Partnership approach tackling anti-social behaviour sees significant impact

The Police and Crime Commissioner, Donna Jones, says her commitment to partnership working is driving down anti-social behaviour (ASB) across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight.

It comes at the start of ASB Awareness Week which runs from 18-24 November 2024 with the theme #MakingCommunitiesSafer.

This year, the Commissioner has invested £1.25M into combatting anti-social behaviour with two major partnership announcements.

An extra £500K was made available from the PCC’s ASB Fund to local authorities, police, community safety partnerships and community groups to bid into. The Commissioner also released £750K of Home Office grant funding to local authorities to fund specialist ASB community wardens to patrol ASB hotspots.

PCC Donna Jones said: “We all know that anti-social behaviour destroys lives and blights neighbourhoods. It can also be a precursor to more serious crime. Policing is not the only agency responsible for reducing ASB so it’s important for me to do everything I can to help and empower partner agencies.”

The £500K cash injection meant funding for 29 projects to combat ASB. Hampshire & Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service has run intervention programmes for young people in Gosport and Fareham. The Safe City Partnership in Southampton has used their funding for safe alarms, facial recognition, extra security, and joint police/ambulance patrols. Fawley Parish Council has used its funding for detached youth work and has since reported that no ASB complaints relating to young people were received this summer.

Youth Options has run diversionary activities for young people in Southampton. Since August, they have engaged with 88 new young people in Harefield and 57 in Thornhill with nearly 300 attending in total.

Its Head of Prevention Services, Mark Ford, said: “The ASB funding from the Commissioner is being used to deliver weekly sessions to young people in these communities; providing youth workers, activities, and resources to support them to explore and have a deeper understanding of topics such as anti-social behaviour, mental health and wellbeing, and drug and alcohol use. Alongside other partners, this funding allowed us to help organise and provide diversionary activities for young people on Halloween. The event was a huge success and wouldn’t have been possible without the support of the Commissioner.”

Ryde Methodist Church on the Isle of Wight received funding for CCTV monitoring. A Managing Trustee said: “The Commissioner’s funding has made such a difference. After the cameras were installed, the ASB stopped. We know that ASB can be the start of larger problems and with the Commissioner’s help, we have taken the right step towards stopping it at the source.”

A programme of activities led by Portsmouth Mediation Service (PMS) and delivered by a collaboration of youth organisations engaging young people across the Southsea waterfront is also one of the 29 projects. Its Service Manager is Steve Rolls: “We have a huge vision to see Portsmouth become established as a restorative city. A major part of this mission is to help neighbourhoods build more cohesive communities. When people work together, we can achieve so much more. We are delighted to have received this funding from the Commissioner as it furthers our aim to create restorative culture change.”

The funding released by the Police and Crime Commissioner for ASB Community Wardens has been distributed to local authorities in Portsmouth, Rushmoor, Eastleigh, Havant and Waterlooville, Southampton, Fareham, Gosport, Winchester, Basingstoke and Deane, Test Valley and the Isle of Wight.

The Wardens are playing a vital role in tackling anti-social behaviour. In 20 ASB hotspot areas, they carried out 522 patrols last month dedicating 1,076 hours. The patrols mean an increased response to ASB with more community engagement, information and intelligence sharing.

This week’s ASB Awareness Week has been organised by Resolve. According to the community safety organisation, 1.3M UK adults experience anti-social behaviour at least once a day, and 42% of UK adults say that ASB levels have increased compared to three years ago.

Hampshire and the Isle of Wight is bucking that trend. In the three years since the PCC took office, the total number of recorded ASB incidents has more than halved:

• 1 April 2020 – 31 March 2021 = 37,325 recorded incidents
• 1 April 2021 – 31 March 2022 = 29,201 recorded incidents
• 1 April 2022 – 31 March 2023 = 22,418 recorded incidents
• 1 April 2023 – 31 March 2024 = 18,153 recorded incidents

PCC Donna Jones added: “These figures speak for themselves. I promised the public that anti-social behaviour would be tackled and the number of recorded incidents has gone down across Hampshire and the Isle of Wight by 50%. It is clear that by working together, we can achieve safer communities. Anti-social behaviour must be challenged and solved because we all have the right to feel safe in our own homes and out on the streets as we go about our daily lives.”

The Commissioner set up her ASB Task Force in 2021 when she took up the role of PCC and allocated over £150K per year to support services and interventions. Tackling anti-social behaviour also remains one of the PCC’s top priorities in her new Police and Crime Plan.

Incidents of ASB should be reported to the anti-social behaviour team at your local council, or to the police if members of the public feel they are at immediate risk or in danger.

For more information about ASB Awareness Week, visit www.resolveuk.org.uk