Islington Council eyes fresh solution to ‘longstanding’ anti-social behaviour

Cllr John Woolf said ‘early intervention’ was important. Photograph: Islington Council

Islington Council has rubber-stamped plans to make residents feel safer amid criticisms of both the Town Hall and police over their handling of anti-social behaviour (ASB) complaints.

At its executive meeting on 5 September, the council quickly gave the green light to a new policy devised to tackle both the “root causes” of ASB and the “suffering” it has caused.

Cllr John Woolf said it was important that the council “takes an approach of early intervention, that we consider the needs of residents suffering and that we keep a robust focus on data as well”.

A report from an earlier policy and performance scrutiny committee drew on a survey of 250 residents, half of whom thought both the police and the council “were doing a bad job responding to ASB”. 

Ninety per cent of respondents said they had encountered incidents local to their homes in the past five years, while a third said they had had difficulty reporting issues.

The committee agreed that the perception the council was ignoring longstanding ASB had made problems “much worse”.

In October 2023, a special investigation by the Housing Ombudsman made tough criticisms of the council’s conduct as a social landlord.

The inquiry found the council had a 94 per cent maladministration rate for complaints over ASB — compared to the national average of 52 per cent.

It challenged the Town Hall over poor enforcement, record-keeping and communication, but also a failure to demonstrate it had followed its own policies and procedures in dealing with reports of ASB.

The Ombudsman also blamed the council for conducting too few case reviews or working with third parties.

The committee report acknowledged the “blight” of ASB as “one of the biggest challenges we face in a high-density, inner-city London borough, where issues can be difficult to solve”. 

It recommended the Town Hall develops information-sharing and partnership agreements with housing associations on ASB problems to provide targeted support to tenants “at an early stage”.

New proposals also emphasise to residents what the council’s ASB policy is, along with preventative measures like estate drop-ins.

Cllr Woolf stressed that the plan “offers a clear definition of what constitutes anti-social behaviour”.

The council’s investigation cited data from 2022 which identified multiple ‘hotspots’ for lawlessness across the borough, with Holloway’s Andover Estate seeing the highest number of calls and actions taken.

The report stated: “As a local authority, Islington Council has a duty to respond to ASB affecting tenants within the borough. 

“Our tenancy agreements grant us specific powers to address ASB or breaches of tenancy conditions within the properties we manage. 

“For support in managing behaviour that does not meet the ASB threshold, Islington Council tenants can refer to our Good Neighbourhood policy.”

Islington Council instructs residents to report any anti-social behaviour or noise online, or via telephone at 020 7527 7272.

You can read the council’s latest version of its definition of anti-social behaviour online.