Community Relations Unit
Established in 2004 as part of the Government’s drive to tackle Antisocial Behaviour Conflict Resolution Services comprise of the Community Relations Unit, Registered Social Landlord Service and the Mediation Service.
CSG recognise that antisocial behaviour can take many forms and can impact on the lives of both individuals and whole communities. In response to this we have developed a multi skilled team who have developed a range of specialist skills to help us deal with personal relationships, neighbour disputes, persistent offenders and youth disorder.
The main focus of the team has been to resolve antisocial behaviour by advocating appropriate support measures and early intervention. The CSG approach & ethos of early intervention is fully in line with best practice outlined in the Scottish Government and CoSLAs jointly published Antisocial Behaviour Framework (2009)11.
Community Relations Officers will investigate your complaint by interviewing complainers and witnesses, gathering statements, obtain information from other agencies and may even use surveillance in order assess the most appropriate means of resolving the complaint.
What is antisocial behaviour?
- A course of conduct that causes alarm or distress to someone of a different household
- For example regular very loud music, regular noisy parties, threats and harassment, vandalism
- What is unlikely to be covered as ASB include children playing, walking on laminate floors, parking and boundary disputes
- Matters where formal action is not likely can be dealt with by Mediation
How do I report antisocial behaviour?
- If its an ongoing incident call you local Police
- If you are a housing association tenant call your housing officer in the first instance
- For all other calls phone the 24hr ASB helpline or e-mail
What will the Community Relations Unit Do?
- Speak to you and listen to your problem
- Assess the nature of the complaint
- Investigate further e.g. speak to witnesses, get reports from Police, possibly even surveillance etc
- Recommend possible solutions where appropriate e.g. mediation
- Work in partnership with other agencies
- Where appropriate issue warnings up to and ultimately including going to court for an ASBO
If we can progress your complaint using the ASB legislation you will have to
- Keep a diary of incidents
- Keep the investigating officer up to date with what’s happening
- Be prepared to go to court if the matter is not resolved through warnings and support measures
- To go to court investigators need supporting evidence (corroboration) of the incidents e.g. from other people, Noise Team or Police witnesses
How long will the investigation take?
- Investigations can range from weeks to a couple of years dependant on the complexity of the issue
What is an ASBO
- An ASBO is a court order to stop someone doing something that a court determines as causing alarm or distress
- If breached it is a criminal offence where the person can be arrested carrying penalties of up to £5,000 and/or 6 months in prison on summary conviction
- It can also affect the tenancy of those in rented property
Do ASBOs Work?
- Yes!
- The warnings and support offered most often resolve the complaint prior to court action
- If an ASBO is required then either the behaviour stops or the person will face strong action from the Police, and recent strong sentencing from Glasgow Sherriff court includes 6 and 4 month prison sentences, bail conditions for an offender not to return to their own home, and in cases involving rented property breaching an ASBO mostly results in an eviction.
If formal action is required officers will issue warnings, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts, Unacceptable Behaviour Notices and ultimately prepare the case for court action to obtain Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs). ASBOs are court orders which if breached are arrestable and carry penalties of up to 6 months in prison and/or maximum fines of £5,000 on summary conviction.
In the year 2010/2011 several prison terms (including one for 6 months) resulted from breaches of ASBOs within Glasgow. An ASBO and associated formal action can also put any social or private tenancy at risk.
Conflict Resolution Services brings Mediation Officers and Community Relations Officers together in an integrated process where Mediation Officers with support and early intervention skills deal with initial and low level antisocial behaviour complaints resulting in a mediative approach being implemented at the earliest stage. This enables an increased “sustainable” resolution rate for antisocial behaviour complaints without the need to resort to escalated enforcement and court action.
In the last year the core service dealt with 699 cases and 958 enquiries.The Conflict Resolution Service Registered Social Landlords (RSL) team deliver the antisocial behaviour service to 27 Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) across Glasgow.
The team receive referrals of serious antisocial behaviour from client RSLs. This specialist service delivers additional investigatory support and escalation to this sector thereby enabling a joined up and robust response to all antisocial behaviour.
The team assisting client RSLs have investigated a further 282 cases and 217 enquires in the last year.
Examples of this approach in practice include
- advocating support at every stage of our antisocial behaviour process to ensure that anyone who needs support has the right support and access to this;
- Enforcement visits – the purpose of the visit is to speak to the perpetrator to explain the impact of antisocial behaviour on communities, the implications on the individual should this continue and to offer support e.g. information on diversionary activities and referrals to local support and employment providers;
In the past year focused enforcement has resulted in 5 Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) and 1 ASBO granted on conviction (CrASBO) in a domestic abuse situation. The service was the first in Scotland to obtain CrASBO for both racial and domestic abuse cases.
The CRU team is an integral component in the CSG Offender Management process and has engaged with a wide range of young people to raise awareness of the impact on the community and possible implications of continuing antisocial behaviour. This has resulted in 5962 warning letters for first-time offenders and 1527 visits for second-time offenders.
Facts and Figures
In 2010/11 the unit issued 282 Antisocial Behaviour Enforcement Measures to those engaging in more persistent antisocial behaviour.