Co-chairs of the Independent Working Group on Antisocial Behaviour
We know that antisocial behaviour is a serious issue for many communities across Scotland.
We also know this currently takes up a lot of police time, even though a lot of what they are dealing with does not involve an actual crime being committed.
There is no simple, easy solution, but the evidence shows us that antisocial behaviour is preventable, and we call on the Scottish Government to take action now to deliver this.
We believe there are actions which can be taken to reduce both the number of victims and the impact and damage of antisocial behaviour.
In February of this year, the Independent Working Group on Antisocial Behaviour, which we co-chaired, published its report setting out exactly what needs to be done.
With five key recommendations, and 45 actions, we set out how to put victims at the centre to create both the whole system change and the situational responses needed.
We were honoured to have been asked by the Scottish Government in November 2023 to co-chair the working group. Between us, we have worked a considerable number of years on issues of antisocial behaviour and offending.
A lot of this time has been spent on understanding both the root causes of these difficult issues, and the value of compassionate, proportionate and trauma-informed responses.
“There are people living in our communities who are behaving in ways others find difficult, challenging, distressing, harmful and impactful”
In preparing our report, we drew on the wealth of experience and knowledge of the working group, and invested significant time and energy in speaking to many individuals, communities and organisations across Scotland.
This included several engagements with the police, including going out on patrols to witness two local partnership responses. We listened to more than 250 stakeholders and received 150 survey responses.
As well as finding examples of some very good practice which should be scaled up where possible, we also heard of many challenges.
Even when talking about antisocial behaviour, there can be confusion: different pieces of legislation define it in varying ways, and differing public ideas exist about what is and isn’t antisocial behaviour, and what should then be reported.
This is why one of the report’s recommendations was that current legislation, definitions, and guidance are reviewed and revised.
What was clear, however, was that there are people living in our communities who are behaving in ways others find difficult, challenging, distressing, harmful and impactful.
What was also clear was that snipping away at the edges would not address the root causes. We needed to understand the reasons people behave the way they do, and by using that understanding, to prevent it.
To achieve the former, the group recommended that we cannot view antisocial behaviour in isolation from the wider social and economic context. It is about poverty, inequity, tolerance, lack of money, lack of resources, failure, demand, and significant cuts to services that support our communities and young people.
We heard a lot about people involved in antisocial behaviour who were distressed, with mental health problems, addictions, living in hopeless situations and with little faith in, or recourse to, a safety net.
To address this, the report is calling for an oversight board, chaired independently, to be formed to support a whole system approach to drive change.
To achieve the latter, we identified the need for a truly preventative approach. In our investigations, we found real inconsistencies in what people understand about prevention and a failure to move sufficient resources ‘upstream’ to prevent problems arising in the first place.
We realised, therefore, we need to develop a preventive framework to outline how we can best use public resources to achieve upstream prevention.
While laying the groundwork to reduce both the impact and instances of antisocial behaviour in the future, there are also key steps we can take to improve the current situational response.
Greater partnership working would help to alleviate the current pressures on police officers to provide the sole response, and that is why a fourth recommendation of the report called for all local authorities to review and update their current antisocial behaviour strategic arrangements and strategies, to ensure a dedicated focus and spend on the prevention.
Supporting these four recommendations is a fifth on data and information. We need a systematic review of data and information gathering, analysis and exchange, to make sure we can best understand, track and resolve issues of antisocial behaviour.
We believe our report is ambitious but deliverable – and it requires action now.
It is now sitting with the Scottish Government, which previously committed in its 2024/25 Programme for Government to “act on the recommendations of our independent expert working group on antisocial behaviour”.
It is in everybody’s interests that the government delivers.