By Brian Smith

THE NUMBER of people involved in anti-social activities who agreed to work with local authorities to address their behaviour trebled in 2005-06 compared to the previous year.

An acceptable behaviour contract (ABC) is a written agreement between someone involved in anti-social behaviour and one or more local agencies.

The contract specifies the anti-social act or acts the person has been involved in, makes clear that the person has agreed to stop and sets out the consequences of breaching the contract, including an application for an ASBO or a possession order.

A research report shows that in 2005-06 local authorities negotiated and enacted 440 ABCs. In the previous year the number of the contracts agreed by both local authorities and registered social landlords was only 146.

Deputy justice minister Johann Lamont said that along with the Executive’s other measures to tackle anti-social behaviour, the acceptable behaviour contracts were helping to address the problem in communities across Scotland.

“Tackling anti-social behaviour remains one of the Executive’s top priorities. People want and deserve to feel safe in their homes and on their streets.

“Crime across Scotland is falling—there were 20,000 fewer crimes last year. However, too many individuals and communities still face the daily blight of disruption, intimidation and abuse from a selfish minority of people,” she said.

“That is why we have introduced a range of measures to prevent and tackle anti-social behaviour and to promote community safety. We have provided significant resources to support them.

“As well as measures such as ASBOs, dispersal orders and closure orders, local agencies are making more use of acceptable behaviour contracts as an effective means of early intervention to stop anti-social behaviour before it escalates into more serious criminal behaviour.

“Though voluntary, ABCs provide a strong deterrent as a breach or a refusal to enter into an agreement can result in legal action, such as an ASBO.

“People want to see crime falling and anti-social behaviour tackled, but they also want to see people taking responsibility for their own actions. That’s why these contracts can play a part in improving lives within hard-pressed communities.

“Increasingly the measures we have introduced are giving the authorities the powers and responsibilities they need to bring an end to the blight of anti-social behaviour. That will not happen overnight but we are making progress.”

In Dundee, administration leader Councillor Jill Shimi said, “The city council is determined to play its part in tackling antisocial behaviour and uses a wide range of measures to achieve this.

“The council works in partnership with people in the city’s communities and the police and other organisations to address local issues—this underlines our commitment to making our communities safer places in which to live.”

The Anti-social Behaviour (Scotland) Act 2004 came into force at the end of October that year. Key indicators published to mark the second anniversary of the act showed that 13 dispersal orders had been used to break up patterns of anti-social behaviour in communities across Scotland

Over 3000 fines were handed out in Tayside (to March) during a pilot of fixed penalty notices and 22 neighbourhoods across the country have seen some respite from the anti-social actions of individuals and families thanks to closure orders.

A total 1908 neighbours have got a bit of much-needed peace thanks to warnings issued, with 118 fixed penalty notices handed down to the worst culprits; 170 “boy-racers” have had vehicles seized and over 1900 have been warned about their actions.

Local agencies have been tasked with tackling anti-social behaviour through an appropriate mix of prevention, early intervention, enforcement and rehabilitation measures.

This has been backed up by £130 million of Executive investment between 2004-2008 for tackling anti-social behaviour and promoting community safety. Executive funding is tied to anti-social behaviour outcome agreements to deliver tangible improvements for local communities and not to the number of ASBOs taken out or other specific measure granted.

In 2005-06 27 of Scotland’s 32 local authorities issued at least one acceptable behaviour contract and over the past two years the number of organisations using ABCs has increased from 25 to 41. Almost three-quarters of ABCs signed in 2004-05 were honoured for at least 12 months.