LGA: United public sector can tackle anti-social behaviour

The public sector must join forces to work with troubled families if crime and anti-social behaviour is to be effectively tackled, the Local Government Association (LGA) has said.

Newly published figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) report Crime in England and Wales, Quarterly First Release to March 2012 have shown that instances of anti-social behaviour have gradually decreased since 2007/08, reaching 2.7million incidents over the last year.

Overall, the ONS reported that the number of crimes recorded by the police fell by 4% between 2010/11 and 2011/12.

However, 2011/12 saw a 2% increase in other theft offences when compared with the previous year, with 26,438 instances being reported. Attributed to rises in theft of unattended property, theft from the person, bicycle theft and shoplifting, the growth in this form of crime was also associated with widely reported increases in metal theft.

While the number of robberies fell by 2% compared with figures from last year, the Metropolitan Police force recorded two consecutive year-on-year increases in this form of crime, which was up by 8% in London.

Responding to the ONS publication, Mehboob Khan, chairman of the LGA’s safer and stronger communities board, said that councils should be aware that further work had to be done to tackle the ‘corrosive’ effect of crime.

‘Their work to tackle anti-social behaviour and to realise the ambition of turning round the lives of 120,000 [of the] most troubled families, needs agencies to join up. The police, schools, social services and other parts of the public sector all have a part to play,’ Khan said. ‘This is the only way to tackle the root causes of inconsiderate and unacceptable behaviour.’

Commenting on the impact of metal theft, Khan emphasised that ‘the sooner the Scrap Metal Dealers Bill currently making its way through Parliament becomes law, the sooner councils will be able to put a stop to stolen metal so easily finding its way into scrap-yards’.