Scottish Government

APPENDIX THREE CASE STUDY OVERVIEWS

Introduction

Chapter 2 outlined the process that was gone through to select the 9 case studies and the methodology used to monitor their progress. The purpose of this Appendix is to give a brief descriptive outline of each of the case studies, highlighting the main characteristics that distinguish them from other schemes and to provide an overview of the evidence of impact that was collected as part of the evaluation. Each of these short outlines begins with a number of bullet points that highlight the main characteristics of the scheme.

ABERDEEN CITY

The main characteristics of the Aberdeen City scheme are:-

• Management by the police on a day to day basis with support from the City Council;
• The wardens are supported by 10 neighbourhood wardens: former traffic wardens funded by Grampian Police;
• Relationships with key partners are good, but there is a feeling that the wardens are not tasked as effectively by council departments as they could be. This results in the police organising much of their activity;
• The wardens are being integrated into the total communities approach in Aberdeen. This is based on key partners working with local residents to identify key issues and organise service delivery around these needs;
• Views on satisfaction with the scheme are mixed. The local authority is pleased with how the scheme has developed. The police, however, feel that a clearer strategy needs to be put in place to ensure that the wardens' potential is maximised;
• Local communities appreciate the benefits that wardens can bring, with older people being particularly satisfied and feeling safer as a result of the wardens; and
• The wardens are to have powers to issue fixed penalty notices for such things as dog fouling and littering, although the expectation is that these powers will be used sparingly.

Overview

The Aberdeen City warden scheme is different from the other case studies as it is managed by Grampian Police rather than the local authority. The local authority does, however, give strong support to the police, although day-to-day line management is through the police. As a result of being managed by the police the scheme has a clear crime and antisocial behaviour focus. The scheme also differs from the other 8 in that, by the end of 2006, the wardens will have powers to issue fixed penalty notices for things such as dog fouling or littering.

Coverage

The scheme covers 6 areas: Heathryfold and Middlefield, Northfield and Cummings Park, Tillydrone and Woodside, Torry, Mastrick and Seaton and Old Aberdeen and Powmis. It is supported by Neighbourhood Wardens (former traffic wardens funded by Grampian Police) in each area in addition to 4 community wardens. Should there be no vacancies, there are 10 Neighbourhood Wardens and 30 community wardens, 40 in total.

Areas of Focus

The target areas were selected from neighbourhood community action plans which were produced for the 12 regeneration areas in the city. The neighbourhood wardens were already operating in these areas and so provided an obvious focus for expansion.

Objectives

The scheme aims to promote community safety and reduce antisocial behaviour and crime, focusing on such things as: breach of the peace, drunk and incapable, urinating in public, racially aggravated conduct, wilful fire raising and vandalism. In doing this it aims to improve the quality of life for residents.

Activities

The wardens are managed by the police and are to focus on crime and antisocial behaviour. They operate by carrying out high visibility patrols in designated areas, working with the police on joint operations and acting as professional witnesses. They also collect information which is fed directly into the Grampian Criminal Intelligence database. The scheme also includes joint work with partners around leaflet drops and working with the community on crime prevention.

As the wardens do not compile activity logs it is difficult to classify the work they do, although evidence from visits to the schemes and discussions with wardens suggests that the focus is on crime. The granting of powers to issue fixed penalty notice further supports their crime and antisocial behaviour role.

Management

The wardens are managed from the Community Policing Department of Grampian Police, who have day-to-day responsibility for the operation and management of the scheme. Aberdeen City Council's Community Services Department provides strategic leadership to the wardens and jointly tasks them in partnership with the police.

Key Partners

The main links with council departments are with housing, although there are also links with the environmental and cleansing departments and the fire and rescue service. The wardens also work closely with local communities, elected members and youth projects.

Staffing

The scheme currently has 27 staff and 3 vacancies. The full complement of staff is 30 community wardens supported by 10 neighbourhood wardens. The current annual turnover rate is 54%, with a number of staff moving on to other posts, in particular other council departments.

Funding

The Aberdeen scheme received £500,000 in the first year which funded 20 community wardens. The second round allocation of £250,000 funded a further 10 wardens.

Evidence of Impact

The proportion of residents that considered loud neighbours/loud parties and intimidation and harassment to be 'very' of 'fairly' common declined. The proportion who considered vandalism and particularly drug misuse and dealing to be 'very' or 'fairly' common increased. There was no change for rubbish/litter. However, when compared with changes in perceptions in the wider area, as measured by the Scottish Household survey, it seemed that the Aberdeen wardened areas had experienced relative increases in the perception of the prevalence of all 5 of these forms of antisocial behaviour.

When the indicators that were selected to measure the impact of Aberdeen warden scheme were examined, there was very little evidence of impact.

DUMFRIES

The main characteristics of the North West Dumfries scheme are:-

• It is one of the smallest case study areas with a total of 5 staff;
• The wardens spend roughly equal amounts of their time dealing with antisocial behaviour and environmental issues; and
• They have adopted a pro-active approach to community engagement through regular attendance at community events.

Overview

Operating with 5 community wardens, the Dumfries warden scheme is small in comparison to others selected as case studies. It is managed by Dumfries and Galloway Council and is based within the Combined Services Department. In terms of focus, approximately 50% of wardens' time is spent on tackling antisocial behaviour and 50% on environmental issues.

Coverage

The scheme operates in 6 patrol areas: Lochside, Lincluden, Stakeford, Summerville, Irongray Industrial Estate and Palmerston. Five of the areas are residential areas identified for housing regeneration. The total population served by the wardens is around 14 000.

Areas of Focus

North-West Dumfries rates high on the index of multiple deprivation resulting in a number of associated social problems. The warden scheme was developed to address issues such as breach of the peace, neighbourhood disputes, house breaking, drug related crime, shoplifting, vandalism, the discarding of needles, malicious calls to the emergency services and fire raising in those areas identified as being most deprived.

Objectives

The key objectives of the community wardens in North-West Dumfries are to reduce crime, fear of crime and antisocial behaviour and enhance the local environment. The aim is to make life safer and the environment more attractive for local residents.

Activities

The wardens carry out high visibility patrols in vans or on foot in designated areas. They report incidents to the police, other council departments and the fire and rescue service. If required, they will act as professional witnesses (however this has not happened to date).

Following concerns that the wardens were becoming overly reactive in their activities, many duties now involve working with community groups in a proactive way to address issues that are affecting residents. They regularly attend community groups and schools, involving themselves in the community and increasing understanding of their role. In addition they provide security services, including security marking and organise and supervise a number of activities for local youths.

The Dumfries wardens do not possess any enforcement powers, a situation that the wardens themselves are happy with as they wish to be seen as part of the community, acting as a link between residents, the police and fire and rescue services.

Management

Following restructuring, the wardens are managed from within the Combined Services Directorate ⁵⁵ of Dumfries and Galloway Council from the Council's Lincluden Depot.

Key Partners

As a result of the management structure, the wardens have a good working relationship with other council departments, including housing and environmental services. They also work in partnership with the police and fire and rescue services, with whom they maintain almost daily contact. There are, however, no formal protocols for engagement between the wardens, the police and the fire and rescue service.

Wardens also work in partnership with elected members and housing associations, including Home in Scotland and the Dumfries and Galloway Housing Partnership ( DGHP) and the local community.

Staffing

The scheme operates with 5 staff: 1 senior warden and 2 teams of 2 wardens. Around 7 wardens have left since the scheme became operational. One left to join the police force, another to become an elected member and others to take up alternative posts within the council.

Funding

The Dumfries scheme received £150,000 in the first year which funded all 5 wardens. The second round allocation of funding was identical at £150,000. This has been used to maintain the scheme at full complement as opposed to recruiting extra wardens.

Evidence of Impact

The proportion of residents that considered noisy neighbours/loud parties; intimidation and harassment; vandalism and rubbish/litter lying around to be 'very' or 'fairly' common declined. There was no change for drug misuse and dealing.

When compared with changes in perceptions in the wider area, as measured by the Scottish Household survey, it seemed that the Dumfries and Galloway wardened areas had experienced relative increases in the perception of 2 of these forms of antisocial behaviour (intimidation/harassment and drug misuse/dealing) and relative decreases in 3.

When the indicators that were selected to measure the impact of the Dumfries and Galloway warden scheme were examined, there was no evidence of impact. However, there was some doubt about whether the indicators that were selected were the right ones.

DUNDEE CITY

The main characteristics of the Dundee scheme are:-

• It operates in 6 Warden patrol areas covering 8 of Dundee's 32 Council Wards;
• The scheme is underpinned by an ethos of partnership working, which is formalised through the Community Intelligence Unit, where partners come together to share information;
• Joint initiatives developed by the Community Intelligence Unit partners have included tackling fire raising around Guy Fawkes night and targeting closes where dumped rubbish poses a fire hazard;
• The Scheme's Community Learning and Development focus means that relationships with young people are good, which is believed to help prevent antisocial behaviour;
• Community Safety Wardens, Noise Wardens and the Anti-Social Behaviour Team have developed a shared database, to which the Police also have access; and
• The Police provide the wardens with an uncensored copy of the minute of their daily briefings, and information is shared readily between the 2 bodies.

Overview

Dundee is one of the larger community warden schemes in Scotland. It has a strong community learning and development focus, which is believed to have helped create good relationships with the young people in the areas where wardens patrol. Collaborative working is also strong. What is particularly notable is the extent to which the police freely share information with the wardens and rely on their support to help them do their own job more effectively.

Coverage

The scheme operates in 6 warden patrol areas, covering 8 of Dundee's 32 council wards. The total population served by the wardens is 39,309, ranging from around 3,500 in the smallest area to 10,000 in the largest.

Areas of Focus

The 6 warden patrol areas were chosen based on levels of deprivation, antisocial behaviour activity levels and crime statistics. The 8 wards that are covered by the scheme were chosen by selecting those ranked by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation ( SMID) as being in the worst 15%.

Objectives

The scheme aims to reduce crime, tackle antisocial behaviour, reduce fear of crime, improve fire safety, build community confidence and enhance the quality of life. The wardens have no enforcement powers and see this as strength as people are more willing to approach them.

Activities

The wardens' main activities include operating patrols to deter vandalism and antisocial behaviour, reporting vandalism, damage and arranging repairs, proactively developing links with the community, police and other agencies, and identifying potential improvements in the area. The scheme is founded on a very strong ethos of community development therefore a great deal of emphasis is placed on engaging with local people, especially the young.

Management

The wardens are part of the Community Safety section, and both the wardens and senior wardens report to the Community Safety Section Leader. Community Safety is part of the Leisure and Communities Department within the Council.

Key Partners

The community wardens have very close links with the police, the antisocial behaviour team, waste management, environmental health (noise wardens) and the fire and rescue service through the community intelligence unit ( CIU) ⁵⁶. They also have close links with youth services and social landlords.

Staffing

The scheme is currently fully staffed, with 1 manager, 7 seniors, 24 wardens, 4 support team (who are deployed as required to cover sickness and other absences) and 6 mobile wardens who supplement the core wardens' team as required. In total there are 42 staff.

Funding

From 2005-2008 Dundee has received £3,033,023 from the Scottish Executive to fund the Scheme. This has been their sole source of funding. This figure is broken down as £1,233,023 for 2005/6 and £950,000 for both 2006/7 and 2007/8.

Evidence of Impact

The proportion of residents that considered noisy neighbours/loud parties and intimidation and harassment to be 'very' of 'fairly' common declined. The proportion who considered vandalism, drug misuse and dealing and; litter/rubbish lying around to be 'very' of 'fairly' common increased. When compared with changes in perceptions in the wider area, as measured by the Scottish Household survey, it seemed that the Dundee wardened areas had experienced relative increases in the perception of 4 of these forms of antisocial behaviour and a relative decrease in only noisy neighbours/loud parties.

When the indicators that were selected to measure the impact of the Dundee warden scheme were examined, there was no evidence of impact. However, there was some doubt about whether the indicators that were selected were the right ones.

EAST RENFREWSHIRE

The main characteristics of the East Renfrewshire scheme are:-

• Recruitment and retention issues were initially a problem. However, they now appear to have been addressed and the resultant under-spend has been used to fund a mobile patrol;
• Co-location with their antisocial behaviour partners allows the wardens to provide intelligence from their patrols that can assist their colleagues in their duties;
• The scheme has an environmental focus and issues identified during their patrol are reported to Environmental Services or the Housing Department;
• The wardens, Antisocial Behaviour Team, and CCTV Control Room Team each have their own database and they each select the appropriate information to share with one another in the form of regular reports; and
• Localised and targeted joint clean up initiatives organised with the Waste Management team and the wardens are helping to reinvigorate local communities.

Overview

The community wardens scheme in East Renfrewshire is environmentally focused, and as such a large part of the wardens' role is to report to environmental services or the housing department such issues as dumped rubbish, graffiti, housing repairs or lighting faults that they come across, or have reported to them, during their patrols. The wardens also work with the CCTV unit, Antisocial Behaviour Team and the police to assist in the prevention and reduction of antisocial behaviour through the provision of information. Being "on the ground" on a daily basis results means that the wardens are seen as a very useful source of intelligence to the Antisocial Behaviour Team and the Police. Having no powers, the wardens are instructed not to get involved in antisocial behaviour incidents. However, they will often be the first on the scene following notification of an incident by the CCTV team. They will observe from a safe distance, take notes and provide the Police with a report.

Coverage

The scheme covers the 3 areas of Neilston, Barrhead (and Auchenback) and part of Thornliebank. The population in these 3 areas is around 25,000. Recruitment and retention issues have meant that the warden patrols have focused on Barrhead (population 17,000) and neighbouring Neilston (population 5,000), with Thornliebank (population 2,500) relying mainly on a mobile patrol.

The warden service is currently provided in designated areas within the authority. Being the most deprived areas of the authority, they have the usual associated anti social behaviour problems which affect the quality of life of residents. Part of the of area also has a high number of void properties which attracts local youths and causes high instances of fire raising and underage drinking, leading to vandalism and youth disorder.

Objectives

The scheme is committed to ensuring that residents may enjoy their homes and the surrounding environment. They do this by providing a visible patrolling deterrent to certain forms of low level nuisance and antisocial behaviour, pro-actively responding to certain environmental issues and generally building relationships with local communities.

Activities

The main activities of the East Renfrewshire wardens include reporting instances of dumped rubbish, faulty lighting or housing repairs, patrolling void properties and council buildings out of hours to deter vandalism, attending community meetings, gala days, and other community events, monitoring properties under investigation by the Antisocial Behaviour Team or problem areas on behalf of the police and contacting the CCTV room to report situations that they should monitor. The CCTV room may also dispatch wardens to check situations that have been seen on camera, which it is suspected may develop into a problem. The wardens would not get involved themselves but would confirm whether or not a police presence was required, keeping a safe distance, taking notes and providing a report if necessary.

Management

Since August 2005 Environmental Services and Community Safety have come together under the banner of Community Services in the Council. The community wardens are based within community safety and, along with the CCTV control room staff, Antisocial Behaviour Investigation Team and other community safety staff report to the Community Safety Manager (Operations), who in turn reports to the Community Resources Manager (Community Safety). The local authority-Strathclyde Police Liaison Officer ( LALO) is also part of the team, reporting directly to the Community Resources Manager (Community Safety) and providing a strong link with the community police.

Key Partners

Being part of the same team and working in the same location engenders close working between the wardens, Antisocial Behaviour Investigation team, CCTV control room team, and the local authority-Strathclyde Police Liaison Officer. They are now developing better links with other police teams and have recently started receiving an edited version of the police briefing report. The wardens also have strong links with waste management and housing. The Antisocial Behaviour Team, wardens and CCTV control room each have their own database and they each select the information that is appropriate for the other teams to know and provide each other with regular reports.

Staffing

East Renfrewshire's 8 Community Wardens are managed strategically by the Community Resources Manager (Community Safety) and operationally by the Community Safety Manager (Operations). Recruitment and retention issues have meant that the scheme has often run with either 4 or 6 Wardens; rarely with its full complement of 8.

Funding

The Local Authority has received £496,000 for all antisocial behaviour work, so wardens were allocated £194,800 per year of this by the Council. Staffing difficulties resulted in an under spend on wardens, therefore, in agreement with the Scottish Executive, 2 additional wardens were recruited to be deployed on a flexible, evidence and time led basis to cover all parts of the local authority area.

Evidence of Impact

The proportion of residents that considered noisy neighbours/loud parties; intimidation and harassment; vandalism etc.; drug misuse and dealing and; litter/rubbish lying around to be 'very' of 'fairly' common all declined. When compared with changes in perceptions in the wider area, as measured by the Scottish Household survey, it seemed that the East Renfrewshire wardened areas had also experienced relative decreases in the perception of all forms of antisocial behaviour.

When the indicators that were selected to measure the impact of the East Renfrewshire warden scheme were examined, the lack of comparative data meant that no conclusions could be drawn.

EDINBURGH CITY

The main characteristics of the Edinburgh scheme are:-

• The wardens were initially managed as part of the Housing Services department of Edinburgh City Council. They are now managed as part of Services for Communities department;
• The scheme began with a focus on environmental issues. However, over time antisocial behaviour has become the wardens' main focus;
• There are close links between the wardens and other agencies, particularly the fire and rescue service;
• Edinburgh has piloted an innovative digital recording system for wardens to record incidents. This has improved data capture by around 60%
• Wardens have been deployed on a flexible basis to provide a more targeted response to antisocial behaviour incidents; and
• Despite this, antisocial behaviour has remained a challenge.

Overview

The Community Safety Concierge ( CSC) scheme (the City's name for their wardens) in Edinburgh was initially designed to be environmentally focused. However, over the course of the scheme, the focus has moved more towards dealing with antisocial behaviour. As such, the concierges in Edinburgh get involved in a wide variety of activities. They undertake environmental clean ups themselves (rather than contacting environmental services) and respond directly to reports of antisocial behaviour. Close links have developed between the concierges and external agencies such as the police and fire and rescue services (with whom protocols exist) and with the community.

Coverage

The Edinburgh concierges operate in 5 localities across the city: the central, west, east, north and south area teams. The south area scheme (the focus of the case study) has been operational since April 2004 and was the last of the Edinburgh schemes to be implemented. Five wardens cover an area with a population of 19,000.

Areas of Focus

At the outset, there were a wide variety of environmental problems which the concierges were charged with addressing. These included rubbish, bonfires, and unkempt garden areas. The concierges were also to deal with antisocial behaviour as, and when, they encountered it. They were also expected to develop links with residents. In many areas there was limited community infrastructure so the wardens have had to start to develop structures to facilitate involvement.

Objectives

The scheme as a whole is focused on environmental and antisocial behaviour issues and community capacity building. The balance of time spent on each of these activities varies between the sub areas.

Activities

The scheme has had a mixed focus, particularly with regard to environmental issues and antisocial behaviour. Dealing with fly-tipping was a common activity, as was clearing up gardens and common areas. Although they do not concentrate on one type of antisocial behaviour, vehicle related incidents figured on numerous occasions in the wardens' logs. However, it is also clear that there are seasonal variations in the work undertaken. In the summer, there is a heavy focus on high visibility patrolling, and concierges have to attend a relatively high number of incidents. Indeed, joyriding and illegal motorcycle use are big problems. School holidays are particularly busy, and school buildings are watched more closely. In the winter there is less emphasis on patrols which are shorter. The weather is not as good and people are indoors more. Patrols are more observational in winter, that is the wardens look for lights left off and do such things as undertake stairwell checks, rather than attending incidents. Concierges also try to do more work with the youth clubs. .

Management

The scheme sits within the Services for Communities department, having previously been in Housing Services. However, the vote against the housing stock transfer in Edinburgh means that there is uncertainty as to where the concierge service will sit within the Council in the future. At the time of writing, this was still unresolved. However the emphasis has moved from treating housing, environmental problems and antisocial behaviour as separate issues. The focus is now upon treating these as reinforcing problems that need to be dealt with in a holistic way. As such it may be that the wardens will remain where they currently are.

Key Partners

The concierges work closely with external organisations such as the police (in particular the youth action team and the safer communities unit in the south area), and the fire and rescue service. They also work closely with internal council departments such as Environmental Services and local housing offices.

Staffing

There were 49 concierges spread across the 5 area teams as of July 2006.

Funding

The 5 area teams have, over the course of their development, received funding from a number of different sources reflecting the different times that they were established. Since 2001/02 the scheme has received £1.6m from the Quality of Life fund and the Housing Revenue Account. It has also received £1.25m through BSSAC.

Evidence of Impact

The proportion of residents that considered vandalism, intimidation and harassment to be 'very' of 'fairly' common declined. The proportion who considered noisy neighbours/loud parties; drug misuse and dealing and; litter/rubbish lying around to be 'very' of 'fairly' common increased. When compared with changes in perceptions in the wider area, as measured by the Scottish Household survey, it seemed that the Edinburgh wardened areas had experienced relative increases in the perception of 4 of these forms of antisocial behaviour and a relative decline in only vandalism.

When the indicators that were selected to measure the impact of the Edinburgh warden scheme were examined, there was some evidence of impact.

INVERCLYDE

The main characteristics of the Inverclyde scheme are:-

• It is one of the largest case study areas in terms of population and the number of wardens;
• It makes use of New Deal to fund 4 wardens posts;
• The scale and severity of antisocial behaviour problems in Inverclyde means the wardens spend around 70% of their time on these issues;
• It is the only case study area to frequently use wardens as "professional witnesses" in court; and
• There is a difficult relationship with young people in some wardened areas, but a generally pro-active approach to community engagement.

Overview

The Inverclyde community warden scheme has been in place for just over 2 years. During this time, the scheme has developed steadily to the current position where wardens are seen by local residents as a key component of the antisocial behaviour strategy. Managed and delivered by the local authority, the dual focus of the scheme is on tackling antisocial behaviour (which accounts for around 70% of the wardens' time) and addressing environmental issues which accounts for the remainder.

Coverage

The scheme operates across 6 localities in Inverclyde within the urban areas of Greenock, Port Glasgow and Gourock. The estimated population of the areas covered by wardens is 40,000. In total, there are 33 community wardens.

Areas of Focus

Initially the scheme was established in 2 areas in Inverclyde. However, within a year of the scheme starting wardens had been rolled out to the 6 areas in which they now operate. The scheme areas were decided by an antisocial behaviour working group which had been established by the local authority to scope out which areas the wardens should patrol. The main problems which wardens were intended to address can be described as "low level antisocial behaviour". This includes youth annoyance and disturbance, vandalism, fire-raising and various other forms of non-criminal antisocial behaviour. The Inverclyde wardens also play an important role in tackling boredom amongst youths by setting up diversionary activities for young people in their patrol areas.

Objectives

The key objectives of the scheme are to reduce crime and improve community safety and the environment. This is done by maintaining a visible presence, reporting incidents and environmental issues to partner agencies and by listening to the community. The ethos of the Inverclyde wardens is to act as the "eyes and ears" of the community.

Activities

In common with most of the other warden schemes, the Inverclyde community wardens currently have no enforcement powers. Therefore the main thrust of their work is around engaging the residents of the local community. The activities undertaken include:-

• Regular high visibility patrols of the neighbourhood;
• Reporting environmental issues to ensure they are attended to promptly;
• Routine examination of void properties and local schools in order to minimise crime and vandalism;
• Working in partnership with police, other council departments, social landlords and the community to tackle antisocial behaviour and environmental issues; and
• Acting as professional witnesses if required.

Management

The scheme sits within the Environmental and Consumer Services section of Inverclyde Council. Within this, wardens are part of the Social Protection Team which also includes the Mediation and Street Mediation Teams. Wardens also work in conjunction with the Problem Solving Unit which aims to tackle wider antisocial behaviour problems such as noisy or disruptive neighbours. In this way, the work of the community wardens is co-ordinated with other antisocial behaviour interventions.

Key Partners

These include, Strathclyde Police, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, housing services, environmental services, Inverclyde Council's Legal Department and local registered social landlords ( RSLs).

Staffing

The scheme is currently operating at full complement with 33 staff in total made up of: one wardens' manager; 4 senior wardens; 24 wardens; and 4 New Deal wardens. The New Deal wardens have been taken on through JobcentrePlus for 9 months with the aim of offering contracted posts to those who are suitable.

Funding

The scheme received £1.7 million from the Scottish Executive, equally phased over each of the 3 years of the pilot.

Evidence of Impact

The proportion of residents that considered noisy neighbours/loud parties; intimidation and harassment; drug misuse and dealing and; litter/rubbish lying around to be 'very' of 'fairly' common all declined. The proportion who considered vandalism to be 'very' of 'fairly' common increased. When compared with changes in perceptions in the wider area, as measured by the Scottish Household survey, it seemed that the Inverclyde wardened areas had experienced relative increases in the perception of vandalism and intimidation/harassment and a relative decline in the other 3.

When the indicators that were selected to measure the impact of the Inverclyde warden scheme were examined, the lack of comparative data meant that no conclusions could be drawn.

ORKNEY

The main characteristics of the Orkney scheme are:-

• It is the smallest case study scheme with only 4 wardens;
• The nature and scale of anti-social behaviour and environmental problems handled in Orkney is less severe than in the other case study areas;
• The wardens undertake a wide range of duties including traffic control and catching stray dogs; and
• There are good formal and informal relationships with partners and the local community due to close knit nature of the islands.

Overview

Orkney is the smallest of the case study areas with a total of 4 wardens. The scheme originated as a year long pilot run by the Environmental Health Department of Orkney Islands Council and as such the wardens retain a focus on improving the environment. The scheme in Orkney is unique in that it is the only one of the case study areas that can be considered to have a "mixed" focus. This is due to the scale and volume of problems in Orkney in comparison to other areas. The wardens' time is not dominated by either antisocial behaviour or environmental issues, rather they undertake a wider range duties in comparison to other areas including traffic control and even catching stray dogs.

Coverage

The community wardens patrol the main town of Kirkwall, the second town of Stromness and the smaller settlements on the mainland including Finstown and St. Margarets Hope. The combined population of the settlements patrolled is in the region of 10,000. The wardens spend around 75% of their time in Kirkwall, 10% in Stromness and the remainder across the other areas. However, theoretically their "beat" is all of the islands, a population of 20,000.

Areas of Focus

The community wardens have carried on the duties of the piloted environmental wardens. This involves dealing with public concerns around dog fouling (which is considered a problem on the island), litter, graffiti and fly-tipping. Although antisocial behaviour is not a major problem, the general feel in the community is that is on the increase. Wardens deal with any reports of low level antisocial behaviour as well as maintaining regular patrols of public areas and Kirkwall town centre.

Objectives

In common with other schemes, the main objectives in Orkney are to promote community safety, reduce crime and antisocial behaviour and impact positively on environmental issues. This is achieved through high visibility regular patrols and pro-active engagement with the community.

Activities

Wardens travel between the main settlements on Orkney by van. Duties undertaken centre around preventing and addressing antisocial behaviour as well as tackling environmental issues. Typical activities are patrolling around the school at lunchtime to deter littering by school children, checking public buildings and spaces across the island including parks and toilets and targeting antisocial behaviour hotspots where there have been previous reports of disturbances.

Management

The day-to-day tasking and management of wardens is undertaken by the Antisocial Behaviour Co-ordinator ( ASBC) who reports to the Community Safety Officer ( CSO). The management and the wardens are employees of Orkney Islands Council. However, the budget for community wardens and responsibility for recruitment and disciplinary matters resides with the Environmental Health ( EH) department. The reason for this split is historical. As wardens started as a pilot within EH, the department has retained budgetary control. Decisions on recruitment are made by a panel comprising the ASBC, CSO and EH representatives.

Key Partners

Due to the size of the community in Orkney, the wardens are visible and well known to the other public services on the island. Their relationship to EH means they have a close working relationship with this department. In addition, they have work closely with the largest registered social landlord on the island, Orkney Housing Association Limited. Wardens also work closely with the police (with shift breaks being taken within Kirkwall police station) and a dedicated local authority liaison officer ( LALO) seconded by the police to the council.

Staffing

The wardens in Orkney are at full complement with 4 wardens and no vacancies. The scheme has lost and replaced 2 wardens since its inception. Two part-time wardens were recruited early on in the scheme's life to help with cover for holidays and sickness. However, this did not work out as it was hard for the part-time wardens to balance their other commitments with their role as a warden.

Funding

The annual budget for wardens is in the region of £100,000. This funds the salary costs for the 4 wardens and a proportion of the ASBC and CSO salaries. The budget is held by the Environmental Health department.

Evidence of Impact

The proportion of residents that considered litter/rubbish lying around to be 'very' of 'fairly' common declined. The proportion who considered noisy neighbours/loud parties; vandalism; intimidation and harassment and; drug misuse and dealing to be 'very' of 'fairly' common increased. When compared with changes in perceptions in the wider area, as measured by the Scottish Household survey, it seemed that the Orkney wardened areas had experienced relative increases in the perception of intimidation/harassment and drug misuse/dealing and a relative decline in the other 3.

When the indicators that were selected to measure the impact of the Orkney warden scheme were examined, the lack of comparative data meant that no conclusions could be drawn.

PERTH AND KINROSS

The main characteristics of the Perth scheme are:-

• It is one of the smallest case study areas with a total of 5 staff covering a population of 10,800;
• The wardens spend roughly equal amounts of their time dealing with antisocial behaviour and environmental issues;
• All patrols are carried out in the wardened areas on foot;
• Community wardens sit alongside anti-social behaviour investigators and noise wardens and form part of the Perth and Kinross Council's wider approach to tackling anti-social behaviour; and
• There are good relationships with Tayside Police and an information sharing protocol in place.

Overview

The scheme in Perth is one of the smallest of the case study areas with 5 wardens. It is focused on the 2 neighbouring areas of Letham and Hillyland. Having been in place for just over 2 years, the Perth scheme has concentrated on tackling problems of antisocial behaviour within the patrol areas. Although antisocial behaviour has been the main focus within the scheme, tackling of environmental issues, with the help of partner agencies, has also featured high on the agenda.

Coverage

Letham and Hillyland have a combined population of around 10,800.The wardens operate almost exclusively within these areas, but will deal with issues elsewhere on occasions.

Areas of Focus

The areas of Letham and Hillyland were selected to receive community wardens following a community safety audit undertaken in Autumn 2002. The key problems which wardens were expected to deal with are a mix of antisocial behaviour and environmental issues and cover: young people congregating and causing annoyance, vandalism and graffiti, litter and fly tipping, poor close cleaning, overgrown garden areas, abandoned cars, garage sites and noisy neighbours.

Objectives

The key objective of the warden scheme in Perth was to increase local residents' feelings of safety in their own areas. Allied to this, wardens were to play their part in reducing antisocial behaviour and improving the environmental quality of patrol areas.

Activities

All wardens' patrols are carried out on foot. The main duties involve maintaining high visibility patrols in Letham and Hillyland, dealing with reported incidents of low level antisocial behaviour (including youth loitering and under-age drinking) checking the stairwells of high rise flats for evidence of drug misuse and helping to provide diversionary activities such as street football for local youths in the area.

Management

The warden scheme is managed by the Antisocial Behaviour Co-ordinator ( ASBC). This individual sits within the Estates Management Department of the Housing and Community Care Directorate of Perth and Kinross Council ( PKC). Wardens are one part of PKC's wider approach to antisocial behaviour and sit alongside a team of antisocial behaviour investigators and noise wardens.

Key Partners

The antisocial behaviour focus of Perth's community wardens means that, in common with other scheme areas, their principal partner is the police. Working relationships between the police and wardens were described as good with well established information sharing protocols in place. Other key partners include the area housing department, environmental services and Perth Housing Association.

Staffing

The scheme employs 5 wardens on a full-time basis. The scheme has been one of the most successful in retaining its staff having not lost a single warden in the 2 years it has been operational. The small number of wardens has meant that cover for sickness and holidays has been challenging at times and has led to temporary reductions of the full service on occasions.

Funding

The funding for community wardens has been in the region of £165,000 per annum between 2004 and 2008. This has been used to fund the ASBC and 5 community wardens including associated costs.

Evidence of Impact

The proportion of residents that considered noisy neighbours/loud parties; intimidation and harassment; vandalism; drug misuse and dealing and; litter/rubbish lying around to be 'very' of 'fairly' common all declined. When compared with changes in perceptions in the wider area, as measured by the Scottish Household survey, it seemed that the Perth and Kinross wardened areas had also experienced relative decreases in the perception of all forms of antisocial behaviour.

When the indicators that were selected to measure the impact of the Perth and Kinross warden scheme were examined, there was reasonable evidence of impact.

SOUTH LANARKSHIRE

The main characteristics of the South Lanarkshire scheme are:-

• South Lanarkshire operates an intelligence led approach to the use of community wardens based on their problem solving approach and involving the key partners working together to develop co-ordinated strategies for dealing with crime and antisocial behaviour;
• The wardens operate in the areas with the highest levels of recorded crime, which are also the areas of highest deprivation. However, they can be deployed flexibly to emerging crime or antisocial behaviour hotspot areas;
• South Lanarkshire has developed a series of targeted initiatives that are designed to tackle specific issues at key points in the year. This includes a bonfire initiative and school estate patrols in the summer;
• The warden scheme operates as the "eyes and ears" of the community rather than as a police force and works to tackle crime, antisocial behaviour and environmental issues;
• The wardens operate in partnership with police and fire and rescue services, along with other local authority departments. Relationships have developed over time, especially with the police who were sceptical of the service at its introduction but now see the value of the wardens; and
• Consultation evidence suggests that the wardens are having a positive impact on their patrol areas on crime, antisocial behaviour and environmental issues.

Overview

South Lanarkshire is one of the larger warden schemes in Scotland. It is seen as the "eyes and ears" of the council. The wardens' presence has been designed to reassure the community and tackle key crime, antisocial behaviour and environmental issues. The South Lanarkshire scheme is notable as half the wardens are funded by the local authority from the Housing Revenue Account.

Coverage

The scheme operates 7 warden patrol areas, covering Blantyre, Cambuslang, East Kilbride, Hamilton, Clydesdale, Larkhall and Rutherglen. Despite operating in the 7 designated areas the scheme also operates flexibly, with wardens being deployed in areas other than their core areas when needed. The patrol areas have a total population of 306,300 (the entire South Lanarkshire local authority population).

Areas of Focus

The warden areas were selected based on tactical assessment of areas with the highest levels of crime which were mapped using STORM software. The areas also came out as being the most deprived in South Lanarkshire based on the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation 2004. As such the assessments are used on an ongoing basis to direct the wardens to the areas of greatest need within their patrol areas.

Objectives

The scheme aims to reduce levels of crime and antisocial behaviour, secondary fire raising, vandalism and graffiti and perceptions of fear of crime. As a consequence of these reductions the hope is that there will be improved resident satisfaction with the areas they live in.

Activities

The wardens' activities are monitored using "beat sheets" which track the activities of wardens on a weekly basis. Evidence from the past 24 months shows that the main issues logged relate to estates management, which accounted for 61% of all the issues identified. Fly tipping is the second main issue accounting for 9% of all issues logged. This is followed by rubbish, vandalism (including property damage) and graffiti. The wardens also work on focused initiatives and gather intelligence using community intelligence reports, which are collated and analysed by the police.

Management

The wardens are part of the Area Services Section of the Housing and Technical Resources Department. They therefore sit within the local housing office in the area in which they patrol and are managed by the local Antisocial Behaviour Team. Management uses a problem solving approach which collates key data sources from the local authority, police and fire services to identify the problem areas to which wardens should be deployed.

Key Partners

The wardens have very close links within the council, working with housing services, community services, education and social work. They also work with local communities and outreach workers as well as the police and fire and rescue services. The main interactions come through the problem solving approach which brings all the key partners together to plan service delivery in each local area.

Staffing

The scheme currently has 35 staff and 1 vacancy. The full complement of staff includes 32 wardens, 4 supervisors and 2 team leaders. The current level of turnover is 38%, with a number of staff moving on to other promoted posts in the local authority

Funding

The South Lanarkshire scheme received £447,571 in the first year but no allocation from the second round funding which was used to fund Noise Wardens.

Evidence of Impact

The proportion of residents that considered litter/rubbish lying around and drug misuse/dealing to be 'very' of 'fairly' common declined. The proportion who considered noisy neighbours/loud parties; vandalism and; intimidation and harassment to be 'very' of 'fairly' common increased. When compared with changes in perceptions in the wider area, as measured by the Scottish Household survey, it seemed that the South Lanarkshire wardened areas had experienced relative increases in the perception of 4 of these forms of antisocial behaviour and a relative decline in only rubbish/litter lying around.

When the indicators that were selected to measure the impact of the South Lanarkshire warden scheme were examined, most confirmed to the Rise and fall theory. Although the lack of comparative data meant that it was not possible to say why there had been an initial rise, the activities of the wardens suggest that this was because of increases in reporting.