HC Deb 14 September 2004 vol 424 cc1553-4W
Harry Cohen

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how his Department's TOGETHER campaign attempts to tackle antisocial behaviour in Leyton and Wanstead. [187741]

Ms Blears

TOGETHER is a campaign for both practitioners and the public across all of England and Wales. The approach includes prioritising local concerns about antisocial behaviour, getting the right people from local agencies working with the community to tackle the problem and making effective use of available sanctions and providing feedback to the community on progress at all stages.

On the practitioner side, the campaign is an ambitious programme that is designed to provide help, resources and know-how to every practitioner across the country. It has three core aims; to make the use and application of tools and powers simple and effective, to take the best of what is developed locally and spread it nationally, and to create a change in culture so that action is taken. The TOGETHER Academy, Action Line and Website—backed up by practical step-by step guides and antisocial behaviour ambassadors remove excuses for inaction and raise the level of practice across England and Wales.

On the public side it is for individual Crime and Disorder Reduction Partnerships to decide how to take forward the campaign at a local level. The TOGETHER campaign pack gives the tools for local authorities, police and community groups to run a TOGETHER campaign in their area.