Antisocial Behaviour (Hansard, 21 April 2004)

§ Chris Ruane
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the new guidelines on anti-social behaviour issued to magistrates. [166675]

§ Ms Blears
The Magistrates Association Sentencing Guidelines, effective from 1 January 2004, dealt specifically with the offence of 'Breach of Anti-Social Behaviour Order' for the first time. The Guidance stated that the starting point should be a custodial sentence and offered a number of aggravating features, such as the recent date of the order breached, the continuation of the pattern of behaviour which the order sought to prohibit, and the use of violence and threats of intimidation.
As the guidelines were only introduced on 1 January, it is too early to assess the effectiveness of this work, and at this stage too early for anecdotal comment.

§ Chris Ruane
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the Trailblazer nuisance neighbour projects in(a) Birmingham, (b) Manchester, (c) Sheffield and (d) Sunderland. [166680]

§ Ms Blears
The Government's National Action Plan, 'TOGETHER, Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour' launched last October announced that we will establish `trailblazers' in Birmingham, Manchester, Sheffield and Sunderland to develop excellence in tackling nuisance families. This will ensure that in these areas nuisance neighbours are not left without an effective intervention and, where necessary, a sanction.
Each of the trailblazer areas have estimated a minimum, number of such households that will be targeted for action by March 2005, and each of them are well placed to meet and probably exceed those estimates. It is, however, early days, in terms of evaluating the success of this work. Surveys measuring the perception of antisocial behaviour by members of the public in those trailblazer areas are currently underway and will provide on-going comparisons with the national picture. Specific learning from the approaches being pursed by the nuisance neighbour trailblazers, and indeed from the national neighbour nuisance neighbour panel, will be disseminated via our TOGETHER Academy, TOGETHER ActionLine and TOGETHER website (training, telephone advice, and practical information for front line agencies on tackling antisocial behaviour.

§ Chris Ruane
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what action he intends to take against those areas that have not taken up anti-social behaviour orders. [166685]

§ Ms Blears
Anti-social behaviour orders are not the only tool available to tackle anti-social behaviour. The Anti-Social Behaviour Act provides a wide range of tools to tackle antisocial behaviour. All areas should take swift action to deal with antisocial behaviour and other available interventions should also be considered such as injunctions, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and other tenancy related interventions.
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The TOGETHER campaign will ensure that agencies on the ground are using the measures that are already in place, and those new measures introduced by the Act as effectively as possible. The campaign will help improve the response to tackling antisocial behaviour by placing the focus within the heart of our communities and providing them with the opportunity to work together and the tools to take action to tackle antisocial behaviour. The TOGETHER Academy, ActionLine and website all provide advice and information to encourage and enable local practitioners to take action against antisocial behaviour.