We are strongly committed to tackling, not tolerating, antisocial behaviour. That is why local crime and disorder reduction partnerships were introduced under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998. These enable the police, local authorities and other agencies representing the local community to work together to identify the crime and disorder problems in their area and take action to tackle them.
Antisocial behaviour orders (ASBOs) were introduced in 1999 and the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 created a range of additional tools for tackling antisocial behaviour and we are working hard across Government and with agencies on the ground to ensure that the measures that are already in place are being used as effectively as possible. Presently, the Home Office is reviewing and updating the current guidance for the tools and powers available to practitioners.
Specifically in the West Midlands; Coventry has established a multi-agency tasking process to ensure police, housing and local authority resources, including the citywide warden service are deployed in the right areas. Wolverhampton has established a dedicated phone line to allow members of the public to tackle antisocial behaviour and in Birmingham the local authority has implemented a Family Intervention Project, run by Shelter, and has appointed a parenting co-ordinator to deliver evidence based parenting programmes across the city. The Local Government User Satisfaction Survey (LGUSS) shows that the vast majority of local authorities in the West Midlands have seen a significant reduction in the levels of perception of antisocial behaviour in 2006-07 compared with 2003-04. The data from this survey can be found on the Respect website at:
www.respect.gov.uk