This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Crack-down on antisocial behaviour
13/11/2003
The latest study into the use of Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) has found that they have an important role to play in the Executive's high-profile strategy to tackle the issue in communities acrossScotland.
Commissioned by the Executive, and published today by the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland (CIH), the report concluded that ASBOs are becoming a significant tool in the armoury of actions available to tackle antisocial behaviour.
Communities Minister Margaret Curran said that ASBOs, including the recently introduced interim ASBO, are to be further strengthened through the Antisocial Behaviour ( Scotland ) Bill, introduced to Parliament last month.
Margaret Curran said:
"Much of the recent focus has been on our wide-ranging plans to legislate on tackling the scourge of antisocial behaviour. But our strategy is not starting from scratch. We are looking to build on many existing measures already in place, one of the main ones being ASBOs, which were introduced in 1999.
"This latest study shows that the annual number of ASBOs granted acrossScotlandcontinues to rise, and that in a significant number of cases, the issuing of an ASBO led to an improvement in behaviour. It is important that our policies seek to tackle not just the effects of antisocial behaviour, but also tackle the problems at their roots - changing people's behaviour.
"This latest study pre-dates the introduction this summer of interim ASBOs and the power for registered social landlords to apply for ASBOs as well as local authorities - measures which will speed up the process, further enhance the effectiveness of ASBOs, and offer more immediate protection from antisocial behaviour.
"And, of course, our Antisocial Behaviour Bill is introducing a range of measures to tackle this problem, including the extension of ASBOs to under-16s."
This is the fourth report by CIH to be published since ASBOs were introduced in April 1999. This report covers not only the full year fromDecember 1, 2001toNovember 30, 2002, but also the four months fromDecember 1, 2002toMarch 31, 2003. This will allow future reports to move to an April to March cycle, in line with many other statistical returns.
Among the main findings of the report are:
- Since their introduction, a total of 226 ASBOs have been awarded by theSheriff CourtinScotland. 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)
- Over the same period there have been a total of 368 ASBO applications made to theSheriff Court. 93 were made in the first period, and 64 in the second (applications may relate to ASBOs concluded after the reporting period)
- An increasing proportion of ASBO applications have been resulting in ASBOs being awarded
- Over the total period surveyed, there were 118 alleged breaches of ASBOs. (The alleged breach may relate to ASBOs granted outwith the reporting period). 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 Courtruled that 32 ASBOs had been breached. A range of sentences were handed out from imprisonment to an admonishment
- In 15 cases of breach of an ASBO, it is known that eviction proceedings were also taken against the person
- Where local authorities gave a view on whether the grant of an ASBO had resulted in a change in behaviour, 62 per cent reported an improvement in behaviour, 26 per cent reported no noticeable change, and 11 per cent reported deterioration: in such cases, the behaviour may constitute a breach, which can be prosecuted as a criminal offence
The CIH study is funded by the Executive to collate information on the use of ASBOs inScotland. This is the fourth year that these figures have been collected.
The report can be viewed online on the CIH website.
ASBOs are civil preventative orders introduced by section 19 of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which came into effect onApril 1, 1999. They are a civil measure that can be used as a tool to address antisocial behaviour by putting a bar on certain types of behaviour or preventing a person from being present in a specified area.
Local authorities and registered social landlords, in consultation with the police, can apply to a sheriff if a person has acted or pursued a course of conduct that caused or was likely to cause alarm or distress. Breaches of an order is a criminal offence, which carries a punishment of up to six months imprisonment or a fine on summary conviction, and up to five years imprisonment and an unlimited fine on indictment.
The Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2003 introduced interim ASBOs to provide more immediate protection from antisocial behaviour and extended the power to apply for ASBOs to registered social landlords. Originally only local authorities could apply. These changes came into effect on June 27, 2003.
The Antisocial Behaviour etc.(Scotland) Bill was introduced onOctober 29, 2003and published on October 30. It includes provision to extend ASBOs to 12-15 year olds, introduce a statutory power of arrest for breach of ASBOs and extends the geographic scope of ASBOs.