A city-wide partnership has
been established to review the way anti-social behaviour is tackled in Leeds.
Over the 18 months up to September last year, Leeds City Council and West
Yorkshire Police received more than 84,000 anti-social behaviour related calls.
By talking extensively to people on the frontline and those who receive help
from the service, it is hoped the review by of the council, police and housing
providers will attempt to identify and respond to, any issues with the way
anti-social behaviour is currently dealt with in Leeds – from initial complaint
to the first response to the investigation.
The aim is to improve the way such behaviour is dealt with, ensuring that
victims are appropriately and adequately supported while perpetrators are given
the opportunity to change their behaviour for the better.
Work already carried out by the review team has identified some key issues,
including concerns around how joined-up approaches to tackling anti-social
behaviour are, and how well agencies communicate with each other and those who
use the service.
The review is being conducted using a nationally-recognised service improvement
process tool that has been successfully used by a number of police authorities
throughout the country to improve services to customers. The review will be
overseen by a governance board comprising senior managers from both the council
and West Yorkshire Police.
As well as looking at sample cases, mapping data, service level agreements,
protocols and the multitude of forms in use to document and refer matters
relating to anti-social behaviour. The review team visit local neighbourhood
forums and meetings to canvas the views of local residents.
Anyone wanting to put forward suggestions to the review team can do so by
contacting the review team on 01924 292888 (answer machine).
Councillor Les Carter, Leeds City Council’s executive board member for
community safety and chair of the Safer Leeds partnership, said:
“My reason for initiating this review is that I believe anti-social behaviour
blights communities and can make people’s lives a misery.
“It’s important that we constantly review and examine how we deal with
complaints about such behaviour so that we minimise the distress caused to
victims and make sure we bring the right people to account.
“By working together with the police and other agencies, we can make sure that
we have a better and more consistent approach to dealing with anti-social
behaviour.”
Harvinder Saimbhi, Public Safety Manager from Leeds City Council's
Anti-Social Behaviour Team, said:
“We welcome the review because it’s important not to become complacent.
“No one agency can deal with anti-social behaviour, so it’s vital that we
ensure that all services work together to make a real difference in people’s
lives.”