UK: Respect?
01 November 2005
In January 2006 Tony Blair launched the "respect" action plan; the latest in a long line of government initiatives designed to combat anti-social behaviour. Its main points are:
"Neighbours from hell" will face eviction from their homes.
A "national parenting academy" will be established to train social workers, and other officials working with children, to advise parents.
Parenting orders will be used more and fixed penalty notices for disorder will be issued to under-16s.
Police and councils will have to hold "face the people" sessions where the public can demand tougher action.
Community support officers will be able to pick up truants.
Youth opportunity cards will give discounts on activities for children doing voluntary work.
Of particular concern is that police will be able to use powers, similar to those given to them under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act (2003) to shut down crack houses, to evict persistently unruly people from their homes and, if necessary, move them to council special residential unit "sin bins". Police would then be able to "close down and seal the properties" for up to three months. The government offered students who persistently play loud music as an example of who these powers might be used against. This drastic measure, enforced as a court order, will provide an easier alternative to anti-social behaviour orders which have already been used for this purpose. In such cases individuals have been specifically banned from entering their place of residence for a minimum period of two years (see Statewatch's ASBOwatch website). Whether community support officers, whose training and general level of competence has often been called into question by members of the Police Federation, are up to the job of escorting unruly teenagers home or back to school is also open to question (Statewatch Vol 14 nos 1 & 6).
Like those before it the action plan also highlights Labour's increasing abandonment of traditional criminal law. Speaking at the launch Blair claimed the legal system to be "utterly useless" at dealing with low-level nuisance behaviour, arguing Britain was fighting 21st century crime with 19th century methods. He also admitted that fixed penalty notices, which are to be raised from £80 to £100 for anti-social behavioural offences, effectively reverse the burden of proof.
Respect Action Plan:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/10_01_06_respect.pdf, Independent 10/1/05, Guardian 10/1/05, Times 10/1/05