ASB is defined as conduct that is:

• likely to cause, or has caused harassment, alarm or distress to any person
• capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to their occupation or where they live
• capable of causing housing-related nuisance or annoyance to any person

Some of the most commonly recognised types of ASB include:

Many problems can be resolved by neighbours talking to each other. Your neighbour might not be aware that they are causing problems.

We work in partnership with Gloucestershire Police, Cheltenham Borough Council (CBC) and any other relevant agencies across the borough to try and tackle ASB, using a range of measures, including legal action. We will always do as much as we can to protect victims, affected residents and witnesses.

Visit our report an ASB issue page on the various ways to report an antisocial behaviour.

1. Investigate
Once you have contacted us we will investigate your complaint. We may:

• contact you for more information
• contact any witnesses
• speak to the person(s) you have complained about
• provide you with diary sheets to record further incidents
• work with partners e.g. the police, to resolve the investigation

2. Action
Examples of the types of action that we can take are:

• warning letters regarding breaches of tenancy and unacceptable behaviour
• home visits to re-enforce warnings
• restorative solutions offered to two parties to resolve a dispute
• Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABC) signed voluntarily between a young person and other agencies to agree not to behave in a certain way
• possession proceedings when there are serious breaches of tenancy
• Civil Injunction Orders to prevent the specific nuisance behaviours, often with an attached Power of Arrest
• tenancy demotions which remove some of the rights that secure tenants hold if there are breaches of tenancy due to ASB
• extending introductory tenancies by 6 months
• providing support for perpetrators of ASB by working with other agencies to help change behaviour

You can request the Community Trigger

What is it?

CBH is committed to ensuring our service in relation to ASB is of a high quality, with fair, easily accessible and transparent processes.

It’s also incredibly important to us all our customers are aware of their rights and options around anti-social behaviour. Particularly where you may not be satisfied with the response to issues you have raised.

If you are a victim of anti-social behaviour, and you are unhappy with how your reports have been dealt with by an agency, for example, the Police, CBH, or the Council you have a right to request an Anti-Social Behaviour Case Review, which is also known as The Community Trigger.

It is important to make clear this does not necessarily relate to failures in service and does not replace an organisations complaints process, for example where stated processes have not been followed, as that can be dealt with by way of a service complaint to the individual agency.

The Community Trigger is designed to assess and review complex ASB issues, where the victim or community do not feel sufficient, effective action has been undertaken as a whole by the responsible agencies.

Threshold

To request a Community Trigger is held, there is set criterion that must be met, these are:

• Three reports by the same person within six months
• Five reports involving the same location, culprit, or problem from more than one individual or group within six months
• The application is made in reasonable time – allowing time for action to have been taken.

Please note you can ask a third party to make the application on your behalf if needed.

What happens if the threshold is met

The Community Trigger process is managed within Cheltenham by Restorative Gloucestershire www.restorativegloucestershire.co.uk

They will review any application for a Community Trigger to ensure the threshold has been met and respond directly to you.  Restorative Gloucestershire will then convene the Community Trigger meeting and act as an independent Chair. Further information can be found using the following link; Anti-Social Behaviour Case Review – Restorative Gloucestershire

At the meeting, you get an opportunity to tell the persons around the table how you feel, the impact the ASB is having upon you and to ensure everyone understands what you feel needs to be done better.

The agencies will assess what has been done, and plan what actions can be considered jointly to try and resolve the ASB issues raised. You will then be formally advised of the next steps. To request a Community Trigger the form can be found here www.restorativegloucestershire.co.uk/anti-social-behaviour-case-review/asb-case-review-application/

What if the threshold is not met?

If the threshold is not met for a Community Trigger to be convened, you will be notified formally. It is important to note however you can make a new request if the criteria are subsequently met, and usually, the review request results in agencies assessing the situation jointly in any event.

Contact

If you have questions about the Community Trigger, please contact Andy Wood, ASB Team Leader on: 0800 408 0000 or speak to Restorative Gloucestershire via the website enquiry form, or by calling: 01452 754 542.