Cumberland Council has pledged its support to victims of anti-social behaviour.
The council said as part of Antisocial Behaviour Awareness Week, it is pledging that victims will always be supported professionally and with compassion.
Its antisocial behaviour case review service leads partners in investigating serious or repeated ASB.
It has now undergone rigorous scrutiny from the national charity, ASB Help, to confirm the process is in line with national best practice.
Portfolio holder for public health and communities, Cllr Justin McDermott, community safety partnership chair and director of public health and communities, Colin Cox; and community safety manager, Mary-Claire Telford, received the certificate from Angela Denison, victim and partnership project manager at ASB Help, during national Antisocial Behaviour Awareness Week.
Cllr McDermott said: “Antisocial behaviour case reviews are an incredibly important part of our work. We co-ordinate them but all the relevant partners work together, and we are often addressing situations where people’s lives have been made a misery by ASB.
“The process of independent scrutiny and advice involved in achieving pledge status has shown the good work we are already doing, and made sure we have a first class service into the future.”
The ASB Help Pledge was designed to address inconsistencies in the nationwide handling of ASB case reviews, help agencies strengthen their processes and ensure the victims’ voice is at the centre of decision-making.
In achieving pledge status, the council is recognised as having embedded best practice in its policies and procedures.
Angela Denison said: “I am delighted that Cumberland Council has signed up to our ASB Help Pledge.
“It demonstrates their commitment to supporting partners in promoting best practice for the ASB Case Review. In doing so they are ensuring that victims of ASB in Cumberland have a voice.”
To achieve ASB Help pledge status, the council’s ASB case review policies and procedures were scrutinised, an independent assessor observed an ASB case review panel hearing, providing feedback and recommendations, and peer reviews were carried out.
Colin Cox added: “It is fantastic that our co-ordination of ASB case reviews has been commended in this way. It means we take this behaviour seriously and are committed to victims. It should reassure residents that they can trust us when dealing with this often traumatic issue.”
Antisocial behaviour is conduct that causes, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to anyone. It can have a serious impact on victims and communities.
If someone has reported three or more incidents of antisocial behaviour to the council, police or a housing provider, and the problem persists, they can request an antisocial behaviour case review.
More information on requesting an anti-social behaviour case review can be found here.
Anyone experiencing antisocial behaviour should, in the first instance, contact the police on 101.
