Police chief and mayor call for housing court pilot
For the Government 's new Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Action Plan to be as successful as possible, new Housing Courts are needed to ensure that action can be taken quickly, argues a new cross-party parliamentary report backed by West Midlands mayor Andy Street and the region 's Police and Crime Commissioner Simon Foster.
The pair have joined calls, backed by Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat MPs from across the country, for the Government to pilot the use of a Housing Court in the West Midlands.
The report by the All Party-Parliamentary Group on Anti-Social Behaviour, originally convened by housing association Midland Heart, also recommends that Housing Associations are given statutory powers as core partners in making our communities safer and that ASB is included in the Victim 's Bill.
The report, led by Baroness Newlove, is also backed by over 20 other Police Crime Commissioners from Durham to Surrey, the country 's leading Anti-Social Behaviour charities Resolve and ASB Help and several leading academics as well as tenants from some of the region 's largest social landlords.
The idea of dedicated Housing Courts is not a new one, and the government has previously consulted on the introduction of Housing Courts but no housing courts have yet been formed.
As it stands, victims of ASB can expect to wait several months, and in many cases up to a year, before securing a court date, and once in court, the case must compete for a judge 's time with other civil work that does not fall into any other specialist or priority areas.
Mr Street and Mr Foster both believe that a housing court pilot will give communities in the region more confidence that just and proportionate action will be taken in a timely manner when peace and order breaks down.
Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, said: “In order to effectively tackle anti-social behaviour in our communities, more decisive action needs to be taken to provide faster redress and relief for victims.
“In many cases, victims who have taken the brave step to report ASB are being met with significant delays and a continuation of the behaviour that is impacting their lives, facing long waits for their cases to be heard in court.
“I want communities in the West Midlands to be the first to benefit from a dedicated housing court that will see issues that make our neighbourhoods less desirable places to live tackled quicker.
West Midlands Police and Crime Commissioner, Simon Foster (pictured), added: “I am of the firm belief that to prevent, tackle, reduce and truly end the cycle of harm caused by anti-social behaviour, we must address the underlying drivers of this behaviour. “
Glenn Harris, chief executive of Midland Heart, who convened the APPG on anti-social behaviour added: “Everyone should feel safe in their home but far too many people can 't due to the actions of a mindless few.
“Our tenants have told us that they want more to be done to stop ASB in their neighbourhoods and that those responsible need to be held account quicker, some of our tenants who have bravely stood up to those making others lives a misery have had to live with the problem, often worsening, for a year before the issue can be heard by a court. ”