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Review of ASB behaviour strategy
27/02/2008
Local authority leaders, senior police and other criminal justice professionals are among those gathering today to discuss how to better tackle antisocial behaviour.
The meeting aims to inform the review of the national antisocial behaviour strategy, announced by the Scottish Government in October.
Minister for Community Safety Fergus Ewing has also provided more details about the review in a letter to the Scottish Parliament's Justice Committee.
More than three years after the Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act came into force, the review aims to examine how legislative and non-legisative measures may be improved to keep communities safe and strong.
As well as the establishment of a project board - meeting for the first time in Edinburgh today - a number of focus groups and public forums are to be held across Scotland, including one specifically involving younger people.
Mr Ewing said:
"The review will help us develop a fuller understanding of the different local approaches, to identify where improvements are most needed to deliver for communities who for too long have suffered from antisocial behaviour.
"The review is not about repealing legislation, but getting smarter about how powers and resources are deployed to deal with the problem. Those enforcement measures that work, such as fixed penalty notices and vehicle seizure powers, will continue to be supported by this Government.
"Where they are not being used, we will work with police, councils and others to see how they may be improved or supplemented with other approaches - so local agencies have the most effective options available.
"We also plan to hear from members of the public who responded to the Scottish Household Survey.
"We are also examining the balance between enforcement and prevention. As I've said before, enforcement powers alone can't solve the deep-seated problems that have fuelled much of the lawlessness in too many of our communities and which we're determined to tackle for the long term.
"We have already undertaken in-depth interviews with all eight police forces and over half of all local authorities about the use of existing ASB Act measures and other services, such as community wardens.
"I hope we can reach agreement on how approaches to tackling and preventing antisocial behaviour may be strengthened and improved - and community involvement enhanced.
"Our aim must be to instil a culture of personal and collective responsibility - driven by a determination to promote good behaviour as well as punishing bad and guided by the principle that prevention is better than cure in reducing crime and antisocial behaviour."
Mr Ewing's letter to the Committee and answer to a Parliamentary Question on the review can be found on the Parliament's website.
The full review remit, and figures for use of the ASB (Scotland) Act measures in the three years since commencement, can be viewed on antisocial behaviour Scotland website
Organisations represented on the Project Board are: Scottish Government Drugs & Community Safety Directorate; Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland; Convention of Scottish Local Authorities; Society of Local Authority Chief Executives & Senior Managers; Scottish Children's Reporter Administration; Chief Fire Officers' Association Scotland; Safeguarding Communities, Reducing Offending (SACRO); Judicial Studies Committee; Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research, Sheffield Hallam University; YouthLink Scotland; NCH Scotland; Victim Support Scotland; Scottish Youth Parliament; Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service.