Tamworth Borough Council
Landlord Services
Anti Social Behaviour
Service Improvement Plan
2013 - 2015
This Service Improvement Plan (SIP) will set the course for the anti social behaviour service over a 3 year period and will be reviewed annually to:
§ improve the quality and cost of the service
§ set out the activities and actions required to achieve improvement
§ ensure we know our customers in order to tailor the service according to individual needs
Following a gap analysis and self-assessment report, Landlord Services re-designed the ASB service to include:
· A thorough review and promotion of the ASB service
· Dedicated staff based at the Community Safety Partnership Hub
· Vulnerability matrix for both victims and perpetrators
· Collection of profiling information by ‘Getting to Know You’
· Introduction of an IT case management system
· Customer focused local offers and KPI’s
· New policy and procedures
· An action plan to show continued service improvement and training
1. Where are we now?
Landlord Services successfully launched the Anti-Social Behaviour Policy in June 2011, followed in November 2011 by the Anti Social Behaviour Procedure with clear local offers set out below that we will:
· Acknowledge all anti-social behaviour reports in writing within 24 hours
· Arrange to interview you at home, or an agreed location, within a maximum 10 days of receipt of your complaint and agree an action plan tailored to your requirements
· For serious allegations, contact you within 24 hours of your report to us
· Contact you at the interval times agreed in the action plan
· Keep your identity confidential and seek your written agreement where disclosure is necessary, for example, a witness statement for Court
· Work with partners including the Police and Community Safety Partnership to reduce nuisance, anti social behaviour and crime
· Offer you a range of solutions including support, advice and interventions
· Be accredited by HouseMark and the SLCNG (Social Landlords Crime & Nuisance Group)
· Offer surgeries in the heart of the community
· Support the corporate Community Safety Hub
· Carry out tenant satisfaction surveys achieving a minimum of 80%
In August 2012, Landlord Services went live with a case management software system, Community Action Solutions (CAS). This system has a Business Objects Reporting system allowing users to set up reports to benchmark with Housemark and to produce reports for our customers, councillors and partner agencies.
Tamworth Borough Council achieved Respect accreditation in November 2012 following an agreed action plan, making us the first stock retained landlord to achieve independent accreditation for our landlord ASB service.
In the year to August 2013, 712 ASB reports were received (over double the number recorded in 2011/2012). This does not mean that anti social behaviour has doubled, it simply means that all categories of anti social behaviour are now being recorded correctly. For example, some categories were not classified as anti social behaviour prior to using an IT case management system including garden nuisance, domestic abuse and litter/rubbish/fly-tipping. Furthermore, the service is now promoted on our website with advice pages and an online reporting form making it easier for our customers to report incidents of anti social behaviour to the correct partner agencies.
Of the 712 cases, the highest categories were:
· Noise 30%
· Verbal abuse/harassment/threats 12%
· Garden nuisance 10%
· Pets/Animal Nuisance 8%
· Drugs/Substance Misuse/Drug Dealing 5%
Total 65%
The remaining 35% deals with - alcohol related, criminal behaviour/crime, domestic abuse, hate related incidents, litter/rubbish/fly-tipping, misuse of communal areas, vehicle nuisance, physical violence, prostitution/sexual/acts/kerb crawling and vandalism/damage
Following the restructure of Landlord Services, a new post of Anti Social Behaviour Project Officer was introduced with responsibility to:
ü Manage high level cases requiring enforcement
ü Introduce and extend prevention and early intervention measures
ü Provide an advisory and training resource to the ASB team
ü Ensure improvements are made to the service in line with the Accreditation Action Plan and work towards the next accreditation application in 2015
ü Increase partnership working opportunities
This post is based in the Community Safety Hub as part of the multi-agency partnership. Also based here are the Domestic Abuse Officer, Neighbourhood Watch, Townsafe, Victim Support, Police and the Community Safety team. Support services, mental health services and other housing providers also ‘hot desk’ at this location.
2. Where do our customers, clients, service users want us to be
In 2011, satisfaction in our service increased from 65% in 2008/2009 to 75.2%. We aim to increase satisfaction to 80%. Tenants report anti social behaviour as one of the most important areas requiring our attention.
So what do our service users wants from us – feedback from recent negative survey results tells us that customers want to be kept informed, they want to be confident that we are knowledgeable and they want us to help them. Probably the most important area is support. Landlord Services already has a Tenancy Support Directory and works with a number of agencies who provide support including a dedicated Victim & Witness Support Champion.
Over the next year, Landlord Services will set up and publish reports on satisfaction rates, what kind of ASB we deal with, who is most affected, how we resolve issues and where our hotspot areas are. We will also increase collection of profiling information and use the information to establish whether any particular groups are more disadvantaged and how we can manage this.
In 2011/2012, tenants complained that there is no consistency with anti social behaviour, so we introduced surveys to determine satisfaction with cases and identify areas for improvement. The results will be used to improve our service.
3. How will we get there?
To achieve accreditation, we achieved a minimum of 50% in each of the 7 ASB Accreditation Commitments - these are:
Ø Commitment 1: We demonstrate leadership and strategic commitment
Ø Commitment 2: We provide an accessible and accountable service
Ø Commitment 3: We take swift action to protect communities
Ø Commitment 4: We adopt a supportive approach to working with victims and witnesses
Ø Commitment 5: We encourage individual and community responsibility
Ø Commitment 6: We have a clear focus on prevention and early intervention
Ø Commitment 7: We ensure that a value for money approach is embedded in our service
Within each Commitment, there are a number of Building Blocks, some of which are ‘in place and effective’ and others underway.
Where we didn’t reach 100% on our commitments, an action plan is attached to this plan to show how we intend to achieve this goal.
4. How will we make it happen
A Service Improvement Group (SIG) was established in 2011 specifically to ensure our tenants are involved in shaping the ASB service. The group is made up of residents, staff and partner agencies and meets approximately every 3 months to agree service improvements.
The ‘Healthier Housing Strategy 2011 – 2014’ sets out how we will work together to improve the health and wellbeing of our local population. As 19.8% of housing in Tamworth is social housing, Landlord Services is a key stakeholder in this strategy which acknowledges some of the challenges in the delivery of the strategy, specifically in target 3.3 ‘People are able to maintain an independent and healthy lifestyle (Individual Behaviour)’ as:
· Tackling poor tenure and tenancy conditions
· Encouraging acceptable health and social behaviour to households
· Improving social environment within the local community
In ‘Our Vision for Tamworth’, our plan will assist in various areas, for example:
4.1.1 vulnerable people are supported to live independently
4.1.2 people and communities are able to take control and responsibility for their neighbourhoods
4.1.3 protect people from major incidents and other threats causing harm to their health
In target 3.4 of the strategy ‘Neighbourhood environments that enable safer and healthier communities (Neighbourhood), our plan will focus on the following areas:
ü neighbourhoods support social and community networks – through the use of Good Neighbour Agreements, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and mediation
ü anti-social behaviour and other forms of crime are tackled – through prevention, early intervention and enforcement including injunctions to stop violence and threats of violence
ü housing input from the Council and it’s partners is needed in Tamworth’s approach to working at a local, neighbourhood level – working in a partnership environment, more information is accessed by police officers and PCSO’s resulting in speedier resolution and a joined-up approach
ü partners in housing and community safety sector work together to address issues that affect the quality of life for residents eg anti social behaviour
ü working in partnership to build resilient families through intensive support schemes
ü neighbourhood management is co-ordinated amongst partners. Action to address inequalities in the most deprived neighbourhoods is co-ordinated and targeted – Joint Operations Group meets quarterly to update on hotspot problems and areas and discuss how to resolve them.
The Community Safety Partnership (CSP) focuses on harm and vulnerability, specifically those with:
· learning disabilities/vulnerabilities
· mental ill health
· physical ill health
· domestic violence
· drug/alcohol misuses issues
· isolation
· unstable family life
Regular professionals meetings are held with key stakeholders to support and protect vulnerable customers. The outcomes of all these meetings are kept on ECINS (a multi agency sharing information IT system owned by Staffordshire police and Tamworth Borough Council). Action Plans are agreed in these cases and review meetings are held fortnightly but can be called on an emergency basis.
What we are already doing in support of the strategy is:
ü ensuring a variety of support options are available for our more vulnerable residents by way of a Tenancy Support Directory for staff to refer service users to the right type of support for their needs. Over the course of the next year, this directory will be reviewed, updated and made available to customers to self refer for help
ü encouraging thriving and sustainable communities – a Good Neighbour Agreement is to be introduced in the near future to encourage communities to take ownership of problems in the neighbourhood and support each other. The formal introduction of a mediation service will back this up
ü targeting the ASB budget to support the most vulnerable
ü introducing measures to collect profiling information to assist us in helping the disabled and vulnerable in Tamworth
Training
Each month, ‘In the Know’ briefing sessions are held in the Landlord Services team. Speakers carry out presentations in specific areas (for example ASB Accreditation) and this information is held in a general folder for anybody to access. Training has been carried out as necessary in the year 2013/14 and has covered:
· Safeguarding including sexual exploitation
· Loan Shark training
· Troubled Families initiative
· Current anti social behaviour powers and tools
· CAS – ASB case management system for new staff
· Environmental Improvement bidding
· Mental Health & Child Protection
· Domestic Violence
· BTEC Casework Supervision
· Dealing with Difficult & Challenging Situations
In the year 2014/2015, training will focus on:
· New powers under the ASB, Crime & Policing Bill
· Victim & Witness Support
· All staff to study toward and achieve a BTEC recognised qualification in anti social behaviour casework management
Attached is our Action Plan to cover 2013 – 2015.
ASB Accreditation Plan – November 2012 to November 2015
ASB Accreditation Commitment & Building Block / Key Actions / AchievementDate / Lead
Officer / Status /
Commitment 1: We demonstrate leadership and strategic commitment
(There is strong leadership, corporate commitment and accountability about preventing and tackling ASB. This is embedded throughout our business and across key partners) / · Utilise members of SIG to conduct period mystery shopping
· Review a sample of ASB cases in detail by meeting with customers and asking them to share their experience of the service through the various stages
· Use results to shape and inform future service developments
· Prepare and present an in depth annual report to Cabinet and the TCG setting out a review of the landlord’s ASB service over the previous 12 months including performance against year end KPI’s, details of enforcement activity, examples of positive preventative and diversionary activities and progress achieving an ASB service improvement plan
· Introduce convenient and confidential arrangements for staff and contractors to refer ASB concerns they have witnessed to the Tenancy Sustainment Team
· Ensure all training delivered or attended externally by staff directly supports the outputs required by the current Service Improvement Plan (plan should identify the training resources required to achieve the required outcome)
· Provide relevant refresher training to elected members and involved tenants to enable them to scrutinise effectively the ASB service ie proposed changes to tools and powers for tackling ASB. Training can take the form of bite sized briefings or bulletins
· Agree KPI’s and targets with SIG and incorporate into monthly performance pack
· Ensure the current system of evaluation of training completed by staff includes a requirement to cascade and share knowledge more widely
· Review the Landlord Services ASB page of the website to ensure it is fully utilised to convey the message that ASB will not be tolerated and to promote examples of successful enforcement action
· To ensure a full range of performance information is made available on our website and kept up to date
· Review format and presentation of ASB information on the website. Keep ASB related information in one place in separate and easy to locate web pages
· Share key Landlord Services ASB performance information with key partners through the CSP
· Ensure ASB performance is reported to tenants every 6 months in annual report and Open House
· Refresh ASB Service Improvement Plan following completion of assessment to incorporate the recommendations in the ASB accreditation report
· Review performance targets annually for the following 12 months / February 2014
January 2014