Councils failing to deal with anti-social behaviour, watchdog finds
C
ouncils are too usually leaving anti-social behaviour unchecked, a watchdog has discovered because it criticised a failure to deal with incidents together with a neighbour’s 13-hour home social gathering and one other the place a person had tennis balls thrown at him.
The Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman mentioned it had “frequently” discovered councils throughout England have been failing to understand the issues attributable to anti-social behaviour in addition to their very own powers to deal with it.
In a report printed on Wednesday, it mentioned it had upheld almost three-quarters (74%) of the circumstances it has investigated up to now yr – starting from low-level points similar to canine fouling and thoughtless parking to extra severe sustained harassment and intimidation.
In one case a person complained to his native council a couple of neighbour who left bagged canine faeces outdoors his kitchen window in a bin till assortment day, shouted abuse at him, threw tennis balls at him and bodily assaulted him.
The council mentioned the behaviour was not anti-social however as a substitute associated to a non-public dispute between the pair and mentioned the incidents needs to be reported to the police.
But the ombudsman mentioned the council was at fault and will apologise, provide mediation, and “properly consider allegations of ASB (anti-social behaviour) rather than simply referring complainants to other bodies, such as the police”.
In one other case, an individual complained a couple of neighbour’s home social gathering which lasted greater than 13 hours however the council mentioned its coverage meant it will solely think about taking motion if he recorded six incidents inside 25 days.
Despite one other comparable incident a number of weeks later, the council closed his case as a result of it mentioned it didn’t meet its standards. The ombudsman mentioned the council’s coverage was “too inflexible and did not accord with its duty to consider each case on its merits”.
The report acknowledged: “The faults in these cases highlight a range of problems.
“There are sometimes long delays in councils responding to complainants, or acting on information they have received.
“We see cases where officers appear to lack the confidence to make decisions, despite having apparently compelling evidence to justify taking enforcement action – dragging matters out and leaving anti-social behaviour unchecked.
Councils will always take a balanced and proportionate approach to using the tools at their disposal to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour
“We see councils referring people to the police, believing anti-social behaviour is purely a police matter and they have no duty to act. We also see examples where councils have accepted a case for investigation but failed to liaise properly with the police, or other agencies, despite there being an obvious benefit to information sharing.”
Ombudsman Paul Najsarek mentioned whereas anti-social behaviour can “blight our communities” and have an effect on folks’s psychological well being, “all too often in our investigations we find councils not thinking hard enough about how they can step in to help”.
He added: “Councils in partnership with other agencies, when using their powers to the full, can have a profound effect on people’s quality of life – both in terms of taking action against perpetrators and providing support to victims.
“I urge leaders to read this report and reflect on their services to ensure they fully understand the range of powers at their disposal and provide the best possible support to the people they serve.”
A spokesperson for the Local Government Association, which represents councils, mentioned native authorities take a “balanced and proportionate approach” to complaints.
They mentioned: “Anti-social behaviour (ASB) can have a devastating impact on communities and individuals, and councils are committed to working with their partners and communities to prevent ASB and protect residents from offenders who can make the lives of the people they target a misery.
“Councils will always take a balanced and proportionate approach to using the tools at their disposal to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour and so it is vital all agencies – including the Government – ensure all measures in the ASB Plan launched earlier this year are adequately resourced.”