Increase In Use Of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts

The number of people in Scotland involved in antisocial activities who agreed to work with locals authorities to address their behaviour trebled in 2005-2006 compared with the previous year.

An Acceptable Behaviour Contract (ABC) is a written agreement between someone involved in antisocial behaviour and one or more local agencies. The contract specifies the antisocial act or acts which the person has been involved in, makes clear that the person has agreed to stop and sets out the consequences of breaching the contract, including an application for an ASBO or a possession order.

A recent research report shows that in 2005-6 local authorities negotiated and enacted 440 ABCs. This is compared to the year before when the number of the contracts agreed by both local authorities and Registered Social Landlords was only 146.

Deputy Justice Minister Johann Lamont said that along with the Scottish Executive’s other measures to tackle antisocial behaviour, the Acceptable Behaviour Contracts were helping to address the problem in communities across Scotland.

Johann Lamont said: “Tackling antisocial behaviour remains one of the Executive’s top priorities. People want and deserve to feel safe in their homes and on their streets. Crime across Scotland is falling – there were 20,000 fewer crimes last year. However, too many individuals and communities still face the daily blight of disruption, intimidation and abuse from a selfish minority of people.

“That is why we have introduced a range of measures to prevent and tackle antisocial behaviour and to promote community safety. We have provided significant resources to support them. As well as measures such as ASBOs, dispersal orders and closure orders, local agencies are making more use of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts as an effective means of early intervention to stop antisocial behaviour before it escalates into more serious criminal behaviour.

“Though voluntary, ABCs provide a strong deterrent as a breach or a refusal to enter into an agreement can result in legal action, such as an ASBO. People want to see crime falling and antisocial behaviour tackled, but they also want to see people taking responsibility for their own actions. That’s why these contracts can play a part in improving lives within hard-pressed communities.

“Increasingly the measures we have introduced are giving the authorities the powers and responsibilities they need to bring an end to the blight of antisocial behaviour. That will not happen overnight but we are making progress.”

Background

The Antisocial Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004 received Royal Assent in July 2004, with the main provisions coming into force at the end of October 2004.

Key indicators published to mark the second anniversary of the Act show that over the two years since the Act was passed:

• 13 dispersal orders have been used to break up patterns of antisocial behaviour in communities across Scotland
• 22 neighbourhoods have seen some respite from the antisocial actions of individuals and familes thanks to closure orders
• 1,908 neighbours have got a bit of much-needed peace thanks to warnings issued, with 118 fixed penalty notices handed down to the worst culprits
• 170 ‘boy-racers’ have had their vehicles seized and over 1,900 have been warned about their actions
• Over 3,000 fines have been handed out in Tayside (to March) during a pilot of fixed penalty notices

Local agencies have been tasked with tackling antisocial behaviour through an appropriate mix of prevention, early intervention, enforcement and rehabilitation measures.

This has been backed up by £130 million of Executive investment between 2004-2008 for tackling ASB and promoting community safety. Executive funding is tied to antisocial behaviour outcome agreements to deliver tangible improvements for local communities – and not to the number of ASBOs taken out or other specific measure granted.

Click here for a link to a recent report on the use of ASBO’s in Scotland. It includes the following findings on ABC’s:

• In 2005-6 27 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities issued at least one Acceptable Behaviour Contract
• Over the past two years the number of organisations using ABC’s has increased from 25 to 41
• Almost three quarters of ABC’s signed in 2004-5 were honoured for at least twelve months

The previous report on use of ABC’s in 2004-5 included figures for both local authorities and Registered Social Landlords.