Targeting Anti-Social Behaviour

Transcription

1 Targeting Anti-Social Behaviour The Use of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders in Scotland Funded by The Scottish Executive SCOTTISH EXECUTIVE

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3 THE CHARTERED INSTITUTE OF HOUSING IN SCOTLAND The Chartered Institute of Housing is the professional body for people in housing and related fields. The Institute has over 17,000 members in the UK and internationally. Our purpose is to maximise the contribution that housing professionals make to the wellbeing of communities. There are over 1,600 members in Scotland working in local authorities, housing associations, housing cooperatives, Communities Scotland, voluntary organisations, the private sector and educational institutions. Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland, October 2003 CIH in Scotland gratefully acknowledges the project funding received from the Scottish Executive for this publication. For further copies of this report, please contact: Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland 6 Palmerston Place Edinburgh EH12 5AA Tel: Fax: scotland@cih.org

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5 Contents Page Summary Introduction Background What are Anti-Social Behaviour Orders? The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act Changes to Data Collection for the Report About the Report ASBO Actions Number of ASBOs granted by the Sheriff Court ASBO Applications ASBO Actions by Local Authority Applications Not Granted by Sheriff Court Requests Received by Local Authorities to Pursue ASBOs Source and Number of Requests ASBOs and Housing Tenure ASBOs Applied for and Granted by Tenure ASBOs Granted by Tenure Since Overall ASBO Actions by Tenure Since Their Introduction ASBO Administration ABSO Application Timescales Duration of ASBOs Breaches of ASBOs Action on Alleged Breaches Breached ASBOs Additional Action Following a Breached ASBO The Impact of ASBOs on Behaviour Changes in Conduct Conclusion 22 5

6 Summary The report is the fourth in a series commissioned by the Scottish Executive to monitor the use of Anti- Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) in Scotland. ASBOs were introduced by the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and came into force in April The period covered by this report, 1 December 2001 to 31 March 2003 is divided into two periods: 1 December November 2002 and the four month period from 1 December March This approach has been taken in order to move to an April to March cycle for forthcoming reports, in line with other statistics gathered on behalf of the Executive. 1. Since their introduction on 1 April 1999 a total of 226 ASBOs have been awarded by the Sheriff Court in Scotland. 72 ASBOs were awarded in the first period (01/12/01 30/11/02) and 27 in the second (01/12/02 31/03/03). 2. Since their introduction on 1 April 1999 there have been a total of 368 ASBO applications made to the Sheriff Court. 93 were made in the first period, and 64 in the second. 3. There is a wide variation by local authority area on the use of ABSOs. Fife and North Lanarkshire account for 48% of all ASBOs awarded in the first period, and 51% in the second. 4. An increasing proportion of ASBO applications have been resulting in ASBOs being awarded applications did not result in an ASBO being granted in the first period, and 37 in the second. This was largely due to the court process extending beyond the survey period, but also includes applications withdrawn or rejected by the Sheriff. 33 of the 37 ASBOs applied for in the second period were still going through the court process on 31 March Local authorities received 127 requests asking them to pursue ASBOs in the first period and 82 in the second. The majority of these came from the local authority housing sector, and the majority of requests were for ASBOs against people in that sector. 7. As a consequence of this pattern, the majority of ASBO applications were made against local authority tenants or members of their households - 84 out of 93 applications in the first period, and 50 out of 64 in the second. 8. Where tenure is known, 89% of all ASBOs granted since their introduction on 1 April 1999 have been against local authority tenants or members of their household % of ASBOs were granted in three months or less in the first period, and 66% in the second. 10. Over 50% of ASBOs awarded in the first period, and slightly fewer than 50% in the second, had an enforcement period of two years or more. 30% and 60% respectively were for between six months and one year. 11. Over the total period surveyed, there were 118 alleged breaches of ASBOs. 62 of these resulted in a prosecution in the Sheriff Court. However, not all local authorities were able to report on action taken on breaches. It is known that over the total survey period, the Sheriff Court ruled that 32 ASBOs had been breached. A range of sentences were handed out from imprisonment to an admonishment. 12. In 15 cases of breach of an ASBO, it is known that eviction proceedings were also taken against the person. 13. Where local authorities gave a view on whether the grant of an ASBO had resulted in a change in behaviour, 62% reported an improvement in behaviour. 26% reported no noticeable change, and 11% reported deterioration: in such cases, the behaviour may constitute a breach, which can be prosecuted as a criminal offence. 6

7 1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background This study is funded by the Scottish Executive to collate information on the use of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) in Scotland. It is the fourth year that these figures have been collected. The report presents both the findings of the data collection for this period (1 December November 2002 and 1 December March 2003). It also provides some information on the use of ASBOs over the preceding years, since their introduction on 1 April The extended period was looked at to allow reporting to move onto an April to March reporting cycle. 1.2 What are Anti-Social Behaviour Orders? ASBOs were introduced by the Crime and Disorder Act They are a civil measure that can be used as a tool to address anti-social behaviour by putting a bar on certain types of behaviour or preventing a person from being present in a specified area. Until 27 June 2003 only local authorities in Scotland had the power to apply for an ASBO. From that date, as a result of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act , registered social landlords (RSLs) have also been given the power to apply for ASBOs. This Act also introduced interim-asbos. Anyone can make a request to a local authority (or RSL where appropriate) for an ASBO to be pursued against a person whose behaviour is alleged to be anti-social. The local authority or RSL then has the power to undertake initial investigations before deciding whether there is a case to make an application to the Sheriff Court for an ASBO. An ASBO application is made to the Sheriff Court by a local authority or RSL. Having weighed up the evidence the Sheriff may grant an ASBO. The Sheriff will determine the scope of the ASBO and this may cover: The behaviour that is prohibited, The location or area if any that the person is prohibited from visiting, The period of time for which the ASBO will apply. An alleged breach of an ASBO can be prosecuted in the Sheriff Court. An alleged breach can be investigated by the police and report submitted to the Procurator Fiscal. The Procurator Fiscal will make the final determination on whether to proceed with an action for breaching an ASBO in the Sheriff Court. Where court action does take place a number of options are available to the Sheriff. After weighing up the evidence if they find that a breach has occurred, a number of sentences are available including imprisonment, a fine or an admonishment. Depending on the housing tenure of the person who has breached an ASBO that is in force against them further action may also be possible by their landlord such as eviction. 1.3 The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 received Royal Assent on the 26th of March 2003 and amends the Crime and Disorder Act As well as extending the power to apply for ASBOs to RSLs and introducing interim ASBOs, the Act also places a new duty on local authorities and the police to jointly prepare and publish anti-social behaviour strategies. This section of the legislation has not yet been enacted. 1 The CIH in Scotland has produced a briefing on the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 in relation to the new powers and duties relating to anti-social behaviour. 7

8 1.4 Changes to Data Collection for the Report This report covers the use of ASBOs by local authorities in the periods 1 December November 2002 and 1 December March This represents a change in the data collection periods to bring the information into line with other Scottish Executive data collection periods. Data was previously collected on a December to November cycle because the ASBO information was collected along with information on evictions for anti-social behaviour, using grounds in the Crime and Disorder Act The revised eviction grounds came into force on 1 December 1998 thus data collection ran from this period. The Scottish Executive has been collecting figures on evictions for anti-social behaviour since 1 April 2001 and this study is no longer required to collect these figures. With this report the opportunity has been taken to bring the data collection periods for ASBOs into line with other data collection periods. For that reason figures have been collected for the four months up until 31 March About the Report The CIH sent a questionnaire survey to all Scottish local authorities. 27 returned the questionnaire and the remaining five reported back that they had not taken any ASBO action in the relevant periods. The figures presented in this report are based on this information and cover all 32 local authorities. RSLs were not included as the dates covered are prior to the implementation of the section of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 giving RSLs the power to apply for ASBOs. Local authorities were asked to present data on a number of areas of the ASBO process. This included: Requests made to the local authority to pursue ASBO applications, Requests that resulted in an ASBO application, The outcome of applications, Information on alleged breaches, Action taken on alleged breaches, Further action on breached ASBOs. This data also looked at housing tenure issues given that local authorities powers extend to applying for ASBOs across all tenures and also where the anti-social behaviour is not related to a tenure issue such as in shopping centres. The research follows on from earlier research by the CIH in , , Comparisons with the earlier research are made throughout the report. The four pieces of research build up a picture of the use ASBOs since their introduction on 1 April The Crime and Disorder Act the use of section 23 evictions for anti-social behaviour, The Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland 2000 Monitoring The Crime and Disorder Act 1998 An analysis of evictions for anti-social behaviour and the use of anti social behaviour orders: 1 December November 2000, The Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland 2001 Crime and Disorder Act 1998 and Anti-Social Behaviour in Scotland A study of the use of Evictions and ASBOs in Scotland, The Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland Source - Home Office Research Development & Statistics Directorate 8

9 2.0 ASBO Actions 2.1 Number of ASBOs granted by the Sheriff Court Table 1 details the number of ASBOs that have been granted in Scotland by year since their introduction on 1 April Table 1 Number of ASBOs Granted Since Introduced Period Granted No. of ASBOs 01/04/99 30/11/ /12/99 30/11/ /12/00-30/11/ /12/01 30/11/ /12/02 31/03/03 27 Total local authorities were successful in being granted one or more ASBOs between 01 December 2001 and 30 November 2002 (see table 4). In the previous year 13 local authorities were successful in obtaining one or more ASBOs. Only one local authority made any ASBO applications that did not result in an ASBO being awarded. In 2000/01 six authorities made ASBO applications without an ASBO subsequently being awarded. The number of ASBOs granted per year has been showing a relativity steady increase. If the four month figure for 01/12/02 31/03/03 is extrapolated to the end of November 2003 a total figure for the period 01/12/02-31/11/03 would be about 81. However, this figure does not take account of RSLs new powers to apply for ASBOs or the introduction of interim ASBOs. The trend in the number of ASBOs granted would suggest that by the beginning of December 2003 a total of just over 270 ASBOs will have been granted in Scotland since their introduction. Table 2 looks at the use of ASBOs in England, Wales and Scotland. While more ASBOs have been awarded in England since their introduction on 1 April , on a per head of population basis it can be seen that Scotland has been taking a greater advantage of ASBO availability with nearly 4.5 ASBOs for every 100,000 people as opposed to just over 2 per 100,000 in England. Table 2 ASBOs Awarded by UK Country * Country Total ASBOs Granted Number of ASBOs Granted 01/04/99 31/03/03 per 100,000 of population England Scotland Wales Total * ASBOs do not apply in Northern Ireland 2.2 ASBO Applications Table 3 shows the number of applications made to the Sheriff Court for an ASBO since their introduction in Comparing these findings with Table 1 it can be seen that 77% of ASBO applications resulted in an ASBO being granted in However, only 42% of applications have resulted in ASBOs to date in This is largely due to 33 of the 64 ASBO applications either having not yet been heard by the Sheriff Court or the case was still ongoing in court at the time the survey form was completed (see Table 19). 9

10 Table 3 Number of ASBOs Applications to Sheriff Court Period of Application No. of Applications 01/04/99 30/11/ /12/99 30/11/ /12/00-30/11/ /12/01 30/11/ /12/02 31/03/03 64 Total 368 The number of applications made in the four month period of is only 30 less than for the preceding year which may indicate that some local authorities are opting to pursue more ASBOs. Figure 1 ASBO Requests and ABSOs Granted by Year ASBO Applications ABSO Granted* /04/99-30/11/99 01/12/99-30/11/00 01/12/00-30/11/01 01/12/01-30/11/02 01/12/02-31/03/03 * The difference between ASBO applications and ASBOs granted includes applications not determined by the court in the recording period. 2.3 ASBO Actions by Local Authority Table 4 and table 5 show the number of ABSOs applied for by each local authority and the number granted by the Sheriff Court. ASBOs not shown as granted may be granted in the next recording period. 10

11 Table 4 ASBOs Granted by Local Authority for Period 01/12/01 30/11/02 Local Authority ASBO ASBOs Local ASBO ASBOs Applications Granted Authority Applications Granted Aberdeen Highland 5 4 Aberdeenshire 1 1 Inverclyde 0 0 Angus 0 0 Midlothian 1 1 Argyll & Bute 0 0 Moray 3 2 City of Edinburgh North Ayrshire 0 0 Clackmannanshire North Lanarkshire Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 0 0 Orkney Islands 1 1 Dumfries & Galloway 2 1 Perth & Kinross 0 0 Dundee 4 3 Renfrewshire East Ayrshire Scottish Borders 4 4 East Dunbartonshire 0 0 Shetland Islands 0 0 East Lothian 0 0 South Ayrshire 0 0 East Renfrewshire 0 0 South Lanarkshire 9 5 Falkirk Stirling 1 1 Fife West Dunbartonshire Glasgow 3 3 West Lothian Total Specialist anti-social behaviour team identified by Not Reinventing the Wheel 5 2 This does not mean that 21 have been refused see Table 19 Table 5 ASBOs Granted by Local Authority for Period 01/12/02 31/03/03 Local Authority ASBO ASBOs Local ASBO ASBOs Applications Granted Authority Applications Granted Aberdeen1 3 3 Highland 0 0 Aberdeenshire 0 0 Inverclyde 0 0 Angus 1 0 Midlothian 0 0 Argyll & Bute 0 0 Moray 1 1 City of Edinburgh North Ayrshire 0 0 Clackmannanshire North Lanarkshire Comhairle nan Eilean Siar 0 0 Orkney Islands 0 0 Dumfries & Galloway 2 0 Perth & Kinross 1 0 Dundee 4 3 Renfrewshire East Ayrshire Scottish Borders 4 1 East Dunbartonshire 0 0 Shetland Islands 0 0 East Lothian 0 0 South Ayrshire 0 0 East Renfrewshire 0 0 South Lanarkshire 11 0 Falkirk Stirling 2 1 Fife West Dunbartonshire Glasgow 1 0 West Lothian Total Specialist anti-social behaviour team identified by Not Reinventing the Wheel 5 2 This does not mean that 37 have been refused see Table 19 11

12 The tables clearly show that there is a wide variation in the number of ASBOs both applied for and obtained by local authorities. The figures on ASBO applications may be more representative of a local authority s attitude toward ASBOs. However, it cannot be inferred from the tables that some local authorities are not proactive in tackling anti-social behaviour. ASBOs are only one of many tools available to local authorities to address anti-social behaviour. Others include mediation, acceptable behaviour contracts, and interdicts. The Scottish Executive has published research looking at the role of mediation in tackling anti-social behaviour which found that mediation has a positive role to play in tackling many neighbour disputes 4. Some local authorities have specialist teams to deal with anti-social behaviour 5. These are identified in the above table (it should be noted that some local authorities may have developed teams since the compilation of Not Reinventing the Wheel. Fife Council and North Lanarkshire Council have been by far the most active in pursing ASBOs. Between them they accounted for 44% of all ASBO applications between 1 December 2001 and 30 November 2002 and 38% between 1 December 2002 and 31 March They were responsible for 48% of all ASBOs granted between 1 December 2001 and 30 November 2002 and 51% between 1 December 2002 and 31 March Applications Not Granted by Sheriff Court Not all the ABSO applications that are made to the Sheriff Court will result in an ASBO being granted. There are several reasons as to why an application may fail, including the Sheriff rejecting the application because the case for it has not been successfully made or the local authority withdrawing the application because of a change in circumstances. Some applications may not have been heard or the case may still have been ongoing at the time when the survey was completed. Table 6 gives details of the reason for ASBOs not being granted. Table 6 ASBOs Applications Not Granted Year Year ASBO Application Outcome 01/12/01-30/11/02 01/12/02-31/03/03 Withdrawn by Local authority 13 4 Rejected by Sheriff 2 0 Not heard or ongoing 6 33 Total ASBO applications were either still outstanding or ongoing at the time the survey forms for were completed. This bulk of this was due to the ASBO application not having been determined. 4 The Role of Mediation In Tackling Neighbour Disputes and Anti-Social Behaviour, Alison P Brown, Aileen Barclay, Richard Simmons, Susan Eley Dept. of Applied Social Science Stirling University, Scottish Executive Details of these can be found in Not Reinventing the Wheel A Directory of Current Practice in Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour by Scottish Local Authorities, The Scottish Executive

13 3.0 Requests Received by Local Authorities to Pursue ASBOs 3.1 Source and Number of Requests Local Authorities have until recently been the only body in Scotland able to pursue ASBOs. All requests for ASBOs have therefore had to be channelled through the local authority reflecting their key role as the strategic response to anti-social behaviour. Table 7 and table 8 give details of the total number of requests received by local authorities and where they have originated. The tables also break these figures down by the housing occupancy of the alleged perpetrator. Table 7 ASBO Requests 1 December November 2002 Source of ASBO Request Type of housing Local Local RSL/HA Owner Private Police Other Total 3 occupancy of Authority Authority or Co-op occupiers landlord person indicted Housing 1 Others 2 In relation to council tenants or their households In relation to RSL / HA / co-op tenants or their households In relation to owner occupiers or their households In relation to private tenants or their households Other non-tenancy related issues e.g. in a retail or leisure environment Total Where request has come from within the housing department or section or from a tenant of the local authority 2 Where another department or section has raised the initial request e.g. social work, legal etc. 3 e.g. retailers, tenants groups, representative bodies Table 8 ASBO Requests 1 December March 2003 Source of ASBO Request Type of housing Local Local RSL/HA Owner Private Police Other Total 3 occupancy of Authority Authority or Co-op occupiers landlord person indicted Housing 1 Others 2 In relation to council tenants or their households In relation to RSL / HA / co-op tenants or their households

14 Source of ASBO Request Type of housing Local Local RSL/HA Owner Private Police Other Total 3 occupancy of Authority Authority or Co-op occupiers landlord person indicted Housing 1 Others 2 In relation to owner occupiers or their households In relation to private tenants or their households Other non-tenancy related issues e.g. in a retail or leisure environment Total Where request has come from within the housing department or from a tenant of the local authority 2 Where another department or section has raised the initial request e.g. social work, legal etc. 3 e.g. retailers, tenants groups, representative bodies Looking at the totals of these slightly complex tables it can be seen that requests for ABSOs are being generated mainly from within the local authority housing sector. Furthermore the majority of requests are for action against local authority tenants or members of their household. 14

15 4.0 ASBOs and Housing Tenure 4.1 ASBOs Applied for and Granted by Tenure Table 9 shows ASBO actions by tenure from 1 December November It relates to the housing tenure of the person alleged to be the perpetrator of the anti-social behaviour. This person may be the sole or main tenant / owner of the property or a member of their household. Table 9 ASBO Actions by Housing Tenure from 1 December November 2002 Housing Tenure ASBO Applications ASBOs Granted Local Authority Tenant RSL Tenant 4 3 Owner Occupier 3 3 Private Rented Sector 2 1 Other non-tenancy Total This relates to behaviour connected with for example actions in or around shopping centres or leisure facilities During the study period local authorities were the only organisation or agency able to apply to the Sheriff Court for an ASBO 6. This gives them a strategic responsibility for taking action against anti-social behaviour within their boundaries, regardless of the housing tenure of the alleged perpetrator. Table 8 shows that by far the majority of actions were taken against tenants (or members of their household) of local authority housing. Table 10 ASBO Actions by Housing Tenure from 1 December March 2003 Housing Tenure ASBO Applications ASBOs Granted Local Authority Tenant RSL Tenant 1 0 Owner Occupier 10 3 Private Rented Sector 2 1 Other non-tenancy Total Again the majority of actions have been targeted at local authority tenants or their households. However, significantly more actions were raised against owner-occupiers in the four month period to 31 March 2003 that in the previous twelve month period. Five local authorities (Angus, Dumfries & Galloway, Dundee, North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire) were responsible for these actions. South Lanarkshire pursued ASBOs against five owner-occupiers. In the previous twelve months two local authorities took action against owner-occupiers (City of Edinburgh and North Lanarkshire). Five of these authorities are reported as having established links or partnership working with the private sector ASBOs Granted by Tenure Since 1999 Table 11 sets out ASBOs awarded by tenure type since their introduction in April % of all ASBOs awarded, where the tenure is known, are against local authority tenants or a member of their household. This figure remains relatively constant over the years running between 89% 90% of all awarded ASBOs. 6 The power to apply for ASBOs was extended to RSLs from 26 June 2003 by the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act Not Reinventing the Wheel A Directory of Current Practice in Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour by Scottish Local Authorities, The Scottish Executive

16 Table 11 Total Number of ASBOs Granted by Tenure Tenure 01/04/99-01/12/99-01/12/00-01/12/01-01/12/02- Total 30/11/99 30/11/00 30/11/01 30/11/02 31/03/03 Local Authority N/A RSL N/A Owner-occupier N/A PRS N/A Other N/A Total The total does not reflect that some ASBOs are still in pipeline See Table 19 2 This total does not include data from 01/04/99-30/11/99 when details of tenure type were not recorded 4.3 Overall ASBO Actions by Tenure Since Their Introduction Table 12 illustrates the breakdown of all ASBO requests, actions and awards across tenure in percentage terms. For comparative purposes the table includes a breakdown of Scotland s total housing stock by tenure expressed as a percentage of the total stock. Table 12 ASBO Requests and Actions by Tenure 01/12/01 31/03/03 Housing Tenure ASBO Requests ASBO Applications ASBOs Granted Size of tenure (as % of (as % of (as % of (as % of total requests) total actions) total awards) total Stock) 1 Local Authority RSL Owner Occupier PRS Other Total Taken from Statistical Bulletin Housing Series (HSG/2003/4), Scottish Executive, July 2003 The table clearly demonstrates the extent to which ASBO activity is currently geared toward tackling antisocial behaviour issues in the local authority rented sector. 16

17 5.0 ASBO Administration 5.1 ABSO Application Timescales Since their introduction manly local authorities and other agencies have expressed concerns over the length of time it takes to get ASBOs granted. On 27 June 2003 the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 introduced interim-asbos partly in response to these concerns. Table 13 highlights the length of time it took to get ASBOs applications through the Sheriff court. This refers to the time taken from the local authority lodging the ASBO application with the Sheriff Court to the decision on the application being made. Table 13 - Time Taken For ASBO Applications to be Concluded Length of Time ASBO granted (number) 01/12/01 30/11/02 01/12/02 31/03/03 Less than 2 weeks weeks months months months 9 2 More than 9 months 2 0 Total Total figure does not match total number of ASBOs awarded as not all local authorities were able to provide this information. 69% of ASBO applications that resulted in an ASBO being granted were concluded in three month or less in and 66% so far in % were concluded in less than a month. In it took four months or more to grant 48% of ASBO applications. There has been an improvement with 30% of ASBO applications taking four months or more in and 33% in Duration of ASBOs Table 14 sets out the length of time ASBOs have been awarded for by the Sheriff Court. The Sheriff has discretion over how long to award an ASBO for. This will generally be based upon the evidence presented and the seriousness of the anti-social behaviour. Table 14 Duration of ASBOS ASBO Duration Number of ASBOs 1 Dec Nov Dec March 2003 < 6 months months 1 year years 8 2 >2 years Total The most common duration for an awarded ASBO to apply is either between six months one year or for more than two years. Over 50% of ASBOs awarded in and slightly fewer than 50% in were for more than two years. Over 30% of ASBOs awarded in and just over 50% in were for between six months and one year. In contrast only slightly over 10% and under 10% were for a period of between one and two years in the respective periods. 17

18 18 Fife Council area accounts for 47% of all the ASBOs with a duration of more that two years in North Lanarkshire Council area accounts for 65% of all ASBOs with a duration of between six months and one year in All the ASBOs granted in total in North Lanarkshire, were for between six months and one year. For Fife Council area the figure is 85% of all ASBOs applying for more than two years. However, despite this it is difficult to determine from the figures whether Sheriff Courts in different parts of Scotland have a tendency to award ASBOs for different periods as the nature of the offence will also play a part in the length of the award.

19 6.0 Breaches of ASBOs 6.1 Action on Alleged Breaches Since 1 December 2001 there have been 118 alleged breaches of ASBOs. This is based on information provided by local authorities. This figure may include ASBOs awarded prior to 1 December 2001 but where the alleged breach has taken place since 1 December It may also include multiple alleged breaches; that is more than one breach of the same ASBO. Table 15 presents information on the final action taken in investigating an alleged breach. Table 15 Action on Alleged Breaches Outcome Number of Cases No action taken 0 Person visited by member of council staff and no further action taken 0 Person visited by police but no subsequent action taken 7 Person detained for investigation by police but no subsequent action taken 0 Alleged breach was prosecuted 62 Don t know 49 Total 118 At least 46% of alleged breaches appear to have resulted in a prosecution at the Sheriff Court. However, it was report that in 56 cases the local authority did not know at the time of reporting, the outcome of an alleged breach. 6.2 Breached ASBOs Not all local authorities were able to report on actions on breaches. From the 62 known alleged breaches that resulted in a prosecution before the Sheriff Court local authorities only had information that 32 of these were adjudged to be breaches of the ASBO. Table 16 sets out what action the Sheriff Court took on the 32 reported breached ASBOs. Table 16 Sheriff Court Action on Breached ASBOs Sheriff s Ruling Number of cases Person admonished 7 Person fined 8 Community Service Order 1 Suspended sentence 4 Probation 3 Prison term 9 Total 32 In a further 30 cases the local authority did not know the outcome of the prosecution. 19

20 6.3 Additional Action Following a Breached ASBO Where an ASBO has been breached a number of other options may be taken in addition to any penalty imposed by the Sheriff Court. Landlords can take eviction action, or in the social rented sector can convert the tenant s Scottish Secure Tenancy (SST) to a Short Scottish Secure Tenancy (SSST) (this option is available to landlords offering an SST when the ASBO is granted). 8 A further ASBO could also be sought. Table 17 presents details of the number of additional actions that were pursued by following a breach of an ASBO. Table 17 - Other Action on Breached ASBOs Action Taken Number of Cases Applied to Sheriff Court for further ASBO 6 Local authority took eviction proceedings against person (irrespective of outcome) 13 RSL took eviction proceedings against person (irrespective of outcome) 2 Private landlord took eviction action against person 0 Local authority converted tenancy to Short Scottish Secure Tenancy 3 RSL converted tenancy to Short Scottish Secure Tenancy 0 Total 24 The data refers to known actions that were taken. It therefore does not provide an authoritative data source. For example it is possible that a private landlord may have taken eviction proceedings and the local authority would not necessarily have known about this 9. Eviction action by both local authorities and RSLs appears to be the most commonly used option. 8 SSTs and SSSTs were introduced by the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 and have been in place since 30 September They replace the previous Secure Tenancy and Assured Tenancy regime in the social rented sector. 9 This will change with the implementation of the Homelessness etc. (Scotland) Act 2003 whereby all landlords will be under a duty to inform the relevant local authority of any eviction proceedings they are taking. 20

21 7.0 The Impact of ASBOs on Behaviour 7.1 Changes in Conduct The key function of an ASBO is to prevent a person from exhibiting a particular type of behaviour in a particular location. An important element of an ASBO should therefore be to seek to change a person s behaviour or conduct. To some extent determining changes in behaviour is subjective and requires close monitoring of the person s behaviour. However, local authorities were asked to indicate if they had perceived a change in behaviour of those people who had had an ASBO granted against them in the and period. Table 18 presents the results. Table 18 Perceived Change in Behaviour Number of ASBOs Person s Conduct 01/12/01-30/11/02 01/12/02-31/03/03 Improved No change 15 7 Got worse 8 2 Don t know 9 5 Total Where local authorities gave a view on whether the ASBO resulted in a change in behaviour, 62% reported a perceived improvement in behaviour in the period 01/12/01 31/03/03. Where behaviour reportedly got worse (11%) or stayed the same (26%), it is likely that a breach would occur and this could be dealt with as a criminal offence. 21

22 8.0 Conclusion The use of ASBOs varies across Scotland. This does not mean, however, that local authorities not using ASBOs are not tackling anti-social behaviour effectively. They may be employing alternative methods to deal with the issues. ASBOs are only one tool in the armoury of actions available to address anti-social behaviour. The number of ASBOs granted yearly has continued to rise since their introduction in This is despite the number of applications remaining relatively steady and indeed falling slightly in This suggests that there is an increasingly greater success rate at converting ASBO applications into ASBOs. The focus for ASBOs has still been dominated by action against local authority tenants. Despite local authorities being charged with a strategic function in relation to ASBOs, it appears that requests to pursue ASBOs against people in other tenures are limited. Once granted ASBOs are perceived in many cases to result in improvements in behaviour. There have been a significant number of breaches, including multiple breaches of the same ASBO, which have been addressed in a range of ways. The study suggests that ASBOs are becoming a significant tool in addressing anti-social behaviour. The use of ASBOs by local authorities appears to be increasing. It is likely that the introduction of interim ASBOs and the extension of the power to take out an ASBO to RSLs (which came into effect 27 June 2003), will lead to a further increase in their use. 22

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24 Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland 6 Palmerston Place Edinburgh EH12 5AA Tel: Fax: scotland@cih.org