Antisocial behaviour
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If you decide to take on a tenancy with the Group you should understand that an important part of your tenancy is to be a good neighbour. The action of a few can affect the quality of life of some individuals, and sometimes whole communities.
What is antisocial behaviour (ASB)?
We treat any behaviour that is likely to cause nuisance, harassment, alarm or distress to anyone, as antisocial behaviour (ASB), this may be ongoing behaviour, or one off incidents. Our Anti-social Behaviour Policy (PDF 223KB) has more detailed information. Our glossary contains a list of words and terms associated with antisocial behaviour.
Reporting antisocial behaviour to Wrekin
Contact us
There are a number of ways you can do this; call into one of our local shops, contact your local housing team (Please refer to the contacts page for the individual shops details), telephone us on 01952 217100, write to us, send us an email on: ASBReports@wrekin.com
Reporting antisocial behaviour to the local authority:
Can I remain anonymous?
When reporting anti-social behaviour we will ask for your name and contact details, but you have the right to remain anonymous if that is what you wish, and we will be led by you on this matter
It is important to note that we can’t take action without evidence, so we are likely to ask you to record details of any on-going anti-social behaviour, how long it lasts and who is doing it. We will provide you with diary sheets to help you do this. We may ask you to complete a witness statement and attend court if we need to take legal action.
We will not approach the person(s) you are making the report about to investigate the report without your permission to do so. We will not tell them who has Reported the issue/s about them without you giving us permission, as above you have the right to remain anonymous. However, in some circumstances it can be obvious where the report has come from, for example if you complain about loud music from your next door neighbour, then they may have a good idea who has complained about them.
Where you have given us permission, we will discuss the issue/s with the person(s) you are reporting to hear what they have to say and gain their co-operation in resolving the issue.
We will discuss our findings with you and agree any further actions and anything that we will need you to do.
Our Response
We take anti-social behaviour very seriously and our aim is to respond to your query initial within 1 working day.
ASB can take many forms - including physical assault, racist or abusive graffiti or fly-tipping to more general reports of noise nuisance. Once we have contacted you, An action plan will be agreed with you setting out the following:
- How the initial investigation will be carried out
- How you can work with us to provide the necessary evidence
- The most appropriate method of resolution, with realistic outcomes
- How often you will be contacted and by your preferred method of communication throughout the case.
If serious ASB is happening or you have any serious concerns for yours or others safety please contact the police on 999 in an emergency or 101 for all other issues.
What happens next?
We will try and help you sort out minor problems as quickly as possible. If things are, or become, more serious your Housing Executive will work with you to agree on an action plan of what we will do, and what you will need to do, and outline the process for dealing with reports of ASB.
We cannot tackle the complex issue of ASB on our own, so we work closely with several organisations in the Local Community Safety Partnership and through this partnership with your Police and Crime Commissioner. We may need to put you in touch with other agencies, such as the environmental health team. If we do this we will support you and them to help resolve the problem.
Will the Group keep me updated with what’s going on?
If we identify ASB, we will agree an action plan with you setting out what we will do about it and what we will need you to do. We will keep you informed about the things we do and will ask you to do the same to try to tailor support to your needs. We will support victims and witnesses and work with other agencies by:
- Keeping in regular contact with you
- Victim support
- Housing support
- Mediation
- Referrals to other agencies
- Support during legal action
- Additional security measures
What happens in mediation?
One of the most effective ways of resolving disputes is with the help of an independent mediator, who can act impartially and not take sides.
Mediation is a voluntary process that gives all parties a chance to express their views and to be heard. The mediator will help the parties come up with an agreement that is decided by them rather than being imposed by others.
Remedies for dealing with ASB and gathering evidence
Remedies for dealing with ASB and gathering evidence
The Group will act where it is considered to be appropriate, and will utilise the full range of non-legal and legal remedies available, which include:
- Interviewing and warning alleged perpetrators
- Mediation
- Acceptable behaviour contracts
- Parenting contracts
- Injunctions
- Demotion of tenancies
- Possession proceedings
- The serving of a Section 21 Notice if the tenant is on an Assured Shorthold Tenancy
To take legal action, we will need independent evidence to prove to a judge what is happening. The judge will also need to see that the anti-social behaviour is of a nature and severity where the legal action is appropriate, and the judge will need to decide whether it is reasonable for the tenant to lose their home or be subject to injunctive action because of the ASB.
Keeping diary sheets are an important part of obtaining information to capture what has been happening and help establish the nature and extent of the problems and impact it is having on others. Your Housing Executive will let you know if they feel it would be useful for you to complete diary sheets and provide you with advice on completing and returning them.
Eviction will be considered along with other interventions and the most appropriate course of action will be taken.
Your case will be closed when the action plan is complete and/or if no further action is appropriate or possible. We will tell you when we intend to close the case and why we are doing so.
As part of the Group’s commitment to tackling ASB, we have signed up to Respect – the ASB Charter for Housing and promise to try and live up to it.
Please remember, some incidents of anti-social behaviour are extremely difficult to prove or may not be of a severity or nature where we can take action and therefore it may not be possible to achieve a positive outcome.
Community Trigger
If you are unhappy with how your case is progressing please speak with us and we will work with you to try and find appropriate solutions. If you remain dissatisfied you have the option to complain through our complaints procedure, but there is also the Community Trigger that may be used, the procedures and rules for this can vary across Local Authority areas and the details are explained in the attached link below.
A Community Trigger is a tool to help victims who have reported anti-social behaviour to the relevant authorities but still suffer as agencies either fail to explain what they are doing to tackle the anti-social behaviour or are in fact doing nothing. Take a look through this link for more detail and advice about the Community Trigger.