By Jim Hislop

DUNDEE, THE first city to launch the use of Anti-Social Behaviour Order legislation, has one of the lowest records of offenders breaching them, Scottish Parliament figures reveal.

In answer to a question by Christine Grahame MSP, the deputy justice minister Hugh Henry said that a table of breach charges proved in Scottish courts between 1999 and 2003 showed Dundee had eight such cases—six in 2002 and two in 2003. Glasgow had 13, Edinburgh 34, Aberdeen 39, Dunfermline 12 and Kirkcaldy 10.

Dundee City Council housing convener Councillor Helen Wright said, “Dundee was the first local authority in the country to be granted powers to issue anti-social behaviour orders under new legislation in 1999 and we have continued to seek these whenever it is considered appropriate.

“The council is playing its part in doing everything it can to put a halt to the misery that anti-social behaviour can cause to decent, law-abiding people who, of course, form the vast majority of our population.

“ASBOs are recognised as a serious form of legislation that can put an end to problems and it is clear that people take them seriously, given the low number of breaches.”

Mr Henry, who was asked what percentage of orders had been breached in each year since 1999, said that tentative data on breaches of orders granted in local authority areas was available for 2003–04. During this period, 213 orders were in force and 144 (67%) were allegedly breached.

“However,” he said, “the independent researchers who collated the data have advised that confusion over the term ‘breach’ means that this finding must be treated with extreme caution.

“The lack of robust data means that it is not possible to provide a reliable breakdown on a local authority basis for 2003–04. A further survey will be taken this summer which should clarify the position for 2004–05.”

Mr Henry added that since being given powers in June 2003, housing associations were responsible for 25 anti-social behaviour orders in 2003–04, 11% of the total applied for throughout Scotland.

The total number of ASBOs issued in Dundee up to March last year was 41. There were 57 in Fife, four in Perth and Kinross and one in Angus.