This symposium, taking place in the lead-up to Anti-social behaviour (ASB) Awareness Week (18-24 July), provides an invaluable opportunity to examine existing legislation and recent government initiatives designed to tackle ASB and support victims, and to assess the wider, underlying societal problems and policy failures that need to be addressed in order to make meaningful change in this area.
Programme
- Evaluate the effectiveness of the current legislative framework for dealing with ASB (ASBCPA Act) and discuss opportunities for reform
- Assess the use of the Community Trigger and identify methods to ensure it is accessible for victims and utilised in practice
- Examine how local authorities and registered providers (RPs) can prevent ASB and protect victims in their areas
- Explore opportunities to enhance the legal rights of victims of ASB, particularly through the proposed Victims’ Law
- Debate the success of government initiatives such as the Beating Crime Plan, and assess what more it can do to tackle ASB
- Analyse the role of the police and PCCs in dealing with ASB and how the response can be improved
- Assess the effectiveness of local responses to reports of ASB, and develop strategies for a more co-ordinated multi-agency response
- Raise awareness of the seriousness of ASB and its potentially devastating impacts upon victims, and identify methods to debunk the myth that it is a ‘low-level crime’
- Explore successful educational programs raising awareness of ASB within housing areas
- Assess the wider, underlying societal problems and policy failures that contribute to ASB
- Evaluate the impact of Covid-19 on levels of ASB in communities and discuss opportunities for targeted responses to increased tensions and isolated victims
- Reflect on the need to gather more data on instances of ASB and create a plan for the future
Responses