Hate Crime & Social Housing

Tools & Powers to tackle

ASB / Hate Crime

in Housing

How do CHA deal with hate motivated incidents?

• All of our tenancy agreements contain a clause prohibiting racial and other harassment.

• Where a hate crime/hate motivated incident is reported CHA interview the complaint within 2 working days or within 24 hours if there has been violence or a threat of violence.

• Assess the needs of the complaint, offering support/help and if desired, assistance to transfer.

• Take appropriate action against the perpetrator.

Where do our powers come from?

Several Acts of parliament relate to social Housing but the most significant in relation to tackling ASB have

been:

• 1996 Housing Act, amended by Housing Act 2004

• 2003 Anti-social Behaviour Act amended the 1988 Housing Act

Legal Tools

• ASBI – Anti-Social Behaviour Injunctions (with notice & without notice).

• Can include a Power of Arrest/Exclusion from a specified area.

• Undertakings & Consent Orders.

• Obtained on Balance of Probabilities.

• Breach must be proved to a criminal standard.

Legal Tools

• Demotion Orders

• Possession Orders

• Starter Tenancies

Non Legal Tools

• Acceptable Behaviour Contracts

• Mediation

• Warning letters / Formal interviews

• Joint visits with other agencies

• Referrals to support services/other agencies

The Future

ASB White Paper in 2012 put forward the following:

• Move away from ‘one size fits all’ model of dealing with ASB

• Agencies must focus responses on the needs of the victim and not the incident (as is the case now)

• People/communities can hold agencies to account via ‘community trigger’ and demonstrating harm in court through ‘Community Harm Statements’

• 19 ‘powers’ replaced by just 6

Crime Prevention Injunction

• The Crime Prevention Injunction (CPI) will replace the Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO), the Anti-Social Behaviour Injunction (ASBI), the Individual Support Order, the Drink Banning Order and the Intervention Order.

• will be a civil order available to a wider range of bodies

• no longer a requirement that the anti-social conduct has impacted upon the housing management functions of the applicant.

Crime Prevention Injunction

Crime Prevention Injunction

• Injunctions can only be applied for by a local authority (acting in its housing management function) or a housing provider.

• Clause 13 deals with breaches or anticipated breaches of the tenancy agreement by the tenant where:

the respondent has committed or is threatening to commit anti-social behaviour, or is allowing, inciting or encouraging others to commit or threaten to commit anti-social behaviour.

Crime Prevention Injunction• Can attach a power of arrest • can exclude a respondent from their home or a specified

area (as under the current legislation)• Court has to be satisfied that the perpetrator has been

found, on the balance of probabilities, to have engaged in conduct that is capable of causing a nuisance or annoyance and it is just and convenient to make the order.

• able to apply for interim orders without giving notice to the perpetrator

• Breach of a CPI will be contempt of court and will carry a fine or up to two years’ imprisonment.

Crime Prevention Injunction

How will it differ from the ASBI? • Court can impose positive obligations on the

perpetrator which require him/her to do something (e.g. attend a drug rehabilitation programme).

• Court can impose prohibitions e.g. not to harass a particular individual, not to be verbally abusive towards them, not to behave in an anti-social manner or exclude them from entering a particular area.

• Orders may be made for as long as necessary and there will be no minimum or maximum duration.

Thank you for listening

Contact details:

angela.j.harris@charterhousing.co.uk

Direct dial 01633 678555