After my post earlier this week about recurring problems with motorbikes being ridden dangerously on Bede Walk, I'm pleased to say that Council officers and the local Police team have taken our concerns on board and are actively considering measures to reduce the problem, including introducing an additional barrier to slow bikes down.
On Tuesday evening I drew on this experience when I spoke at the full Council meeting on the subject of the Council's draft anti-social behaviour strategy. This follows my recent speech at Lib Dem Conference. This is a subject I feel strongly about: I know too many local residents who's quality of life has been badly effected by the mindless behaviour of others and the approach of the Council and Police lacks vision or purpose.
It seems that the Reading public agrees - in the Council's 2007 Residents Survey 'tackling crime and anti-social behaviour' was voted the second highest priority for action by residents who took part. More worryingly, over half of all respondents did not know what the Council is doing to tackle asb.
I made a number of specific criticisms of Labour's strategy including that:
- It lacks any attempt at real community engagement at a local level - Safer Reading Forums and Neighbourhood Action Groups do not attract large numbers of residents and yet measures cannot be effective without their support and input
- It gives no details of how the Council and partners will support Neighbourhood Action Groups - many of which have identified anti-social behaviour as a major issue - at the moment many Groups lack funding and are losing members
- Measures put forward to tackle different forms of asb focus on enforcement such as ASBOs, with not enough emphaisis on restorative justice - this is something Chris Huhne made a key focus of in the Lib Dem youth justice policy in the Summer
- More needs to be done to encourage people to report crime, following problems with the Police's non-emergency telephone number (and the existence of a second Council anti-social behaviour hotline which only adds to confusion)
- A general absence of monitoring or evaluation of measures used to tackle crime i.e. where lighting/cctv has been installed to see whether it has been effective in improving community safety
I introduced an amendment along the above lines which called for the following:
“the Anti-Social Behaviour Strategy be adopted, subject to the following amendments:
(a) In recognition of the fact that anti-social behaviour has been identified by a number of Neighbourhood Action Groups in the Borough as a community priority, the Council and partners will provide funding for these groups to communicate and engage more effectively with local people.
(b) Alongside the development of an anti-social behaviour strategy, members of the CDRP will establish a community engagement strategy to ensure that engagement with residents is inclusive and co-ordinated. This strategy should include a commitment that partners will feedback directly to all residents who have reported anti-social behaviour the steps and remedies being taken to address their specific concerns.
(c) To increase reporting of anti-social behaviour, members of the CDRP establish, promote, and jointly-fund a Reading-based telephone hotline line for residents to easily report anti-social behaviour.
(d) That the effectiveness and value for money of individual crime reduction projects funded via Safer Reading Campaign funding be regularly monitored and evaluated, and that this information be shared at Safer Reading Forum meetings.
(e) That an information sharing protocol between Safer Reading Forums, Anti-Social Behaviour Action Groups and Neighbourhood Action Groups be drawn up by March 2009.”
Labour and the Tories agreed with a lot of what I said (and failed to put forward any ideas of their own) but in typical fashion refused to vote for our amendment preferring to try to kick it into the long grass.
But this issue is too important to be deferred. Anti-social behaviour is not an abstract issue - it is wrecking lives in Reading as we speak and needs real, joined-up action from the Council and Police now.
Tuesday evening showed that the Lib Dems continue to be the only Party in Reading who are prepared to make the case for such an approach, and I for one will keep making it loudly.
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