councils are responsible for enforcing action against fly tippers and littering.
Health and safety at work – the council is, together with the Health and Safety Executive, responsible for regulating health and safety at work. In general, councils are the main enforcing authority for retail, wholesale distribution and warehousing, hotel and catering premises, offices, and the consumer and leisure industries.
Traveller encampments – the council is responsible for providing legal camp sites for travellers and for taking action on illegal encampments on public land and ensuring that landowners take action against illegal encampments on their land.

Public health responsibilities which have transferred back to councils from the NHS mean that they provide and enable health-based support for community sports and physical activities which could play a part in neighbourhood improvement.

Key Facts:

Concern for public and environmental health was one of the main reasons for setting up local councils in the 19th century. They have recently had responsibility for public health returned to them from the NHS. Food hygiene, pest control, pollution control, enforcing the ban on smoking, contaminated land, fly tipping, street litter and street cleansing, health and safety at work and both providing legal site for traveller encampments and dealing with illegal encampments are all areas in which communities can help to make better neighbourhoods by working with their local council.

Page Links from here

Your Council

Local Health Service

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

created: 2016-06-29 14:21:16

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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.

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.

created: 2016-06-27 09:35:57

by: admin

status: f published

Local Democracy

Local democracy is about more than voting in an election; active and diverse community groups are part of a healthy local democracy too…

Local democracy is about more than voting in an election; active and diverse community groups are part of a healthy local democracy too...

In more detail

Local democracy isn’t just voting. Councils were set up, originally, in English cities, like Manchester and Birmingham, not because people voted for them, but because people campaigned for them. Taking part - participation - is an equal part to local democracy as is representation and voting for representatives. Neither participative not representative democracy is better than the other – though each may be better suited in different situations. One thing seems clear - successful neighbourhoods have active participative and representative democracy: people turn up and vote and people turn up and do. Turning up and doing is as much part of a healthy local democracy as voting in the election.

Representative Democracy

Representative democracy is where the people or members of an organisation elect representatives to serve them in the governance (decision-making) of a council or other organisation. Representatives are said to be ‘democratically accountable’ to the people or the members of the organisation – not just the ones who voted for them, but all the people in the area they represent. Local councils are organisations run on the basis of representative democracy. Decisions are often made in councils and representative democratic organisations by voting. It is fair, because everyone gets a say and we go along with whatever the majority says.

Participative Democracy

Participative democracy is where the people or members of an organisation are able to take part in the work and decision making of the organisation. In general, people who put a lot of work in to an organisation may expect to have their voices heard and counted in decisions, but everyone who is a member can be involved. Most community groups are run on the basis of participative democracy. Decisions are often made in community groups by discussion and consensus (which means working out a decision that everyone is at least reasonably happy with). It is fair, because everyone gets a chance to take part and no one has to go along with something they don't believe in.

There are advantages and disadvantages of both forms of democracy. They generally work best in different situations and councils, for example, will use both kinds of democracy to achieve different things. A successful neighbourhood is served well by both representative and participative organisations and organisations – like local councils and community groups – which can use both approaches when needed.

Key Facts:

Representative democracy means voting fairly and honestky for people to represent us. Participative democracy means working working for those things we believe in regardless of who votes for it. Both forms of democracy are legitimate and help make neighbourhoods what they are.

Page Links from here

In the toolkit see:

Your Council

Civil Society

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

created: 2016-06-25 15:36:24

by: admin

status: f published