Agenda item
ASB on Housing Estates
Minutes:
Nick Spenceley, Head of Environmental Services Tower Hamlets Homes (THH), Savannah Lloyd, Area Community Safety Lead at Peabody Housing Trust, Lee Canter and Lee Andrews, Community Safety Team Officer and Community Safety Team Manager at One Housing respectively; introduced the presentation which reviewed the housing estates and learning from best practice in tackling anti-social behaviour.
Details on the types of complaints made and investigation methods used were provided to the sub-committee, including details on Operation Elkhart; a joint taskforce with police, council Enforcement Teams and THH to crack down on high level drug dealing within the estate.
Further to questions by the sub committee, Nick Spenceley;
· Confirmed that data from park guards who patrol the Boundary Estate is submitted by ASB Officers at the Weavers Ward Safer Neighbourhoods Board meetings.
· Clarified that Police, the council and THH’s have various separate reporting lines but a partnership approach to information sharing occurs. A targeted strategy is taken due to the resources available.
· Explained that THH has a small number of CCTVs used for evidence gathering for investigations. Installation is dependent on proportionality assessments based on resident feedback and patrol staff data. This allows staff to engage not just with the residents but those congregating in areas where a perceived threat is taking place. Discussions of this nature can often defuse tensions.
· Confirmed that block specific patrolling takes place alongside communicating with residents and partnership work with other agencies, using a holistic approach in tackling suspicious activity to combat criminality.
· Explained that the highest sanction RP’s can take for serious ASB offenses is eviction; although this may include a criminal investigation to establish if there has been breaches of tenancy or lease agreements, followed by a court order seeking possession. A less severe sanction is a ‘Premises Closure Order’ to exclude someone from a property or particular block. A revised THH tenancy agreement will be implemented in June 2023 which sets out stringent conditions.
· Conceded that current laws allow residents who have received ‘Possession Orders’ the right of appeal, which slows down the eviction process in some serious cases.
· Noted that The TSM measures include ‘ASB cases relative to the size of the landlord’. Although some residents no longer report complaints, as they are dissatisfied with the RP’s previous response. For this reason details received may not be true representations of lower or higher performance rates in specific wards.
Following comments from Officers and invitees, the sub-committee;
· Requested an ASB Summer Action Plan be submitted to the sub-committee for an overview of patrols around the estates.
· Suggested that a more integrated approach is needed to combat anti-social behaviour, as Tower Hamlets Enforcement Officers (THEOs) and park guards have different remits which currently prevents THEOS from entering estates managed by RPs.
· Noted that a wider workstream is required to identify crime and the lack of youth provision. Updates on approaches should be brought back to the sub-committee for further scrutiny at the first sub-committee for municipal year 2023/24..
· Suggested further details on ASB complaints from RP’s in each ward, to establish where the majority of issues stem from at the first sub-committee for municipal year 2023/24.
1. An ASB Summer Action Plan be submitted to the sub-committee for municipal year 2023/24.
2. The presentation be noted
Supporting documents: