COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL
GOVERNMENT News Release (045) issued by The Government News Network
on 27 February 2008
Social landlords
are to be given the opportunity to play a greater role in helping
clampdown on crime and anti-social behaviour.
Communities Secretary Hazel Blears will today publish guidance
for housing associations on improving engagement with Crime and
Disorder Reduction Partnerships (CDRPs), to assist landlords in
tackling problems that can blight housing estates, including
drinking in public, youth gangs, truancy and drug taking.
Housing associations will be encouraged to share intelligence of
anti-social behaviour and criminal behaviour with other members of
the CDRP and by working together share resources and expertise to
really crack down on anti-social behaviour.
Hazel Blears said:
"Social landlords shouldn't just be concerned with
bricks and mortar, they must also be involved in building better,
safer communities.
"Our guidance will support social landlords to engage with
other key agencies to help tackle anti-social behaviour wherever
and whenever it occurs. It will help to deliver quicker, more
effective actions, and in turn, increase tenants' confidence
in coming forward to report problems."
Individual housing associations will decide locally how to engage
with partnerships and what activities they may wish to take on.
Examples of work already being undertaken by housing associations
were engagement with partnerships already occurs include:
* Pill patrols - No parent wants to send their children out to
play in areas where drug use is rife. On the Church Manor estate
in Lambeth residents have been made to feel safer after social
landlords teamed up with local police to patrol the estate and
improve monitoring via CCTV. This joint effort has resulted in the
successful closure of a crack house.
* Gang clampdowns - in East Finchley, social landlords have
started to work with the local safer neighbourhood sergeant to
look at how to disperse groups of youths congregating in public
spaces. The housing association and local council are working
together to provide youth clubs and activities for local kids and
looking at how they can share resources to bring in neighbourhood wardens.
* Crime-busting consortia - Moving a gang, graffiti artist or
serial fly tipper on from one estate may well result in them
simply turning up at another. If we want to make social housing a
no go area for anti social behaviour and anti-social people,
social landlords need to work together to get results. In
Coventry, they have developed a Consortium of Social Landlords,
who work together to form partnerships spanning estates across
local areas to allow landlords to explore more options for
tackling anti-social behaviour.
* Estate surgeries - on the World's End Estate in Kensington
and Chelsea, representatives from the council, and police
regularly attend 'estate surgeries' with local residents
alongside housing association staff. The more visible presence of
police and this more hands on approach where people get to know
local police officers and police get to know residents on estates
have resulted effective action against drug dealing.
* Social landlords groups - Kent and Medway Social Landlords
Anti-social Behaviour Group have pioneered a new approach that
sees housing associations and the police work jointly on local
initiatives. The group meets to discuss best practice, share
information and discuss current problems. This leads to more
targeted interventions and allows landlords to report back to
residents on the actions being taken in their area.
* Information sharing - housing associations are able to share
intelligence on anti-social and criminal behaviour. Housing
associations in Wandsworth regularly provide the council and
police with updates about activity in their area, up to date
information about staff who are leading on issues and changes to
properties and residents in the borough.
Notes to Editors:
1. Statutory partnerships, known as Crime and Disorder Reduction
Partnerships (CDRPs) or Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) in
Wales, give responsible authorities a duty to work with other
local agencies and organisations to develop and implement
strategies to tackle crime and disorder, including anti-social and
other behaviour adversely affecting the local environment as well
as the misuse of drugs in their area. (s6, Crime and Disorder Act
1998 as amended by s97 & s98 Police Reform Act 2002 and s1,
Clean Neighbourhoods & Environment Act 2005).
2. This guidance is aimed at CDRPs and Registered Social
Landlords in England. It focuses on the change in status of RSLs
within the membership structure of CDRPs in England, which took
place on 31 July 2007 and was designed to help create better
engagement and co-operation between RSLs and partnerships. The
guidance is at http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/housing/rslcrrpguidance
3. These changes occurred at the same time as the Home
Office's wider CDRP Reform Programme.
4. Further details on aspects of the reform programme, including
new 'Hallmarks of Effective Practice' for partnerships,
can be found within the Home Office publication 'Delivering
Safer Communities: A guide to effective partnership working'.
Copies of this publication can be obtained from the partnership
mini-site on the Crime Reduction website (http://www.crimereduction.gov.uk/regions/regions00.htm).
5. The guidance document, Registered Social Landlords and Crime
and Disorder Reduction Partnerships: Improving Engagement,
published today, sets out the practicalities to the change in
status for housing associations (from 'invitees to
participate' to 'co-operating bodies'.
News Releases: http://www.communities.gov.uk/newsroom