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Anti-Social Behaviour Procedure
The following procedures explain how our customers can report problems to us and how we will deal with these complaints.
All our local housing offices have specialist staff available to deal with with complaints of anti-social behaviour. These are supported by a central multi disciplinary team consisting of Anti-Social Behaviour Officers, Solicitors and a Police Officer.
Copies of the 'Anti-Social Behaviour Customer Charter' and 'Harassment and Racism Customer Charter' are available at all Sheffield Homes housing offices.
Our Service Standards
Reporting Anti-Social Behaviour
Reports of anti-social behaviour can be made in person at our local area housing offices or any First Point, in writing, by telephone or email.
When a complaint is made, the following will happen...
- Interview you in private and take details of your complaint.
- Give you advice on our policies and procedures.
- Enter your complaint onto our computer system and give it a reference number which you can quote when you contact us.
- Give you a ‘receipt’ letter which confirms your complaint is received and contains your ‘call reference number’ and appointment details.
- Give you an Incident Diary to complete. We will explain how to complete it and what they are for.
- Make an appointment to see you again, within 10 working days or within 2 days if you are complaining of harassment. This is to look at any incident(s) you have recorded on the incident diary and decide what action we can take.
- Provide you with information on other people who may be able to help you. For example, Mediation Sheffield (MESH) offer free and impartial mediation service to help people resolve conflicts. Contact MESH on (0114) 2412771 for more information.
- In serious cases, where a violent or racially motivated incident has occurred, we will act immediately and ensure that appropriate action is taken. This may mean action being taken without prior warning.
Dealing with a Complaint.
We will:
- Deal with all complaints as quickly as possible
- Aim to resolve the situation without moving anyone or taking legal action
- Contact the person complained about. We will work with them to try to resolve the problem, issue appropriate warnings and take any necessary action. The type of action we take will depend on the circumstances of each individual case.
- Keep any information given to us strictly confidential
- We will ask permission if we need to share any information with another agency
- If legal action is required we may need to disclose information to the defendant or their solicitor. We will only do this with the permission of the complainant
- Work with other agencies (e.g. the Police, Environmental Services and Social Services) to try and resolve the problem
- Keep our customers informed of progress throughout the complaint and contact them at least every 2 weeks until the complaint has been closed
Taking Action
We will take action against someone when we have evidence to prove the action is necessary and appropriate.
Most of our evidence is collected from incident diaries, these will usually be given to you by the officer who is investigating your complaint.
If you have difficulty reading, writing or if English is not your first language we can provide you with a dictaphone to record your evidence. We can also provide you with translated incident diaries in a variety of languages.
There are times when we may need other evidence, like photographs, video or tape recordings. The central Anti-Social Behaviour Team has a range of equipment which can be used for this purpose.
We may also need to speak to other people who have witnessed the problem/s complained about.
If any of our customers are required to be a witness in any legal proceedings we will do everything we can to support them and make them feel safe (see Witness Support Policy). We will always discuss this with them and ask that they sign a ‘Witness Agreement’ to ensure that they understand clearly what will happen and what is required. A separate leaflet 'A Guide For Witnesses' gives more information about this. The leaflet is available at any Sheffield Homes housing office.
Click here for more information on Witness Support.
Action Plan
When a complaint is being investigated we will meet customers at home, in the housing office or somewhere else (if they prefer).
We will discuss with them:
- Who is affected
- How they are affected
- What happened
- Where it happened
- When it happened
We will also speak to other people in the household who have been affected too.
We will then decide on an action plan and agree what the customer needs to do and what we will do to solve the problem.
The case then becomes a partnership and we will work for the customer but they must help us by keeping to their part of the action plan.
Talking it Through
Sometimes a neighbour just needs reminding that their behaviour is upsetting. The action plan we agree could include talking the problem through with the other person.
If customers feel uneasy with this approach then we can set up a meeting and be there to help neighbours talk though the problem together. Or, we can involve Mediation Sheffield who have expert advisers who can help to find a solution.
If this does not resolve the problem we can take further action.
Action we can take
We believe that the public should be aware of the strong action we take when dealing with anti social behaviour.
Therefore, we will always issue a press release of our successful court cases to the local media and we will include the names of the perpetrators who caused the anti social behaviour.
Verbal/Written Warnings
We will warn tenants that their actions are breaking tenancy conditions and what will happen if they do not keep to them. This stage gives the persons causing the nuisance a chance to modify their behaviour. If their behaviour continues and the call progresses to court action, serving a warning shows the judge that we have been reasonable in the way we have dealt with the persons causing the nuisance.
Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABCs)
These are usually used to stop anti-social behaviour from young people aged 10 – 18 but can be used against adults too. An ABC is not an admission of guilt. It is a contract that sets out the standards of future behaviour. This is often used in conjunction with other types of support to help the young person modify their behaviour. An ABC lasts for 6 months. If the Anti Social Behaviour continues then we may seek an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO).
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs)
An ASBO is an Order from the Court. It forbids a person from committing specific anti-social acts. An ASBO can be obtained against anyone aged 10 or over. Breaching an ASBO is a criminal offence and may result in a fine, imprisonment of up to 5 years or a combination of both.
Injunctions
These are an Order from the Court. They make somebody do something or stop doing something. We can seek an Injunction to make a Council tenant comply with their tenancy conditions, for example – to stop causing a nuisance or annoyance. Sometimes we can get an Injunction against non-tenants. Injunctions can only be used against people over 18 years old. Breaching an Injunction is a criminal offence and may result in a fine or imprisonment.
Injunctions are also used where we don’t want to go for eviction. For example; someone who is keeping a dog in a multi-storey block. We don’t want them to lose their home we just want them to find a new home for the dog and abide by their tenancy conditions.
Notice of Seeking Possession (NSP)
This is a legal notice that starts possession proceedings.
Possession Proceedings
As a last resort we may need to ask the court to evict somebody from their home. To do this we have to prove that they have broken their tenancy conditions and that it is reasonable to evict them. In some cases the court may grant a ‘Suspended Possession Order’. This means a person can stay in their home as long as they comply with certain conditions,such as not causing any more anti-social behaviour.
Demoted Tenancies
We can ask the court to 'demote' secure council tenants who have caused anti-social behaviour. This means they lose their rights as a secure tenant (including the right to buy their home) for a period of 12 months. If there is any further anti-social behaviour (or other breaches of tenancy conditions) in this period we can apply to the court for a possession order to evict them. If there are no further breaches of tenancy conditions, the tenancy converts back into a secure one at the end of the 12 months. If after the tenancy converts back to a secure one the tenant makes a ‘Right to Buy’ application the period when the tenancy was demoted is not counted towards the time used to calculate any discount.
Suspending an application to buy a council house.
Where someone is causing serious anti social behaviour and applies to buy their council property, we can ask the Court to suspend their application for up to 12 months whilst we resolve the problem.
Closing the Complaint
If we have resolved a complaint or, after a thorough investigation we cannot take the case any further, we will:-
- Contact you to explain why we are unable to take any further action on this complaint.
- Confirm in writing the reasons why the case has been closed.
- Give you advice on what to do next.
Monitoring of the Service
We operate within a Performance Management Framework. This means that there are regular quality checks on a proportion of cases being dealt with by our staff.
We also have 3 performance indicators when measuring customer satisfaction with the service. These are:
Performance indicator Target 2008/09
Did the officer advise you why we would be taking
no further action in relation to your case. 85%
Satisfaction with first contact 83%
Satisfaction at being kept informed 79%
Satisfaction with the outcome of the complaint 71%
Satisfaction with the support provided 74%
We measure our performance against these targets by sending a survey form to every customer when we close a call. We act on any specific individual comments or feedback and collate the results on a monthly basis.
Performance is reported on monthly to the Sheffield Homes Performance Management Meeting.
An anti-social behaviour statistical report is also presented to local area board and local area housing meetings.
We review the performance indicators on an annual basis.
Tell us how we are doing
We welcome customers views on the service we provide. If customers are unhappy with the service then we need to know. We also want to hear from customers when they are happy with the service they receive. This will help us to get it right more often.
Whatever our customers want to tell us, whether it is a complaint, a compliment, a comment or a suggestion, we want to hear from them.
To do this, there is a leaflet “Complaints, Praise and Suggestions” which is available at all Council and Sheffield Homes offices. Alternatively, customers can tell us at any Council or Sheffield Homes office in person or by telephone.
Follow this link to find out how to contact your area office.