How we Tackle Anti Social Behaviour

We will take steps to try and prevent ASB from occurring in the first place. We do this through our Allocations Policy and lettings process along with providing diversionary activities in the community.

We are committed to ensuring you can enjoy a quiet and peaceful life in your home. We will not tolerate customers being abused, harassed or subjected to noise, nuisance or other ASB from those around them.

All incidents are different and the time taken to complete the investigation and take appropriate action will depend on the circumstances of the individual case.

We work with the Police and other agencies, where necessary, to resolve matters as soon as possible.

When you report ASB

When you first report ASB or harassment to us, we will ask you for full details of what has happened.

The information you give us will help us decide what action, if any, to take.

Questions we may ask:

• What happened?
• When did it happen?
• Who witnessed the incident?
• Have you reported the incident to anyone else (e.g. Police)?
• Where did it happen?
• Who was involved?
• Is this the first incident or has it been happening for a while?

How we deal with ASB

A Community Sustainment Officer will triage the reported incident against the ASB & Crime Act 2014.

If the incident is not considered ASB, it will be passed to the Housing
Team who will provide advice and support.

If the incident is considered ASB, our Community Sustainment Team will contact you to discuss in confidence, the nature of the incident and the possible course of action that may be taken. They will then prepare and agree with you an Action Plan to address your complaint.

Incident Diaries

In most cases we will issue you with an Incident Diary to complete. The diaries provide important information that will help us with our investigation. They also provide good evidence if they are written at the time of the incident to support any legal action taken. This information
will help a Judge to understand what you have suffered if the matter goes to Court.

Throughout the investigation, we will continue to monitor and record ongoing work and aim to contact you every 10 working days.

If, at any stage of the investigation, it is felt that an appropriate intervention could be used, you will be advised of this, what is involved and an estimated timescale for completion.

We will provide assistance and support to any witnesses throughout and will stay in regular contact to give updates on our progress.

Other types of evidence

Incident Diaries are not the only source of evidence we use. Anything that supports your report and helps us to prove someone has caused harassment or ASB can be used. These could include:

• Statements from other witnesses
• Use of surveillance equipment we can use to record evidence
• Downloadable Noise app to help investigate
  complaints of noise nuisance.

Resolutions

Informal Action

Where appropriate, we will use informal or non-legal action to try and reach a resolution.

Neighbour Disputes

If you feel a neighbour is acting unreasonably towards you, it may help to speak to them about the problem. You may be surprised to find they are unaware of how their actions are affecting you.

Talking to each other can clear up misunderstandings and often problems can be resolved in this way.

Do not speak to your neighbour when you are angry. If your discussion is not going well, walkaway. Never get involved in an argument.