Press Release - The Home Office: Tackling Anti-Social
Behaviour
7 December 2006
The majority of people who received an anti-social behaviour
intervention, in a sample of cases examined by the National Audit
Office, did not re-engage in anti-social behaviour. But, for a
number of perpetrators interventions had limited impact. Seventeen
per cent of the population perceive high levels of anti-social
behaviour in their area and the cost to government agencies of
responding to reports of anti-social behaviour in England and Wales
is approximately £3.4 billion per year.
A report published today by the National Audit Office found that
around 65 per cent in a sample of 893 people who received some form
of anti-social behaviour intervention did not engage in further
anti-social behaviour. There was however a hard core of
perpetrators for whom interventions had limited impact. Twenty per
cent of the people in the sample received 55 per cent of all
interventions issued.
The study looked at the impact of three of the most commonly
used interventions: warning letters, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts
and Anti-Social Behaviour Orders. The success rate for those
receiving warning letters or Acceptable Behaviour Contracts were
similar, with around two thirds receiving just one form of
intervention from the authorities. However, over half of those who
received the strongest form of intervention - an Anti-Social
Behaviour Order (ASBO) - breached the Order, and one third did so
on five or more occasions. Forty per cent of people who received an
Anti-Social Behaviour Order had received an earlier anti-social
behaviour intervention and 80 per cent had previous criminal
convictions.
The Home Office’s Anti-Social Behaviour Unit has successfully
supported local areas to tackle anti-social behaviour through
funding 373 Anti-Social Behaviour Co-ordinators, promoting the use
of new tools and powers and providing training to practitioners.
Whilst 21 per cent of the population perceived high levels of
anti-social behaviour in 2002-03, by 2005-06 this had fallen to 17
per cent. There is however, a significant regional disparity in
levels of perception, from 29 per cent of people in London
perceiving high levels of anti-social behaviour to 7 per cent in
Essex and Lincolnshire. In general the young and least well off are
disproportionately adversely affected.
In four of the twelve the areas visited by the NAO, local
co-ordinators working to tackle anti-social behaviour were
concerned that a lack of capacity and experience of using
anti-social behaviour legislation within their local authorities’
legal services departments meant that breaches were not always
dealt with in a timely manner, creating frustration in the local
community. This frustration appears to be compounded by fear of
reprisal for individuals who report incidents, and concerns that
witness intimidation is a factor in the breakdown of legal
processes when dealing with breaches of intervention.
Local agencies would be better placed to target their
interventions more effectively if the Home Office undertook formal
evaluation of the success of different interventions and the impact
of providing support services in conjunction with enforcement.
International research suggests that preventive programmes, such as
education, counselling and training can be a cost effective way of
addressing anti-social behaviour. The Home Office, together with
other Departments, is taking this forward through the Respect
Action Plan and the Government is also currently considering
further legislation to address anti-social behaviour.
Sir John Bourn said today:
“Whilst 65 per cent of people in our case review did not
go on to commit any further anti-social behaviour after receiving
one anti-social behaviour intervention, there is a hard core of
individuals who repeatedly behave in an anti-social way and for
whom more action is needed.
“The Home Office should formally evaluate the success of
different interventions and the impact of combining enforcement
interventions with support services to better advise Anti-Social
Behaviour Co-ordinators at a local level. They should also consider
developing and implementing further more preventive measures to
tackle the causes of anti-social
behaviour.”
Notes for Editors
- The Home Office derived that 17 per cent of the population
perceive high levels of anti-social behaviour from the responses to
questions on seven individual anti-social behaviour strands which
formed part of the British Crime Survey 2005-06. For further
details please see http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs06/hosb1206chap123.pdf.
- The figure of £3.4 billion is based on work undertaken by the
Anti-Social Behaviour Unit who on 10 September 2003 undertook a one
day count of all reports of anti-social behaviour to over 1,500
organisations in England and Wales. The Unit used this to estimate
the total cost to agencies of responding to reports of anti-social
behaviour per year. For further details, please see http://www.together.gov.uk/article.asp?aid=1816.
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website, which is at
www.nao.org.uk. Hard copies can be obtained from
The Stationery Office on 0845 702 3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the
head of the National Audit Office which employs some 850 staff. He
and the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 67/06
All enquiries to Mark Anderson, NAO Press Office:
Tel: 020 7798 7558
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