The Local Authority is one of the five ‘Responsible Authorities’ that have a statutory duty to tackle crime, anti-social behaviour, serious violence, substance misuse in Blaenau Gwent. The local authority along with the Police, Health, Probation and Fire and Rescue Service collaborate through the Community Safety Partnership to address these matters.
What is Anti-Social Behaviour?
The term ‘anti-social behaviour’ (ASB) is often used to describe a wide variety of behaviours, and some criminal behaviours. Section 2 of the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2014 defines anti-social behaviour as:
- conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person,
- conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person’s occupation of residential premises, or
- conduct capable of causing housing-related nuisance or annoyance to any person.
NB: The key words are harassment, alarm, distress, nuisance and annoyance.
How to Report Anti-Social Behaviour
The first step is to ensure incidents are reported appropriately to the relevant Agency which helps to raise awareness that there is a problem in your locality and increases the opportunity to identify those individuals responsible for the anti-social behaviour.
To report anti-social behaviour to Gwent Police, contact 101 for non-emergency or alternatively report online here
If the person(s) you are complaining about is a tenant/contract holder of a registered social housing provider reports of anti-social behaviour should be reported to the Housing Association (Links available in “External Links”)
You can also report some anti-social behaviour to Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council for example, dealing with noisy neighbours, civil parking enforcement, fly-tipping, dog fouling or straying animals, etc.
You can report ASB to the Council in the following ways:
- Via the Council’s Contact Centre on 01495 311556
- Via email at info@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk The information will be shared with the relevant department of the council to respond accordingly.
- Via My Council Services Link here
- Download the Blaenau Gwent mobile App, available 24/7.
A Multi-Agency Approach
The most effective way to tackle anti-social behaviour is to work in partnership. Key to this partnership are local Elected Members who act as community leaders and community advocates, residents and local businesses in those communities affected by such behaviour.
Where citizens are able to help us identify perpetrators of persistent anti-social behaviours, we have a well-established referral pathway to robustly address these. Such individuals will be supported through the Anti-Social Behaviour Perpetrator Case Management Group which may ultimately lead to a punitive court-based sanction.
The ASB Referral Process in Action
Anti-Social Behaviour Task Force
The multi-agency Anti-Social Behaviour Task Force has been established to respond to locally identified anti-social behaviour ‘hotspots’. The Task Force provides a rapid, co-ordinated and proportionate response to manage the identified criminal and anti-social behaviours evident in those identified ‘hotspot’ areas.
The (Anti-Social Behaviour) ASB Case Review (formerly known as the Community Trigger)
We know that, where left unchecked, anti-social behaviour can have an overwhelming impact on its victims and, in some cases, on the wider community.
The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 introduced specific measures designed to give victims and communities a say in the way that complaints of anti-social behaviour are dealt with.
This includes the Anti-Social Behaviour Case Review, formerly known as the community trigger, which gives victims of persistent anti-social behaviour reported to any of the main responsible agencies (such as the council, police, housing provider) the right to request a multi-agency case review where a local threshold is met.
Agencies, including local authorities, the police, local health teams and registered providers of social housing have a duty to carry out a case review when someone requests one and their case meets a locally defined threshold. For more information click here
If you feel your case meets the threshold for an ASB Case Review, please contact the Community Safety Team via Community.safety@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk
Agencies have a duty to publish data on the number of ASB Case Reviews received, how many met the threshold, and the number that resulted in further action. This is to ensure transparency of the system and not to judge the performance of the agencies in relation to anti-social behaviour casework.
Related Documents
Contact Information
Policy Team (Community Safety)
Telephone Number: 01495 311556
Email Address: Helena.hunt@blaenau-gwent.gov.uk