It is now nearly three years since councils across England were criticised for not doing enough to help victims of antisocial behaviour (ASB) by the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman (LGSCO).
Its ‘Out of Order’ report in 2023 called for councils to fully understand and use the powers they have to provide better support for victims of ASB and for improvements to partnership working between agencies.
In Devon and Cornwall, councils have been doing just that and I’m extremely pleased to see the hard work being put in is paying off. By working alongside our local policing teams to tackle persistent ASB, councils are making great progress, and those ongoing efforts are now being seen within our communities.
ASB is not an issue that can be handled just by one agency; it needs addressing from all angles. Police enforcement, such as hot spot policing, is just one important piece of the bigger picture.
My office has recently posted some incredibly insightful reels on our social media platforms showing the impact of hot spot patrols in our towns and cities. Just one example is in Truro. The fantastic work being carried out by Cornwall Council ASB Caseworker, Stephen Lennon, was highlighted by showing how he plays a key role in co-ordinating Truro’s joined up response with police and other partners to tackle persistent offenders.
In the five years that Stephen has been in post, 16 Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) have been issued within Truro. One of these orders can make specific behaviours a criminal offence for that person only. For example, one man in Truro is currently prohibited from entering certain roads or wearing face masks for three years, and will be arrested if caught doing so.
Three orders each year might seem small numbers but if you delve deeper, it is evident that thanks to close partnership working, shop staff and residents report noticeable improvements over the past couple of years.
The decision to impose these orders on someone is not taken lightly because it is life limiting. They are the final tool in Stephen’s armoury to deal with repeat offenders causing significant harm and are only used when all other attempts to engage and change a person’s behaviour have failed.
The ultimate aim is reducing ASB and protecting the public, but Stephen and colleagues must balance that with an individual’s right to live freely. Before getting to the point where a person is given a CBO by a magistrate, they are issued with ASB stage 1 and 2 letters, followed by Community Protection Warnings and then Community Protection Notices.
For an order to be granted, the behaviour must be persistent and proven the punitive measures are proportionate to the level of harm inflicted on others.
Unlike ASB Orders (ASBOs) which came before, Criminal Behaviour Orders (CBOs) often include a requirement for positive actions from a person as well as punitive conditions. For instance, mandating someone to attend counselling sessions.
Stephen always tries to work with perpetrators so they realise the impact of their actions, while also bringing in other agencies to support with housing, addiction and employment. If a person does not have those fundamental things sorted, a warning will not have a meaningful effect. It really involves a holistic and tailored approach to create long-lasting change.
In 80 per cent of cases involving young people committing ASB in Truro given a stage 1 warning, that initial letter was sufficient to stop further offending. Approximately 160 warnings have been distributed since 2021, to youths and adults combined.
On top of enforcement action, Stephen, rangers and police officers aim to identify issues while on hotspot patrols and implement problem solving measures. For example, on one of Truro’s busy town centre shopping streets, there were benches that were being used by large groups of street drinkers throughout the day which stopped others using them for more genuine reasons.
Stephen worked with Truro City Council to get them removed and since then, business owners near that area have reported an increase in footfall, and shop staff have felt safer while opening and closing.
I want to pass on my deep gratitude to Stephen, the local neighbourhood team and town rangers for the strong work happening in Truro to keep residents and visitors safe, which is being replicated in places over Devon and Cornwall.
Even so-called ‘low level’ nuisance behaviour, if repeated regularly, can take a toll on an someone’s mental health. If people are apprehensive about visiting our town centres, businesses suffer which, in turn, impacts our region’s economy. The consequences of ASB reach further than first meets the eye.
That is why I have been determined to reduce this behaviour by investing in multi-agency Street Focus projects in Torquay and Camborne, by funding a dedicated lawyer to help bring cases against perpetrators and by putting money towards organisations that support addiction recovery across Devon and Cornwall.
ASB affects us all at some point in our day or life from a direct impact on people’s actual safety to our feelings of safety. It is also the issue that people most frequently tell me they want the police to prioritise.
I certainly acknowledge there are challenges which Truro residents are rightly worried about, and I know these concerns are echoed in towns up and down the South West. Statistics show our region is still one of the safest, but we cannot sit back and admire our successes. We must continue to identify offenders and act against them and carry on this upward trajectory. That is what I will work with the force and partners to achieve during 2026 and beyond.