Agenda item

R Glanville introduced the report to members. He said he had received an enquiry from a member before the meeting requested seasonal patterns for reporting of ASB and said this is something he will provide after the meeting and will look to add detail of the length of time cases are open.

Councillor Adeleke said it was excellent and reassuring for tenants that reports of ASB are looked into within 24 hours. He had concerns that now the ASB had moved into the housing team, that private tenants would not be given the same level of service and asked what powers the team have and how private residents are supported.

R Glanville said moving the ASB team to housing meant they could specifically focus on council tenants and leaseholders. The report in the agenda addresses the private sector which falls under a different team and work closely with the police. There are a range of powers to tackle ASB; notice seeking possession, acceptable behaviour contracts, injunctions, closure orders. The measures are always proportionate and officers must complete a proportionality statement.

L Warden added that she was involved in the transfer of ASB officers from Regulatory Services into Housing. The team were sitting outside housing but were managing housing cases which made up about 80% of their case work so it made sense for them to work alongside the housing officers. They still have a number of cases involving private landlords and there are a few different routes, there is a Community Safety Action Group held on a monthly basis where cases are discussed and talk about a variety of methods and action plans for example, a Community Protection Warning/Notice or liaising with the landlords. Once a new post has been created, ASB issues affecting private residents will fall under the Community Safety Team and ASB cases affecting council tenants will be dealt with in the Housing team.

R Glanville said that the courts are now open but we make sure we engage with tenants. Last week, we were successful in securing a closure order in Grovehill due to the severity and the nature of the crimes being committed at the address. We will still push to take residents to court were necessary once all options have been exhausted.

Councillor Adeleke asked which age groups were the worst offenders.

R Glanville said we could looked to include supplementary information and there is a wide range of age groups.

Councillor Mahmood referred to paragraph 4.4 and the different case numbers that have increased during lockdown. He asked if the table was broken down into the average duration of time taken to resolve cases and the nature of the ASB.

R Glanville said we do see a peak in reported ASB in the summer months and this obviously increased during the pandemic. The most common behaviour reported was noise nuisance and the use of cannabis and drugs. The team don’t have powers of entry but work closely with the police when they are entering properties to seize drugs and ride on the back of their investigation to take action against tenants.

Councillor Freedman said he had concerns about providing age demographics and would be more interested in the case being broken down into severity levels.

R Glanville said the team do deal with complex cases including those tenants who suffer mental health issues and this could cause issues if they are not put into context.

Councillor Pringle enquired what level of training the ASB officers had in recognising potential signs of domestic abuse.

R Glanville said the team have continued to undertake training virtually throughout the pandemic and they are trained to spot the signs. One concern raised in the report is that officers have not been able to visit tenants in their homes so have been unable to spot visual signs. Telephone conversations have happen with tenants and perpetrators and the officers are well versed to ask the right questions. He said he was confident that the team have all the necessary training for their role.

Councillor England said the numbers would be quite small if broken down by severity and would rapidly run out of sufficient numbers to draw effective conclusions. It is difficult to satisfy all people around ASB and tends to be a lose-lose situation. He asked if the council use preventative communications that are available to get residents thinking about ASB and importantly, involve members who go out into the community.

R Glanville said there have been some recent improvements made to the website where residents can go for initial advice and hopefully makes them think twice about reporting and suggests speaking to neighbours first if it is safe to do so. The team work closely with partners at Herts Mediation and offer conflict coaching and gives an opportunity to learn techniques on how to deal with neighbours when it doesn’t amount to ASB. He suggested that the team could look into more joined up working with members.

Councillor Hollinghurst said he had some concerns that the private sector may be neglected. He raised a point about older people who are less likely to contact the council electronically and are more likely to feel intimidated by ASB and may be afraid to complain.

R Glanville reassured members that they were not being neglected and the team can offer them advice and signpost them to other agencies and the police if it is serious enough. Older people in supported housing schemes have an allocated Supported Housing Officer who visit tenants regularly and can raise concerns with the ASB team. When the pandemic is over, we can begin to offer the Silver Street meetings again at schemes where an ASB officer goes to give a talk on how to report and deal with ASB. Tenancy officers have spoken to all residents over 70 during the pandemic and conversations about ASB would have been addressed in those.

Councillor Imarni asked if the team were still involved in joint briefings with the police. She said a lot of the ASB complaints she received from residents was increasing about joyriding.

R Glanville said he has set up a separate meeting with Inspector Jeff Scott which he feels works better in addressing ASB cases. There has been an increase throughout the pandemic on reports of joyriding in public spaces and he said the team were reliant on residents reporting this behaviour to police with the number plates. The team can step in if a council tenant is perpetrating this crime.