Bezuiningen treffen Engelse aanpak van overlast

De nieuwe Britse regering bezuinigt ook op de aanpak van overlast. Inside Housing meldt op zijn website:

“England’s largest local authority landlord is poised to axe its dedicated anti-social behaviour unit next year leading to the potential loss of 58 jobs.

Staff at Birmingham Council’s Safer Community Partnership were last month issued with section 188 notices informing them that the closure could lead to redundancies.

The partnership – a collaboration between West Midlands Police, the council and West Midlands Fire Service – aims to cut crime and anti-social behaviour and cut reported crime in the city by 10 per cent in the first year. It is scheduled to close in March next year after three years in operation.

Housing officers will be expected to take on a greater role in tackling nuisance behaviour in the city. The midlands authority needs to save

£330 million following the spending review.

Eamon Lynch, policy advisor at the Social Landlords’ Crime and Nuisance Group, said attempt to collapse the partnership model could lead to a big void. ‘There will be an element of landlords picking up some of the fallout because they are the constant in the neighbourhood.’

A spokesperson for Birmingham Council said that tackling ASB remained a top priority for the council. ‘We are currently looking at proposals to reconfigure the way frontline services are delivered to ensure that we meet this objective,’ she said.

‘As required by law, this has required service of appropriate notices on a number of staff directly affected by the proposed changes.’

The coalition government is reviewing the previous administration’s anti-social behaviour policy.”