By Cllr Pauline Jorgensen
How do you feel when you come home and close your front door? Perhaps your shoulders drop as you put down your keys and slip off your coat.
Words like relaxed, safe, comfortable or even happy might come to mind.
Sadly, this isn’t the case for everyone.
Anti-social behaviour is a blight on too many communities. It’s particularly hard for those who have to live near people who continually make their lives a misery.
Most councillors will have been contacted by residents – I certainly have – who have no peace where they live, are tormented by anti-social behaviour and don’t know where to turn.
Sometimes people have told me they had not reported the first incident of anti-social behaviour but had endured numerous low-level incidents before the situation had become too much and they had contacted the Council as a last resort.
Very often it is the elderly and vulnerable who are most affected.
Anti-social behaviour can leave victims feeling isolated, nervous to go outside, and frightened in their home. No one should have to live like that.
Anti-social behaviour can include serious crimes such as violence, arson, and drug dealing. As you might expect, tenancy agreements issued by Wokingham Borough Council require tenants not to engage in anti-social behaviour.
This should give all Council tenants protection against a minority who won’t keep to the rules.
Yet, when asked at a Council meeting in November about this issue, the Liberal Democrat Leader of the Council bizarrely responded with outrage. Rather than acknowledging the impact on council tenants and other neighbours, he instead demanded an apology for such a question being asked and implying it was somehow a criticism of council tenants.
He said that there were 978 incidents of anti-social behaviour in relation to council tenants in the last year. He went on to say that the figure included repeat offenders, but only two evictions took place due to anti-social behaviour.
The Liberal Democrat leader also said in his answer, “the role of responsible politicians, at local as well as national level, is to bring people together not drive them apart.”
This is a general sentiment I share, but I’m not sure victims of persistent anti-social behaviour want to be brought together with their perpetrators. In fact, I’m pretty sure many victims would think these words were a kick in the teeth.
Of course, eviction should be a last resort and there will be cases where for low level incidents of anti-social behaviour eviction would be entirely disproportionate.
That is why I am glad that the Government is consulting on a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ system, kicking perpetrators of anti-social behaviour out of social housing after three warnings. The Government is also looking at stopping people with a history of anti-social behaviour from accessing social housing for up to five years.
Importantly, exemptions are being explored for people with mental health conditions and disabilities. These people shouldn’t be caught up with punishments for the real offenders.
Victims of anti-social behaviour should have the confidence that, when they make a complaint to the Council, their experiences will be taken seriously.
The Liberal Democrats are affronted by the idea that repeat offenders, with no underlying mitigating issues, should be evicted. The Conservatives believe that the Government’s approach is correct, and social housing tenants have a right to be protected from anti-social behaviour.
They shouldn’t just be expected to put up with it.
Cllr Pauline Jorgensen is the leader of Wokingham Conservatives and ward member for Hillside
