Antisocial behaviour approach 'not working'
The report says town centres are suffering from an "occupying army loose in the streets"
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Tuesday, 24, Jul 2007 08:48
The government has been criticised for its uncoordinated approach towards tackling antisocial behaviour in England and Wales.
An influential committee of MPs today said that the Home Office had failed to discover which of the "barrage" of antisocial behaviour measures introduced over the last ten years was the most effective.
According to the public accounts committee (PAC), despite the creation of the Antisocial Behaviour Unit, the cross-government Respect Task Force and this January's Respect Action Plan there has been "no comparative evaluation of success of approaches".
Home Office minister Tony McNulty insisted in response to the report that tackling antisocial behaviour, which costs local authorities in England and Wales £3.4 billion annually, was a "top priority" for the government.
PAC says that antisocial behaviour had brought "misery and despair" to local communities across the country, with its chairman stating that many town centres suffered from "an occupying army loose in the streets".
"A barrage of different antisocial behaviour measures was introduced ten years ago but the Home Office has not done any work nationwide to find out which ones work best," Edward Leigh said.
Mr Leigh was speaking after the National Audit Office (NAO) found earlier this year that 20 per cent of people issued with Asbos (antisocial behaviour orders) received half of the total handed out.
"The NAO found evidence that, for many tearaways, a simple and cheap warning letter was enough to deter further bad behaviour. But the government has not collected any information on the effectiveness of different measures on different groups of offenders," he continued.
"Enforcement action against these people must be absolutely rigorous and, where they persist in their breaches of orders, there should be no hesitation in bringing prosecutions.
"The Home Office is notorious for a number of recent episodes where it provided duff information. The department should pull itself together," Mr Leigh concluded.
Mr McNulty however claimed that the government's antisocial behaviour measures were working, with 94 per cent of local authority areas reporting a fall in the perception of antisocial behaviour.
But he vowed the Home Office was not being complacent. "We have equipped local authorities, the police and other agencies with unprecedented tools and powers to deal with perpetrators," the minister said.
"We recognise the importance of sharing best practice and ensuring consistency across the country.
"We recognise that there are a small minority of offenders committing the vast majority of antisocial behaviour and expect enforcement action to be rigorous."