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SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT RESEARCH FINDINGS

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Main Findings

• Anti-social behaviour was recognised to be a serious problem in many Scottish communities and a strategy for addressing this issue was widely welcomed. It was reported that some, but not all, of this anti-social behaviour involved young people, both as victims and perpetrators.
• There was overall support for most of the Scottish Executive's specific proposals. This support was particularly strong from local community representatives and individual members of the public, who welcomed further sanctions for offenders and increased support for victims and witnesses of anti-social behaviour
• Many responses, particularly from agencies and organisations, believed that the strategy for tackling anti-social behaviour required to be framed within wider policies aimed at addressing the causes of anti-social behaviour, more efficient use of existing measures and greater emphasis upon preventative and diversionary support services. Sufficient resources were seen to be crucial to the success of an anti-social behaviour strategy.
• Although young people themselves wished to see anti-social behaviour being tackled, they were doubtful about the likely effectiveness of some of the proposals and were very concerned that the proposals could be seen as a disproportionate targeting of their age group.
• A number of the proposals were particularly contentious, including extending the use of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) to under-16s, electronic monitoring for under-16s and Parenting Orders. Proposals opposed by the majority of responses included issuing fixed penalty fines to under-16s, greater powers for the police to disperse groups and extending the powers of community wardens.

Introduction

This report presents the findings from the consultation exercise conducted by the Scottish Executive regarding its proposals set out in Putting Our Communities First: A Strategy for Tackling Anti-social Behaviour.

The Consultation Process

The consultation process comprised a number of elements:

• 31 Ministerial constituency visits
• 39 meetings with key stakeholders
• Written responses to the consultation document (342 received)
• Responses to a web-based questionnaire (44 received)
• Surveys by 5 MSPs
• Consultation events held by a number of organisations
• Letters to two newspapers (Over 200)

Anti-social Behaviour in Scotland

The consultation events and responses revealed that anti-social behaviour is experienced in many local communities, with significant consequences for the well-being of both individuals and the wider community.

Many forms of anti-social behaviour were reported from serious assaults to lifestyle disputes and noise nuisance.

Many local residents expressed considerable fear and also anger at their sense of being powerless to tackle anti-social behaviour. This was also linked to a perception that agencies such as the police were not providing adequate protection and enforcement.

Young People's Views

Young people wished to see action taken to tackle anti-social behaviour, especially as they were often likely to be victims of such behaviour. However, young people were very concerned that the proposals, particularly those relating to the dispersal of groups, could be seen as unfairly targeted at, and stigmatising of, all young people.

General Issues Arising

The responses supported providing greater protection to victims and witnesses of anti-social behaviour and empowering local communities in the development of anti-social behaviour strategies.

Although there was widespread recognition of the need to tackle anti-social behaviour and that existing measures were often ineffective, there was wide concern that the emphasis on punitive sanctions did not address the need to tackle the causes of anti-social behaviour and to provide effective preventative support strategies. There was also concern that the proposals may unfairly target young people and tenants in the social rented sector.

There was support for a clearer definition of anti-social behaviour and an evidence-based approach to tackling the problem.

It was argued that the diversity of communities needed to be recognised and that mediation and reparation were important mechanisms for building tolerance within communities.

Respondents felt that providing adequate resources to enable a multi-agency approach was essential for tackling anti-social behaviour.

Specific Proposals:

Theme One: Protecting and Empowering Communities

There was support for registered social landlords having a statutory duty to participate in anti-social behaviour strategies.

Community Reparation Orders were supported for individuals and groups, without an age limit.

Further measures to protect victims and witnesses were strongly supported.

Theme Two: Children and Families

Acceptable Behaviour Contracts, greater use of reparation and ensuring local authority accountability were all generally supported.

Extending Anti-social Behaviour Orders to 12-15 year olds, electronic monitoring and Restriction of Liberty Orders to under-16s and introducing Parenting Orders were far more contentious.

It was argued that whilst these measures may be useful in extreme circumstances, there was an equal need for adequate support measures.

Concerns were raised about how sanctions for breaches of these measures would be applied and what the consequences of these sanctions would mean for individuals.

There was strong support for maintaining the primacy of the Children's Hearing System in relation to these measures.

Theme Three: Safe, Secure and Attractive Communities

There was support for the police, but not community wardens, issuing fixed penalties for litter offences.

It was unclear whether local authorities had sufficient powers to deal with litter and abandoned vehicles. Enabling local authorities to examine waste transfer documents and doubling the fine for fly-tipping were supported.

There was support for banning the sale of spray-paint to under-16s and for local authorities being further enabled to tackle noise nuisance.

The greater regulation of anti-social behaviour in private-rented sector housing was generally supported.

Views were divided on tenant reward schemes and on linking housing and homelessness legislation to ASBOs involving under-16s.

Theme Four: Effective Enforcement

Fixed penalty notices for anti-social behaviour were supported, but were opposed for under-16s.

A majority of responses believed that the police already had sufficient powers in relation to the dispersal of groups.

Measures to make ASBOs more effective and amending legislation regarding licensed premises were generally supported.

Closure notices for non-residential premises were also supported.

About the Study

The consultation took place between June and September 2003. The analysis is based on notes from the consultation events, written responses to the consultation document, e-mail responses to the web questionnaire, returned surveys from MSPs and newspaper readers' letters.

This study used qualitative analysis of all the material, complimented by quantitative analysis of written responses to the consultation document and MSPs' surveys.