An award-winning housing association has signed a pledge to work with other agencies in a joint crackdown on anti-social behaviour.

North Star Housing has teamed up with Durham Police and Crime Commissioner, Joy Allen, Durham County Council and other housing associations in the initiative.

The commitment is in response to a plan developed by Mrs Allen following feedback from more than 1,200 County Durham residents last year.

Adam Clark, Executive Director of Customers at North Star Housing, said: “We want our customers to thrive at home and in their community. Feeling safe is fundamental to this.

“Through the homes which we provide, housing associations are a crucial part of the fabric of communities. Anti-social behaviour can ruin great places and people’s lives, so this requires a robust response. Through this pledge, we’re committed to working together with communities to ensure this region is a place where people feel safe and can continue to thrive.”

Among the plan’s priorities are improvements to how residents can report crime, better crime prevention advice in communities, and enhanced measures to tackle anti-social behaviour, including support for victims.

Other actions laid out in the plan include addressing key themes such as speeding and off-road vehicles, using established partnerships for local problem solving and freeing up communication lines so that agencies and residents can feed in ‘soft intelligence’ to the police.

Mrs Allen said: “I’m delighted to sign this pledge and will continue to build on the office’s strong working relationship with the county council and our local housing associations.

“Keeping our communities safe is at the heart of what we do and our new plan will improve communication and collaboration between the police, the county council, our registered housing providers and residents.”

The pledge states that: “Durham Police and Crime Commissioner, Durham County Council and Housing Associations working in the county will continue to work together to put those affected by anti-social behaviour first. We will promote awareness, make reporting easier and set out who we are, what we do and the service those affected by anti-social behaviour can expect. As partners we will share intelligence, promote joint working and maximise the impact we can have collectively on community safety within County Durham.”

The other signatories were Alan Boddy, Chief Executive of Livin; Bill Fullen, Chief Executive of Believe Housing; Jo Ray, Executive Director of Customer Services at Karbon Homes; John Johnston, and Chief Executive of Bernicia.

The pledge signing follows a meeting last October which looked at joint working and how to take the PCC’s plan forward. At the meeting the Commissioner invited registered providers of social housing to meet with her in local communities to discuss localised issues and demonstrate police initiatives being implemented to deal with anti-social behaviour.

She also noted an opportunity to extend collaborative working to Darlington Borough Council as part of a potential separate meeting involving Teesside’s registered providers