Better communication all round is crucial if anti-social behaviour is to be resolved and victims given adequate support, writes Resolve’s Tom Nevitt
Anti-social behaviour (ASB) can devastate the lives of victims and communities.
Solving the issue is no simple feat, but we can make good progress by simply getting better at communication.
The latest research into ASB, conducted by YouGov and commissioned by Resolve, highlights just how devastating ASB can be for victims. One in seven people say it has impacted on their mental health, one in six say ASB has caused them to consider moving home, and one in 10 say that ASB has caused them to actually relocate.
The data also highlights how ASB is vastly under-reported, and how victims are generally not satisfied with the handling of their case when they do make a report.
Why don’t people report ASB?
Half (49.4%) of those who were a victim or witness of ASB in the past three years didn’t report it. Forty nine per cent of these victims/witnesses said that they didn’t report the ASB because they “didn’t think anything would be done if a report was made”. A further one in 10 said that they didn’t make a report because they had previously done so and were not happy with the response.
Additionally, many victims simply don’t know how to report ASB. More than one in five (22.7%) “didn’t know how/who to report the ASB to”, and a further one in six (17%) “didn’t want to report to the police but didn’t know of any alternatives”.
Why are so many victims unsatisfied?
We know that victims are generally not satisfied with the response – or lack thereof – when they do report ASB. Of those who made a report in the past year:
- 44% were unsatisfied with the response from police
- 47% were unsatisfied with the response from their housing association
- 48% were unsatisfied with the response from their local authority/social services
There could be a couple of factors at play here.
First, it’s important to recognise that resolving anti-social behaviour can be tricky.
There are lots of cases that simply can’t be resolved quickly because they are complex, or because of other limitations, such as the legal powers available to agencies responding to the case.
Let’s take the example of personal cannabis use.
Outside of softer approaches (mediation and acceptable behaviour contracts), housing providers are quite limited in the legal action they can take, and the legal options they do have require lots of time for evidence-gathering and case preparation.
“There are no quick and easy fixes, but we can make a lot of progress by simply getting better at communication and expectation management”
On this particular issue, there is also not much that police forces can do with their current capacity.
This is understandable, but if agencies aren’t communicating well with the victim, then it often seems as though the agencies just aren’t doing anything to address the issue.
Second, another factor causing dissatisfaction with the handling of cases is to do with victim expectations. Victims sometimes want a remedial solution that is not appropriate or realistic.
For example, they might expect the cannabis smoker to be arrested immediately or kicked out of their home.
Practitioners and officers know that this isn’t immediately possible, and even if it was possible, it wouldn’t be an appropriate approach to take in most instances. But further distress and dissatisfaction often arises when this isn’t communicated well enough to the victim.
No quick fix, but communication is key
There are many complex factors impacting on the reporting of ASB, and satisfaction with the handling of ASB cases.
There are no quick and easy fixes, but we can make a lot of progress by simply getting better at communication and expectation management.
This includes communication between the relevant local agencies, which needs to be much better in some regions of the country.
Earlier this week, the Regulator of Social Housing launched a consultation on proposed regulatory requirements that all registered social landlords will be expected to meet from next year. One of the proposals is as follows:
“Registered providers will be expected to cooperate with relevant partners to ‘promote social, environmental and economic well-being’ in the areas where they provide social housing. This means working with partners to deter and tackle ASB, and to make appropriate use of the powers provided through the ASB, Crime and Policing Act 2014.”
Resolve is also continually working with its members and other partners to improve communication and information sharing between agencies.
But most crucially, we need to get better at communicating with victims. They need to:
- Know to whom and how to report ASB
- Know what to expect after making a report
- Be kept up to date with their case on a regular basis
- Be signposted to any support available
YouGov research commissioned by Resolve shows that just 5% of people have noticed information about how to report ASB, but 40% of victims and witnesses said they’d be more likely to report future ASB if they did receive clear communication around this topic.
Another part of the regulator’s proposed regulations will require registered social housing providers to “enable ASB to be reported easily and keep tenants informed about the progress of their case”.
We are hoping to see the government’s new ASB Hub in action in the near future, and this may make it easier for victims to report ASB and track their case, but we wouldn’t rely on this.
Building trust with a joined-up approach
Housing providers, local authorities, police and other agencies should have their own systems in place that make it easy for all individuals to report ASB (online, in-person, and over the phone).
They should also have specified KPIs for response times and update milestones.
For example:
- Provide an update and outlook for the case every week (even if nothing has changed)
- Keep victims up to date with what is still outstanding or holding the case up
- Ask if there have been any further incidents
- Ensure they have been signposted to appropriate support, and assess whether more support is needed
If, as a sector, we can drastically improve our communication then, counter-intuitively, we will initially see an increase in the number of ASB incidents on paper as reporting increases.
This is a good thing.
We should also see higher satisfaction with the handling of cases through better expectation management and victims not being left in the dark, thinking that nothing is being done.
Higher satisfaction will increase trust in agencies to respond to ASB, which will also lead to more people reporting ASB – again increasing the number of incidents on paper.
Again, this is a good thing.
With more ASB being reported, agencies will have a better understanding of the issues in their local area; they will be better able to plan and respond in a more informed way and on a quicker timescale, and ultimately incidents of anti-social behaviour will decrease.
Everyone has a right to feel safe where they live, and we all have a part to play.
We can prevent ASB and make our communities safer, but being better at communicating is a key hurdle we need to overcome.
Main image: Tom Nevitt is Resolve’s head of business development
Read next: Will the LGA’s six-point plan for social housing work?
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