South Anglia uses Courts to enhance Life Chances

Most ASB cases are resolved by early intervention by housing professionals. However, sometimes South Anglia will use enforcement action through the Courts to enhance the Life Chances of its residents and in recent years has done so with great success.

Gavel A recent study showed that three-quarters of cases of anti-social behaviour are resolved by early intervention action by frontline housing staff (e.g. writing letters, interviewing alleged perpetrators or referring neighbours to mediation). South Anglia Housing follows that trend – 80% of resolved cases managed by South Anglia in 2010 were resolved by early intervention.

There are occasions, however, when enforcement action is necessary; and in cases where going to Court is the best way of resolving a case quickly and to the benefit of the victim, South Anglia Housing will not hesitate to take Court action.

The following examples are of cases that South Anglia took to Court to protect the rights of its tenants and enhance their Life Chances. The details have been altered slightly to protect the identity of those involved.

Basildon

In Basildon, a young woman was in need of support from our partner agencies, such as Family Mosaic, that were helping her with health and financial problems. The tenant was in an abusive relationship and the support agencies could not provide the support she needed because of the risk to their safety.

South Anglia intervened to prevent her partner, who had been evicted from a South Anglia tenancy the year before, interfering with the support agencies. The Court granted an Anti-social Behaviour Injunction that banned the partner from the area for 6 months, with power of arrest for the police if he breached the terms. This allowed the tenant to receive the support she needed.

East Herts

In three separate cases in East Herts, South Anglia has attended Court to protect victims from abusive members of their family. In these cases the Courts granted an ASBO and 2 Injunctions, all with power of arrest. Two of the Orders were granted for 5 years and one was for life. In 2010, 100% of actions taken to Court by the ASB team were successful and, in some instances, the evidence was so compelling that the judge even extended the terms asked for.

Steve Kensington, the ASB Manager said “enhancing the Life Chances of our residents is at the core of everything we do at South Anglia Housing. These Court actions demonstrate that we will use all means available to us to protect our residents and tackle crime and anti-social behaviour.

Last modified 18/08/11