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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

1. This report presents findings from the first phase of a 3-year monitoring project on Antisocial Behaviour Orders ( ASBOs) in Scotland. The final report in 2007 will fulfil the requirement under section 17 of the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Act 2004 to arrange for a study to examine the operation of Part 2 of the Act. This initial research is part of the project. It draws on a national survey of local authorities ( LAs) and housing associations (or Registered Social Landlords - RSLs) undertaken in September/October 2004. This survey focused on the use of ASBOs in 2003/04. The report is also informed by the views of practitioners and national stakeholder organisations that took part in a series of focus group discussions convened by the research team. Results from the national survey are presented alongside comparable data from earlier reports on ASBOs in Scotland, as well as statistics on the use of ASBOs in England and Wales, as recorded by the Home Office ¹.

ASBOs sought and granted

2. Scottish LAs and RSLs sought a total of 235 ASBOs in 2003/04 - an increase of 87% on the 2002/03 figure. ASBO applications were made in 26 of Scotland's 32 LAs. This includes one authority - Glasgow - where all ASBO actions in 2003/04 were attributable to one RSL (Glasgow Housing Association) rather than the Council itself. Whilst their powers to seek ASBOs were introduced only in June 2003, RSLs were responsible for 25 ASBO applications in 2003/04 (11% of the national total).

3. Some 148 ASBOs were granted by the Scottish courts in 2003/04, representing a rate of 6.9 Orders per 100,000 households ². The rate of ASBO deployment remains slightly higher in Scotland than in England and Wales (where the comparable figure in 2003/04 was 6.1). Expressed in these terms, the highest ASBO rates in Scotland in 2003/04 were recorded in Dundee, Orkney, North Lanarkshire and Scottish Borders.

4. The pattern of ASBO use across the country is only slightly associated with survey evidence on the incidence of antisocial behaviour ( ASB) ³. In some large urban areas where rates of ASB are well above the national average (e.g. Glasgow), ASBO use was relatively low. Area to area variations in ASBO use may reflect a number of factors. These include:

• The differing speeds at which LAs and RSLs have been 'gearing up' to make full use of ASBO powers (e.g. through the establishment of specialist counter- ASB posts or teams). Glasgow City Council, for example, set up such a team only in December 2004.
• Variations in the attitudes of the legal profession and the courts as regards ASBOs - in some areas the 'unsympathetic' stance of solicitors and/or sheriffs is seen as discouraging or suppressing applications.
• The organisational location of responsibility for tackling ASB within LAs - in two thirds of LAs, housing departments take the lead in progressing ASBO applications. Where ASB response continues to be seen as closely related to an authority's landlord role, it may be the Council is less likely to prioritise tackling disorder involving or affecting private sector residents or non housing cases (though this does not necessarily imply that the overall incidence of ASBOs will be lower where such arrangements prevail).
• The extent of LA/ RSL commitment to resolve ASB through means other than ASBOs - e.g. mediation.

The use of other measures for tackling ASB

5. Whilst they represent a comparatively new remedy, ASBOs are already being more widely used than eviction actions against social sector tenants. Whereas 25 LAs sought ASBOs in 2003/04 (for the most part, against their own tenants - see below), only fourteen LAs entered ASB-triggered eviction actions in court during the year.

6. Growing numbers of LAs and RSLs are using Acceptable Behaviour Contracts ( ABCs) as a remedy for ASB - particularly where perpetrated by young people. By 2004 more than a third of LAs (13) had experimented with ABCs. However, whilst some organisations see ABCs as a standard pre-cursor to ASBO applications, this approach is far from universal. Across Scotland as a whole there is no clear relationship between the use of ABCs and ASBOs.

ASBO perpetrators

7. In a small number of LAs private tenants and home-owners account for an appreciable proportion of ASBO perpetrators. In general, however, ASBOs continue to be applied mainly to social sector tenants - in 2003/04 85% of ASBO perpetrators were LA or RSL tenants. To some extent the tenure-specific focus of ASBOs is probably a reflection of the actual incidence of ASB. Indeed, the incidence of serious neighbour disputes in the social rented sector is almost twice as high as other tenures (Scottish Household Survey 2003).

8. However, it may also be influenced by the organisational location and funding of staff charged with ASB response. Typically, this means that a largely ⁴ Housing Revenue Account-funded service ⁵ concentrates mainly or exclusively on problems affecting council tenants. Conversely, following stock transfer in Glasgow, the City Council's ASB response has been separated from the landlord role and now reportedly focuses on 'private sector' neighbourhoods.

9. Whilst 13 per cent of 2003/04 ASBO applications were against persons aged under 18, nearly two thirds of all applications (63%) related to persons aged over 25. This is in stark contrast to the pattern in England and Wales where, as reported by Home Office research (Campbell, 2002), 36% of 1999-2001 Orders granted related to people aged 16 or under and only 21% were aged over 25 ⁶. The different age focuses in Scotland and in England and Wales are likely to be explained by the earlier introduction of ASBOs for under 16 year olds in England and Wales.

ASBO offences, prohibitions and duration

10. A few LAs have begun to experiment with the use of ASBOs to tackle offences such as prostitution and begging. For the most part, however, ASBOs continue to be used to tackle disorder in housing estates. In 2003/04, for example, 94% of ASBO applications were in respect of offences committed 'in residential areas near the perpetrator's home'.

11. It can be inferred that noise of one kind or another (e.g. shouting, playing loud music) was a factor in nearly half of all incidents triggering ASBO applications. The evidence here derives from the fact that 46% of Orders granted prohibited some form of noise on the part of the perpetrator. Nineteen per cent of Orders granted (32% of RSL-initiated Orders) prohibited the perpetrator from entering a specified area (e.g. to protect a victim or witness or to stop harassment).

12. The duration of ASBOs varies greatly from area to area. In a number of LAs, for example, all Orders granted in 2003/04 were of indefinite duration whereas in others, they tended to be limited to 12 months. The extent to which ASBO duration reflects judgements by the Court - as opposed to decisions on the part of the applicant - is not clear.

ASBO breaches

13. The data collected on breaches was somewhat patchy and inconsistent, perhaps because the term 'breach' is not consistently understood. This appears to have led to confusion over allegations of breach and incidents that lead to a conviction for breach of an Order. The survey data here appear to indicate that as many as two thirds of ASBOs in force in 2003/04 were breached during the year. However, this finding should be treated with caution until it can be verified through the 2004/05 survey to be undertaken in summer 2005.

Use of ASBOs to counter ASB involving young people

14. Under the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 the ASBO regime is broadened to cover young people aged 12-15. These changes came into effect in October 2004. Particularly given the experience of England and Wales (where it has, for some time, been possible to obtain Orders against juveniles) where a significant proportion of ASBOs are granted for the younger age group (36% of ASBOs granted between 2001 and 2003 were against under 17 year olds) it might be expected that the use of ASBOs could increase substantially in Scotland under the new arrangements. A majority of LA survey respondents (54%) thought it likely that their authority would make use of these powers during the first year of the new regime. Seventeen per cent thought this 'very likely'.

15. However, the generally more experienced LA and RSL staff taking part in focus group discussions tended to see such powers as heavily qualified. The checks and balances built into the legislation - e.g. involvement of Children's Reporter - were viewed as placing a major limitation on the use of ASBO applications involving 12-15 year olds. Also, whilst ASBO breaches by young people constitute criminal offences, the proscription of custodial sentences was considered by practitioners as a seriously restraint on the efficacy of ASBOs as a means of countering disorder involving young people. Hence, it appears very unlikely that the extension of the ASBO regime to young people aged 12-15 will generate a dramatic increase in the overall use of Orders.

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