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Building strong, safe and attractive communities: Guidance for submissions
3 COMMUNITY WARDEN SCHEMES
12. What are "Community Wardens"?
There is a wide range of warden schemes in operation all over Britain, and in Scotland there are several pilot schemes, including in Edinburgh, Renfrewshire, Aberdeen and West Dunbartonshire.
Wardens are NOT glorified street sweepers or new age park keepers. Nor are they second rate police officers - indeed, they have no police powers. Instead Community Wardens are an additional local resource and offer the potential for a new kind of response to familiar problems. They provide a visible, official presence in a neighbourhood. They can reassure local people, promote community safety, assist with environmental improvements and contribute to community development. Provided they are carefully planned and managed, Community Wardens can make a real difference to the quality of people's lives, their sense of security and to the way they feel about their area and their local environment. The experience from England is that wardens also play a key role in "joining up" communities and services at local level.
In keeping with our commitment to build strong, safe and attractive communities, we expect schemes funded by the Executive to contribute to one or more of the following outcomes:
- reducing crime (including youth crime) or the fear of crime
- reducing anti-social behaviour
- improving environmental quality.
Community Wardens are often referred to as neighbourhood wardens. In Edinburgh, local residents in the Broomhouse district preferred the term "Community Concierges" for the wardens in their area. Decisions about the precise title of the wardens in a particular neighbourhood should be taken by local agencies and the community. Whatever wardens are called, however, the Scottish Executive will expect schemes funded by them to be developed within the framework set out by its guidance.
13. What types of warden schemes will the Executive support?
Wardens can undertake a variety of tasks and what is appropriate in a local area will depend on the particular problems and priorities of local residents. Local authorities, together with their community planning partners and local communities, are best placed to decide on the activities of wardens.
The Scottish Executive will support two broad models of Community Wardens as described below. All schemes will need to work closely with local communities and the managing agents of schemes should consider the importance of community development skills when recruiting and training wardens.
13.1 Crime prevention schemes
These involve wardens patrolling a neighbourhood where their visible presence acts as a deterrent to crime and anti-social behaviour and provides reassurance to residents. Such schemes must be drawn up in conjunction with, and secure the formal approval of, the police. Schemes must be closely aligned to the work of the police and that of multi-agency anti-social behaviour teams.
Their activities could include :
- acting as the "eyes and ears" of the community and local agencies in their joint efforts to tackle anti-social behaviour
- supporting multi-agency Anti-Social Behaviour Teams and the police by reporting incidents and acting as professional witnesses
- keeping an eye on properties occupied by vulnerable people, for example, people with mental health problems, or people who have been subjected to racial harassment
- patrolling local shopping precincts serving deprived neighbourhoods to deter anti-social behaviour in and around shops and to reassure customers
- escorting older and/or vulnerable residents, for example, to collect pensions, or to attend community activities
- assist in monitoring compliance with Anti-Social Behaviour Orders or Acceptable Behaviour Contracts
- being on hand to reassure and support victims of crime and refer them to appropriate agencies
- helping to tackle youth crime by engaging positively with young people
- being involved in security surveys, property marking and neighbourhood watch schemes.
Example : Renfrewshire wardens tackling anti-social behaviour Renfrewshire Council established four mobile teams of wardens working in various estates in Paisley and West Johnstone funded through the Scottish Executive's Better Neighbourhood Services Fund. This has since been expanded through two further teams of wardens funded through the Housing Revenue Account. These schemes were set up in response to local concerns about anti-social behaviour and vandalism that were highlighted by a Citizens' Panel. Part of their role is to support the police, by observing and reporting incidents, providing information to the police in support of police investigations and acting as professional witnesses. They also undertake a variety of environmental tasks, such as co-ordinating graffiti removal, and act as a link between the community and a range of agencies, including the local authority and the police. Excluding start up costs, the Renfrewshire BNSF scheme is estimated to cost approximately £260,000 per annum, covers a population of around 15,000 people and employs 17 staff (16 wardens plus 1 support worker). |
13.2 Environmental schemes
These schemes also involve wardens patrolling a neighbourhood, but are primarily aimed at improving the local and feel of an area.
Such wardens may be involved in a range of activities, including:
- ensuring, either directly or through the use of other agencies such as environmental hit squads, the rapid removal of graffiti, litter, needles, abandoned cars, etc.
- monitoring empty or abandoned properties
- working with young people and local schools to raise awareness of environmental issues and challenge attitudes
- organising clear-ups and recycling
The Executive is aware of the links between crime, anti-social behaviour and environmental issues, such as abandoned cars and dumping. As well as tackling anti-social behaviour directly, wardens can help local communities to regain pride in their local area by tackling environmental nuisance. For example, wardens can achieve "quick wins" and establish credibility with the local community by initially tackling environmental problems that make a visible difference to estates and then moving on into a patrolling role focused on deterring anti-social behaviour.
It is therefore accepted that some schemes may include an element of both environmental and crime prevention roles. It is important, however, that wardens have a clear focus and understanding of their role to ensure they are not over-stretched.
Example: Edinburgh Community Concierges In Edinburgh, the City Council has been piloting "community safety concierges" in Broomhouse and Niddrie Mains. Two further schemes are being developed in the North of Edinburgh and funding is being sought to extend schemes across the city. The Broomhouse Community Concierges were introduced in November 2001 covering 588 properties in the West of the city. There is a history of problems with minor anti-social behaviour and vandalism and of poor environmental standards in the area. The aims of the scheme are to act as the landlord's "eyes and ears" on the estate, monitoring empty houses and breaches of tenancy conditions; reducing environmental nuisance; providing a cleaner, safer neighbourhood; promoting community involvement and development; and reducing minor crime. An initial assessment of the project has shown increased resident confidence in the area, a reduction in residents' concerns about "young people hanging around" and a saving of 50,000 in costs relating to vandalism and dumping over a six-month period. Each Edinburgh scheme is estimated to cost approximately 140,000 each year, with funding drawn from the Housing Revenue Account, Quality of Life funding and Community Safety Partnership resources. It covers a population of around 2,000 people. Five Community Concierges, plus a Senior are employed, working on the estate between 7am and 11.30 pm. |
13.3 Other models for warden schemes
Concierge/Caretaker schemes: The Scottish Executive will not fund concierge/caretaker type schemes that are focused on property maintenance and local housing management tasks. These sorts of schemes are more properly funded through rents and Housing Benefit.
Reparation schemes: The Scottish Executive believes that restorative justice schemes have an important role in tackling anti-social behaviour. Such schemes give offenders a keener understanding of the impact of their actions on local communities and require them to make amends to those communities. Our consultation paper asked respondents whether or not Community Wardens should have a role in restorative justice and community disposals.
Following this consultation, we believe that, given their knowledge of local communities, wardens could play a useful role in identifying suitable activities for offenders within community reparation programmes, such as those linked to the Community Reparation Orders proposed in the Executive's consultation linked to the Anti-Social Behaviour Bill. There was little support, however, for the idea that wardens should formally supervise young people on such programmes or take the lead in them, because of the need for specialised skills and training. It is also possible that giving wardens a leading role in such programmes could compromise their position in local communities. Wardens could, however, contribute to the work of multi-agency teams involved in this kind of work.
The City of Edinburgh Council is developing a youth justice pilot programme funded by the Scottish Executive to examine links between wardens and specialist youth workers which will include a restorative justice element. We will examine the results of this pilot.
Set out below are examples of how existing warden schemes have worked constructively with young people.
Example: Wardens working with young people In Walsall, wardens visit local schools to explain their role and build up relationships of trust and respect. Wardens have worked with local agencies to establish a new youth club. In Knowsley on Merseyside, wardens have organised a "walking bus" to reduce bullying, improve school attendance and encourage healthier lifestyles. Wardens aim to develop a relationship with people aged 7-11 years, so that they are more likely to develop positive relationships with the same people when they become teenagers. In Nottingham, wardens are working with detached youth workers and drugs outreach staff to engage with young people. |
14. Links with the police
The Scottish Executive's "Partnership for a Better Scotland" makes clear that we will increase the number of police officers on operational duty in every Scottish force and improve on the current record level of overall police numbers. The additional resources being provided to support Community Wardens will enable them to complement the work of the police - but wardens are not intended to be a substitute for the police.
The involvement of the police in the development of Community Warden schemes is crucial to their success. The Scottish Executive met with the police associations during the consultation process. In Section 9 of this guidance, we make clear that the police should be involved in the development of local community warden schemes from the outset through their input to Neighbourhood Compacts and anti-social behaviour frameworks.
The Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland and the Scottish Executive recommend that the managing agents of Community Warden schemes establish local agreements or protocols with the police on the operation of warden schemes. Annex 4 contains guidelines on the broad topics that managing agents of warden schemes should consider when drawing up protocols or agreements with the police.
Wardens will not be given police powers to fulfil their functions and should not be trained in areas such as restraint techniques. Local authorities are already able to give their employees powers to issue fines for activities such as littering and the Scottish Executive has recently passed an order to increase fines for such anti-social activities. Our consultation paper "Putting Our Communities First" asks for views on whether or not wardens should be given powers to issue fixed penalty fines for littering.
15. Recruitment and Training
Wardens must be properly recruited, trained and managed and there must be clear lines of accountability. Annex 5 sets out a number of topics which scheme managers should consider when developing their training programmes for wardens.
Discussions are taking place about the possible development of a Scottish Vocational Qualification for Community Wardens.
The managing agents of warden schemes should seek to ensure that Community Wardens reflect the diversity of the communities they serve. Consideration should be given to measures designed to encourage applications from a wide range of people, for example, by using positive, diverse images in recruitment campaigns, specifically welcoming applications from all parts of the community and using local newspapers and estate newsletters to advertise posts.
Example: Wardens and Diversity Leeds Community Warden Hannah Abury won an award for her initiative and commitment in identifying and solving environmental problems in her neighbourhood. This included: - establishing close links with youth projects and local churches to assist with environmental improvements such as clearing rubbish and removing abandoned cars
- setting up and raising funds for a "graffiti wall" which has effectively replaced a graffiti problem with a work of public art. Combined with a clampdown and clear up programme this has led to what the local police describe as a "significantly reduced" problem
- working with the fire brigade to provide home fire safety checks
- working with police and social workers to provide advice on dealing with bogus callers and the use of security equipment such as door chains
- undergoing language training in Urdu to enable her to work more closely with the minority ethnic communities in the neighbourhood
- At 21 years of age, Hannah is the youngest member of the Leeds warden service.
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16. Involvement of local residents
The support and full involvement of local residents is fundamental to the effective development and implementation of any warden scheme. The local community should not simply be asked to identify problems but should also be involved at all stages from problem identification, scheme design, development, implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Wardens need the respect and trust of local communities to do their job properly.
Young people should also be involved in the development of proposals for warden schemes. Councils and their partners may wish to use youth forums, pupil councils, and where appropriate Dialogue Youth units to engage with young people [ www.dialogueyouth.org].
Community Wardens are relatively new to Scotland and local authorities and their partners will need to consider how information about their role and purpose is disseminated to local communities. This is important to minimise potential misunderstandings about their role and powers and to give a realistic impression of what they are likely to achieve. The development of warden scheme proposals through Neighbourhood Compacts will ensure that local community representatives and agencies are involved from the outset, but consideration should also be given to other methods of disseminating information more widely about wardens and their successes. For example, information in schools and community centres and through tenants' newsletters and the local media.
17. Who will run warden schemes?
Our consultation asked respondents for their views on which types of organisations should be responsible for particular sorts of warden schemes. This process has confirmed our view that schemes with a crime prevention focus, provided they are developed and managed in conjunction with the police, require the legitimacy that is given by being run directly by a publicly accountable body, such as the local authority. While community wardens will be required to work closely with the police, they will not have any police powers and their management is not therefore considered to be a core task for the police. In practice, we expect most schemes with a specific crime prevention focus to be run by local authorities.
We consider that a much wider range of organisations, including Registered Social Landlords and voluntary and community groups could be involved in running schemes with a more explicit environmental and community development focus.
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