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Anti-Social Behaviour

We want everyone to feel safe in their home and we believe everyone should be able to live and enjoy their home without being disturbed by others.

From time to time, this may not be the case and we are committed to tackling issues related to anti-social behaviour, harassment, neighbour nuisance and hate crimes.

Nuisance and anti-social behaviour is behaviour which causes or is likely to cause fear, alarm, and distress.

Anti-social behaviour can include a range of actions including noise nuisance such as loud music, dogs barking to more serious incidents such as threatening behaviour and hate crime.

We take all incidents of anti-social behaviour seriously and will act quickly to resolve any issues.

We would not normally consider behaviour around different lifestyles or cultures or which may not be considered unreasonable by most people as anti-social behaviour.

These can include:
• DIY during reasonable hours
• Occasional dog barking
• Young people gathering socially or children playing
• Someone parking lawfully outside your home
• Cooking smells
• Day to day noises such as low-level TV, household appliances

How to report anti-social behaviour?

You can report anti-social behaviour by:
• Contacting our Customer Services Team on 03000 11 00 11
• Via My North Star
• Direct to your housing/supported housing officer

If you are threatened with violence, or are concerned for your safety of yourself or others, you should call the police immediately on 999 or in a non-emergency on 101

What you can expect from us?

When you report an incident to us, we will:

• Decide if it is anti-social behaviour and if it is, will then prioritise it dependent on its nature and how it is affecting you.
• Ask you for as much detail as possible to make sure we fully understand the issue and the impact this behaviour is having on you.
• Always ensure your report is treated in confidence.
• Contact you to agree an action plan and what action we can take.
• Make sure you are kept updated throughout the case and explain if we are unable to share specific details with you.
• We will work closely with other agencies including local authorities, police, community safer partnership and resident groups.

 

Community Trigger

The Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 introduced specific measures designed to give victims and communities a say in the way complaints of anti-social behaviour are dealt with.

This includes the community trigger which gives victims of persistent anti-social behaviour reported to any of the main responsible agencies (council, police, housing provider) the right to request a multi-agency review of their case, regardless of which agency the anti-social behaviour was reported to, where a local threshold has been met.  The community trigger process is managed by the local council/authority on behalf of other organisations that will be involved in the review.

Each local council sets its own threshold but commonly this is likely to be If an individual has reported 3 or more separate incidents regarding the same issue in a 6-month period and nothing has been done.

The review will focus on the ongoing anti-social behaviour about which the original complaint was made and if anything else can be done as well as possibly finding solutions that may have not been considered.

More detailed information on the process which is administered by the local council including the threshold and the ways to apply for a community trigger can all be found on their website.

 

Hate Crime

What is Hate Crime?

Hate crime and hate incidents are acts of verbal, written or physical abuse, or acts of harassment or intimidation against a person or a group of people because of their perceived personal characteristics.

This would include prejudice against a person or group of people age, gender, gender reassignment status, race, sexual orientation, disability, religion, belief or lack of belief.

Examples of hate crime can include:

  • Racial abuse – where abuse is targeted at someone’s race, culture, country of origin or immigration status
  • Sexist abuse – where abuse is targeted at someone’s gender
  • Ageist abuse – where abuse is targeted at someone’s age
  • Homophobic abuse – where abuse is targeted at someone’s sexual orientation
  • Transphobic abuse – where abuse is targeted at transgender or transsexual people

We take hate crime seriously and encourage you to report any incidents to us and the Police immediately. Hate crime is a criminal offence.

By reporting incidents, you can get the support you may need and also help to ensure offenders are brought to justice.  By reporting hate crime, you may also prevent these incidents happening to someone else.

How to Report Hate Crime?

In an emergency call the Police on 999

Hate crime can be reported to the Police either by phone or in person at a police station. Further information can be found on their website.

If you don’t want to report hate crime to the Police, you can also report it to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111 or www.crimestoppers-uk.org

Further information on how to report hate crime is also available at www.stophateukuk.org

Report to North Star

Please contact us if you have been affected by hate crime. North Star takes hate crime seriously and we encourage you to report any incidents to us and the Police immediately.

Our tenants are responsible for ensuring they, members of their household and visitors do not harass or abuse anyone.

You can report hate crime to North Star in a number of ways:

  • Via our Customer Services Team on 03000 11 00 11
  • Contacting your housing/support officer direct
  • Via our email address hatecrime@northstarhg.co.uk

We take a victim centred approach to hate crime which includes:

  • Treat all reports of hate crime sympathetically and in confidence
  • Treat all reports of hate crime as high risk
  • Carry out a full and thorough investigation of all hate crime reported to us
  • Provide advice and information and signpost victims to support agencies where we are unable to help
  • Work in partnership with other agencies including Police, local authorities other social housing landlords, etc.
  • Take action against perpetrators where appropriate
  • Agree an action plan and keep you updated