Council tackles ASB – very, very slowly

THERE’S MORE to tackling Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) than having a week of action. Two important things are having a good reporting system and working in partnership with residents. Tower Hamlets Council has done the week: now it must do the other two actions.

Let’s start with the Week of Action. This was held recently (unfortunately, the Council’s press release does not say exactly when this was). The Council claims it helped 500 residents during a week of targeted anti-ASB action. Five hundred residents is 0.002 of the Tower Hamlets population. At this rate, it will take 660 weeks (just over 13 years) to help all the residents.

During the week, the Council held 22 events including weapon sweeps and drug searches.  The Council press release lists the following achievements:
“Two action days, one targeting traffic in East India Dock Road, Whitechapel Road and Brick Lane, and was looking at waste and environmental offences in Clare Street and Poyser Street, resulted in [no, that sentence does not make sense.]:
•Seizure of 4 cars, 6 moped, 11 e-bikes and 7 e-scooters,
•18 drivers reported
•4 arrests
•8 Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) issued for parking contraventions
•1 vehicle removed after checks identified incorrect registration plates being displayed
•4 Blue Badge checks carried out
•10 vehicles removed
No information was given on what the arrests were for. That’s 73 results – three and a third results per event.

Cllr Kabir Ahmed

Bear with us while we quote Cllr Kabir Ahmed, the new Cabinet Member for Community Safety, who has been in post for less than two months. He said:
“We know that ASB is an issue for our residents and we are committed to taking swift action against perpetrators and to support victims. We are listening to you and your concerns. We have recently launched our ASB policy which clearly lays out how we are working to tackle unacceptable behaviour in our borough.
“Our 24 hour response phone line for council tenants and council leaseholders also makes it easier to report issues and get a quick resolution. Our THEOs will be responsive and so far this has been a huge success.  We will also continue our partnership working to ensure we are continuing to crack down on ASB in our borough.”

There are two problems with how the Council has reported Cllr Kabir’s views.

•First, it is good to know there is an ASB 24-hour response phone line for Council tenants. Who on earth thought it was a good idea to include this in Cllr Ahmed’s quote in the press release – but not to say what the phone number is? And what do residents who are not Council tenants do?

•Second, it is good to hear that the Council is doing partnership working. The press release explains that the partnership working is with police and housing providers. Why is there no partnership working with residents?

This pedestrian and convoluted approach to ASB has to improve. What do we need?
•One clear ASB reporting phone number clearly on the home page of the Council website
•An easy way to find the further information about reporting ASB
•A clear way that residents can be involved in helping the Council tackle ASB.

All Councils have a Community Safety Partnership (CSP). The members of the Tower Hamlets CSP are the police, the Council, the Fire Brigade, East London Foundation Trust (the non-hospital part of the NHS) and the Probation Service. There are also “key local partners with a vested interest in community safety”. There should be resident members on this body too. Statutory organisation often be slow to move. Residents have the drive to move forward more quickly.

(Incidentally, the CSP page on the Council website states that CSP priorities were set in 2020, and the 2021-24 CSP Plan will be reviewed in 2021.  This is not good enough.)

Take heart: things were worse under the last Labour Administration. Cllr Kabir Ahmed is a quality councillor, and we cannot imagine that he is content with this level of activity. Mayor Lutfur Rahman has also pledged to do more to improve Community Safety too. The current situation can only improve.

●Read more about it:
Island Network launches Community Safety Drive
We won’t be silenced on community safety!