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* 1. Are you.....

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* 2. Our "Policy Statement" summarises our overall approach to responding to reports of anti-social behaviour. The proposed wording for this is below.

This policy outlines the commitment made by the Council to dealing with reports of anti-social behaviour and hate-related incidents in its homes and estates. The policy is based around our key principles which are.

- We adopt a ‘harm centred approach’ whereby our response to reports of anti-social behaviour is based on the nature of the anti-social behaviour but also on the impact it is having on the person reporting.

- We aim to make it easy to report anti-social behaviour and we have a variety of different communications methods for this. Once anti-social behaviour has been reported we aim to make our processes and procedures clear.

- We will work proactively with other council services and other agencies where appropriate at both an individual case level, and more broadly to share and learn best practice.

- Where a perpetrator of anti-social behaviour is identified, our aim is to give them the opportunity to modify their behaviour through a range of advice, support, and enforcement tools.

- we work to empower residents to be part of the solution when dealing with ASB, believing that this can often result in more positive outcomes for all. Where reasonable to do so, we may ask residents to undertake certain actions, such as engage in mediation.

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* 3. Our proposed definition of anti-social behaviour is taken from the (longer) definition used in The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and is this.
"Conduct capable of causing housing-related nuisance or annoyance to any person."

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* 4. What is likely to be considered as antisocial behaviour - or not

It is not possible to provide an exhaustive list of what is and what is not ASB. However, the following examples are behaviours that we are likely to consider as ASB:
· Deliberate and excessive noise such as TV or music at unreasonable times.
· Misuse of communal areas
· Verbal abuse
· Vandalism or damage to other people’s property

The following examples are behaviours that we are unlikely to consider as ASB:
• Household maintenance (e.g., DIY repairs or gardening) occurring at reasonable times.
• Noise generated by reasonable living activities, including the use of domestic appliances and walking on laminate flooring.
• Cooking smells
• Young people playing at reasonable times.
• Inconsiderate parking.

Bearing in mind that these are just examples, do you think they are reasonable?

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* 5. Neighbour Disputes
Section 3.9 of the draft policy sets out our proposed approach to neighbour disputes, as opposed to anti-social behaviour.
In summary our proposed approach is that we will not get involved in neighbour disputes, unless there is clear anti-social behaviour or breach of tenancy by either neighbour.

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* 6. Prioritisation and Risk
Section 5 of the draft policy looks at how we propose to prioritise reports of anti-social behaviour according to their severity.
To keep things clear, we propose 2 priorities - normal and high. The thinking is that everything will default to normal priority, unless the activity being reported is causing significant harm. This way, we can make sure the most serious cases get the attention they need.

Section 5 also looks at how we propose to assess the risk to the person reporting the anti-social behaviour, and take into account any vulnerability that may mean we need to take extra measures to protect the person reporting.

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* 7. Working with tenants and leaseholders
Section 6 of the draft new policy sets out what we will expect of people who report anti-social behaviour to us. In particular we will expect anyone reporting anti-social behaviour to
· Give honest, accurate and precise information around the dates, times and details of incidents reported.
· Not retaliate or do anything that may worsen the situation or provoke further acts of anti-social behaviour.
· Cooperate with requests for further information in a timely manner.
· Where a report is of a low-level issue such as occasional noise, we may expect the person reporting to have attempted to resolve the matter themselves before we will agree to intervene.

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* 8. Taking Action
Section 7 of the draft policy deals with how we will take action to deal with anti-social behaviour.
It is quite a long section and we recommend you read it in full before you answer this question.
Key areas include
- how we will try to prevent anti-social behaviour from happening in the first place, for example by rejecting housing applications from people with a history of serious anti-social behaviour.
- that we will make use of the full range of tools and powers available to us, including legal and non-legal action.
- that we will always take steps and make checks to ensure we are acting fairly.

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* 9. Finally....
Thank you for letting us have your thoughts, it really is appreciated.

If you have any further comments about the proposed new anti-social behaviour policy, please use the comments box below.

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