Independent Working Group on Antisocial Behaviour: review report

Background

The Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 (2004 Act)^[1] remains the main antisocial behaviour legislation in Scotland (Scottish Government, 2004). This Act created new powers including Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) for children under 16 and dispersal orders for groups. This legislation took a punitive approach to ASB. The 2009 framework ‘Promoting Positive Outcomes: Working Together to Prevent Antisocial Behaviour in Scotland’^[2] marked a move away from “a narrow focus on enforcement action at all costs” towards one geared more towards “prevention and early and effective intervention” (Scottish Government, 2009:2). The 2011 ‘Commission on the Future Delivery of Public Services’ (‘Christie Commission’^[3], see also Campbell, 2011) similarly highlighted the need to reprioritise ‘prevention’ in the delivery of public services, estimating “that as much as 40 per cent of all spending on public services is accounted for by interventions that could have been avoided by prioritising a preventative approach” (Christie et al, 2011: viii).

The Scottish Government, the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and the Scottish Community Safety Network in 2018 produced ‘Community Safety - The Emerging Landscape and Future Opportunities’ encapsulating discussions with key partners and community safety representatives in local partnerships. From the discussions that took place, participants identified several key principles underpinning a ‘national community safety narrative’. These were: person-centred; place-based; addressing the needs of communities holistically; prevention and early intervention; tackling inequalities; strong partnership working with governance and decision making that enables community participation, influence and ownership; and evidence-based action supported by evaluation and understanding ‘what works’. This was followed in 2019 by the publication ‘Developing a Community Safety Narrative for Scotland’ (Spacey, 2019).^[4]

Similarly, Scottish Government policy in relation to Justice and Youth Justice emphasises the need for prevention and early intervention, whilst working in a trauma-informed rights-upholding way. This is further reinforced through new legislation including the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024 and the Children’s Care and Justice (Scotland) Act 2024.

Following the conclusion of the Independent Care Review in 2020, which achieved cross party support, The Promise implementation body was set up to drive the changes outlined and mandated within the Independent Care Review’s final report. With an expected lifespan of ten years, The Promise aims to support organisations across Scotland to promote practice, policy and culture, in order that Scotland’s children and young people grow up in a country that is loving, safe and respectful, and which allows them to realise their full potential.

These changes in Scottish Government policy have come at a time when Scotland, like other areas of the UK have witnessed significant reductions in spending on preventative services and a loss of community resources. The former UK Government’s policy of reducing expenditure has resulted in substantial cuts to public services impacting Scotland directly with local authority funding (Scottish Government allocations) falling from 30% of Holyrood spending in 2013/14 to 23% in 2022/23 (Audit Scotland, 2024)^[5]. Perhaps the most significant event of the past decade has been the outbreak and spread of the Covid-19 virus, with the pandemic touching on every facet of life. Through the ‘stay at home’ guidance issued by the Scottish Government, most services closed, and many have not recovered or re-opened, further impacting on lack of resources, especially preventative resources in local areas.

In 2023, the Scottish Community Safety Network and Scottish Government (2023) published ‘Scotland's Approach to Antisocial Behaviour’. Two clear recommendations arose from the work undertaken: firstly, that the approach to preventing and tackling antisocial behaviour needed to be ‘long term’, recognising societal change and able to evolve, and possessing coherence with other related national policies; secondly, the creation of an independently chaired group of experts tasked with producing a long-term framework for addressing antisocial behaviour.

Prior to this review starting in November 2023, the former UK Government announced in March 2023 its Antisocial Behaviour Action Plan which followed a Home Office review involving both the Home Secretary and Prime Minister, putting antisocial behaviour further up the agenda. The Plan was a mix of hard-hitting punitive enforcement measures, such as visible and rapid restorative justice (cleaning up graffiti etc.) alongside some preventative measures looking at support for mental health services. Pilots were proposed in various ‘hot spot’ places with considerable investment for local areas - primarily more visible neighbourhood police officers.

However, although we have had a change of government, the ethos has continued with antisocial behaviour in the new government’s manifesto and a number of recent rolling announcements.

Respect Orders are being considered by the current UK Government to deal with adults who cause repeat and more serious scale of antisocial behaviour. There is ongoing political debate at national level on whether these orders are rebranding of previous measures implemented over different governance periods. In relation to Scotland, many of the features of Respect Orders are already in existence under the provisions of Antisocial Behaviour Orders.

In that regard, the group has considered the merits of Respect Orders but concluded that there would be no benefits in merely repeating and recommending the concept within this review, without careful consideration as to how such orders could be brought into alignment with the Vision for Justice in Scotland.