Agenda item

The purpose of the report is to notify to the Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee of the intention to take the Anti-Social Behaviour Policy to Cabinet.

The policy addresses how the Council will manage any anti-social behaviour of the occupants of Council owned housing stock.of the occupants of Council owned housing stock.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning introduced the report which concerned a new draft Anti-Social Behaviour Policy which addressed how the Council would manage any anti-social behaviour of occupants of Council owned housing stock. 

The Cabinet Member referred to the wide legal definition of anti-social behaviour which was outlined within the report. The policy covered issues such as neighbourhood disputes, high hedges and car parking.  The policy aimed to tackle the causes and the impact of anti-social behaviour in respect of housing.  To improve public perception and also build confidence and support victims and vulnerable people and detailed how the Council would manage anti-social behaviour. The policy also aimed to promote the wellbeing, safety and health of its tenants.  It was stated that incidents of anti-social behaviour within the district were low compared to other areas of the country. 

The Safer Lincolnshire Partnership was as countywide multi agency initiative whose approach recognised that no one organisation alone could deal with anti-social behaviour in isolation and therefore partnership working was central to the approach required.   The new policy sets out how anti-social behaviour could be reported and the powers and tools that the Council had at its disposal such as acceptable behaviour contracts and injunctions.

Consultation on the draft policy had been carried out in December 2023.

A question was asked in respect of the number of cases of anti-social behaviour that the Council had prior to the new policy and the routes that had been taken in respect of the behaviour.

The Head of Housing stated that she didn’t have the information to hand but she could bring back to the Committee that information.

Ø Action

That information in respect of the number of cases of anti-social behaviour be reported back to the next meeting of the Committee.

The request for information in respect of anti-social behaviour was echoed by the Vice-Chairman who was keen to see the information. He stated that he was often given anecdotal reports of anti-social on the estate that his Ward covered.

A comment was made that the policy did not mention shared facilities and various examples were given, the Member wanted to know whether specifics were included in tenancy agreements about how communal areas should be used.

It was noted that the new anti-social behaviour policy under pinned the policy framework within housing.  It complimented other policies with regard to the management of tenants and would include other documents such as the Tenancy Agreement and also the Tenancy and Estates Management Policy which was the next item on the agenda.   Along side that was support from the Neighbourhoods Team and other areas such as lease holders, private rented areas and owner occupiers to work together with the tools available to deal with issues.

The Tenancy Services Manager stated that there were other tools such as Good Neighbourhood Agreements which were voluntary agreements signed at the start of a tenancy where people agree to a set of behaviours in addition to those within a Tenancy Agreement.

Members welcomed the policy and supported its recommendation to Cabinet for adoption.

A question was asked in relation to anti-social behaviour when it occurs in social media, did the policy cover this aspect of anti-social behaviour.  Technically the policy could be amended to encompass this aspect however, it was very difficult to police.  The Housing Team would work along side the Police if an issue was raised but action would be pursued through the civil courts.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning stated that any instance of anti-social behaviour would be taken seriously.  The Policy gave clear guidance of how anti-social incidents would be dealt with and what the Council would do.  A question was asked about the timeframe, 10 days, to which it was stated that where possible a response would be given sooner rather than later.

Members welcomed the draft Policy and noted the content. It was proposed, seconded and AGREED to recommend the draft Policy to Cabinet for adoption.

Recommendation

That the Housing OSC recommends the draft South Kesteven District Council Anti-Social Behaviour Policy to Cabinet for adoption.