I had the pleasure of presenting a SHLA webinar this week together with my Clarke Willmott colleague and SHLA committee member Emily Hope, and Janine Green of Green and Burton ASB Associates. We had a thought-provoking conversation around ASB committed by children, the root causes of this behaviour and the ways in which social housing providers can seek to tackle it.
Emily has published an article that can be found here, discussing some of the root causes of ASB committed by children, the role housing providers can play in tackling such behaviour and the risks of not acting promptly when reports of youth ASB are received.
A key factor when tackling such behaviour in children is to ensure a reasonable and proportionate approach is taken and Janine discussed the early intervention techniques that can be used, including the effective use of Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (“ABC’s”). When drafted effectively and when used as part of a multi-agency approach, ABC’s can be a very powerful tool.
But what happens when these early intervention techniques aren’t effective and ASB continues? I set out below some of the legal toolkit available for social housing providers should more formal action be required.
Community Protection Notices
Where there is evidence that anyone aged 16 years or older is engaging in behaviour that is having a detrimental and persistent effect on the quality of life of those in the locality and the conduct is unreasonable, then the issue of a Community Protection Notice (“CPN”) can be considered. As a CPN can be issued against anyone aged 16 and over, they can be used to tackle ASB in children who are on the cusp of adulthood.
A written warning must be given to the child in the first instance, giving very specific direction in relation to the behaviour expected of the child and a timescale for the behaviour to be curbed. If the ASB persists, then a formal CPN can be issued. Failure to abide by a CPN can lead to enforcement action being taken and a fine being imposed.
The power to issue a CPN is restricted primarily to the Police and the Local Authority. Registered Provider landlords can request delegated authority from the Local Authority to issue CPN’s, but this authority must be formally granted before it is exercised.
Injunctions under the ASB, Crime and Policing Act 2014
Those tackling ASB in social housing will be very familiar with the ability to obtain injunctions against perpetrators of ASB under the 2014 Act. Those injunctions can be issued against anyone aged 10 years and over and can therefore also be used to tackle ASB in children.
Where a defendant is under 18 years of age, there are separate rules and formalities that must be followed. Any such application is, for example, issued through the Youth Court in the Magistrates Court, perhaps taking practitioners outside the relative comfort of the County Court.
There are requirements upon the applicant for an injunction against a child to consult with the Youth Offending Team before issuing the application and also to consult with any other body or individual that might be appropriate in the circumstances.
It is important to remember that any injunction granted can include “positive requirements” as well as terms that prohibit certain behaviour. A positive requirement will require the child to undertake certain activities or exhibit certain behaviour. Examples could be the need to engage with an educational facility or engage with youth mentoring.
If such a positive requirement is included, the applicant must identify a “responsible person” to supervise compliance with the Order. How far that responsible person must go to ensure compliance is unclear – does the requirement go so far as to mean that the responsible person has to drive the child to a required appointment? Or is it limited to encouraging the child to attend and then reporting back to the applicant if non-compliance occurs?
A Power of Arrest can be attached to an injunction made against a child, but exclusion orders from the child’s home are not available.
Parenting Orders
Where a child has received a criminal conviction for an offence, the Court must consider whether the making of a Parenting Order would be desirable to prevent the commission of further offences by the child.
The making of a Parenting Order can help to tackle some of the root causes of the child’s behaviour if perhaps some of those causes arise from within the home. Taking a holistic approach and working with the family as a whole can be very beneficial.
A Parenting Order will require the child’s parents to attend a parenting course designed to provide them with skills to tackle their child’s behaviour and to prevent further ASB or criminal activity from occurring.
Whilst it is not within a social housing provider’s remit to impose such an Order, where there is multi-agency working to tackle ASB, the landlord may well be consulted on the making of such an Order via the Youth Offending Team or the Local Authority.
Notice seeking possession and possession proceedings
Under the terms and conditions of their tenancy agreement, the tenant of a property is almost always made responsible not only for their own behaviour, but for the behaviour of other occupiers and/or visitors to the property as well. If a child of the family is the perpetrator of ASB, and they are living with their parent, the parent could face tenancy enforcement action as a result.
For assured tenancies, Ground 12 requires a landlord to show that any terms of the tenancy not related to rent have been broken. This would include any term relating to the behaviour of others living at, or visiting, the property. Ground 14, among other things, requires the landlord to show that the tenant or a person residing in or visiting the property has been guilty of conduct causing nuisance or annoyance. The ASB committed by a child of the family would be sufficient to prove either or both of these grounds for possession and these grounds are mirrored for secure tenancies in, for example, Ground 2 and in the mandatory ASB grounds for possession.
Taking possession proceedings against a tenant for the behaviour of their child is a serious step and proportionality and reasonableness must be at the forefront of the landlords mind should such action be considered. The action to be taken against perhaps a parent who is failing to address the child’s ASB, or even encouraging it, could be vastly different to the action to be taken against a parent who has genuinely tried to control their child’s behaviour, engaged with all the support offered to them to assist with this and has been unable to make a difference.
Proportionality and reasonableness
As with all tenancy enforcement action, keeping proportionality and reasonableness in mind at all times when taking action against a child exhibiting anti-social behaviour is essential, more so given their young age and vulnerabilities.
As discussed at the SHLA webinar yesterday, it is essential for lower level, early intervention techniques to be attempted in the first instance before moving onto some of the more formal, legal options available to social housing providers.
Early intervention with some children can have radical and positive results. With support from partner organisations and with engagement from the child and perhaps the wider family, behaviour can be resolved and the future for the child can look much more positive as a result.
Partner working is key when tackling youth ASB. In a recent survey conducted in 2024 by the Local Government Association, respondents were asked what percentage of young people who were investigated for incidents of ASB, were in mainstream education. 63% of the respondent councils did not know and could not provide an answer. I find this concerning when liaison with educational establishments may well be key to tackling the behaviour being complained of.
On the horizon
The Crime and Policing Bill is currently working its way through Parliament and will bring about many changes to the ASB toolkit available to social housing providers.
As drafted at present, the current injunctions available under the 2014 Act will be restricted to those aged 10 to 18 years only (adult injunctions are to be replaced by Respect Orders) and will be referred to as Youth Injunctions. There will be some amendments made to the requirements upon applicants when seeking such Orders, including the need to carry out a formal risk assessment taking into account the risk of harassment, alarm or distress being caused to others by the child’s behaviour, any vulnerabilities the child may have, if there are alternative steps that could be explored and any other relevant matters. In reality, all of these issues should be considered in proportionality assessments completed ahead of taking enforcement action in any event and will not be new considerations for practitioners.
It will be important for social landlords to keep abreast of the changes being brought in by the Crime and Policing Bill and to ensure all policies and procedures are up-to-date and fit for purpose. It may also be a good time to reconsider any such policies relating to tackling youth ASB and how your organisation deals with such issues.
If you’d like to discuss any of these issues further, or need support in developing an approach to managing youth ASB in your housing stock, feel free to get in touch with our housing management team.