Anti-social behaviour

Overview

Anti-social behaviour means acting in a way that causes, or is likely to cause, alarm, harassment or distress to one or more people.

This includes:

  • members of your household
  • neighbours
  • any visitors to the estate  

South Tyneside Council is committed to taking positive and supportive action alongside its partners, to deal with all forms of:

  • anti-social behaviour (ASB)
  • harassment
  • hate crime

We recognise that anti-social behaviour can have a very disruptive impact on neighbourhoods and communities and does not just affect those who are directly involved in the situation.

Feeling safe and secure increases the sustainability of neighbourhoods and promotes community cohesion, health and wellbeing.

As part of our vision, we will strive to make sure that:

  • we build strong communities
  • our homes and communities are great places to live, where people feel safe and secure

The Council and its partners will respond to reports of anti-social behaviour within the Borough. 

The response will change depending on the tenure, tools and powers available under the legislation.

Private landlords and registered providers are responsible for the behaviour of their tenants. 

We will work in partnership with them to resolve issues affecting communities.

We will also work in partnership with other agencies (e.g. Police and Environmental Health), to agree:

  • who is the most appropriate lead agency
  • what actions will be taken forward by each agency

What anti-social behaviour includes

Examples of anti-social behaviour include:

  • abusive and / or threatening behaviour
  • drugs / substance misuse / drug dealing
  • domestic abuse
  • vandalism and damage to properties
  • alcohol related incidents
  • physical violence
  • noise nuisance

View the Anti-Social Behaviour Policy.

Useful numbers and websites

Police

CrimeStoppers

Domestic violence

Dealing with complaints

Who to contact about your complaint

There are different departments across the Council you can contact about your complaint:

Fly-tipping

Garden fires

Litter

Domestic abuse

Dangerous dogs

Dog fouling

Graffiti

Noise nuisance

Vehicle nuisance

  • Vehicle nuisance from quad bikes, scramblers and mini motos - report to Police on 101 

Harassment or intimidation

How we can support you if you're experiencing anti-social behaviour

If you are experiencing anti-social behaviour, there are things we can do to support you through the process:

  • The Community Safety and Tenancy Enforcement Officer will agree a case action plan with you when your case is opened. As part of this you will agree suitable contact schedule for regular case updates and be provided with contact details to report issues or request contact in between the agreed periods.
  • We work in partnership with and can refer into other agencies such as:
    • Victim's First Northumbria (where crime is part of your ASB complaint)
    • Mediation services for either face to face or shuttle mediation or for 1-2-1 resilience support
    • Let's Talk
    • South Tyneside Adult Recovery Services
    • Initial Response Services for mental health support
  • Where appropriate and necessary, we can provide updates to Housing Options to offer support to a re-housing application.
  • We will always be as honest and transparent as possible with case updates, however, there will be some information we cannot share with you due to GDPR restrictions and confidentiality.
  • Where a report cannot be managed by the Community Safety and Tenancy Enforcement Team we will provide appropriate advice, guidance and signposting.

Canvass letters

When agreeing an action plan with you, we may think it would be useful to 'canvass' other addresses in the street or estate, especially in instances where the anti-social behaviour reported could be impacting on the wider community.

These letters are very general and would usually be sent to the complainant and alleged perpetrator of the anti-social behaviour.

They will not include any specific information as we want to find out who is being directly impacted by the behaviour.

Keeping our colleagues safe

Whenever our colleagues visit your home, we expect them to feel safe and respected, just as we expect you to feel safe too.

As part of our ongoing work, we are focusing on mutual respect.

No one should fear abuse, threats or intimidation of any description, whilst doing their job.

We know that lots of people are respectful and friendly, and it is only a small amount of people who can be abusive or violent towards our colleagues.

We have a zero-tolerance approach towards any verbal and / or physical attacks against employees.

We will not tolerate:

  • violence
  • aggressive behaviour
  • derogatory remarks or rudeness
  • threatening language

We also may refuse to continue communicating with you if any negative behaviour continues.

Serious or ongoing cases

In serious or ongoing cases, we may also take tenancy action against someone who has behaved in a violent or abusive way towards our colleagues.

We will deal with all incidents on a case by case basis and take the most appropriate action.

What we can do to help tackle anti-social behaviour

There are different things we can and cannot do to help tackle anti-social behaviour in South Tyneside.

Informal action

Except in very serious or exceptional cases, the aim of our initial intervention is to stop the problem behaviour through informal action.

The interventions we use change depending on the type of anti-social behaviour.

Informal early intervention tools might include:

  • mediation
  • warnings
  • acceptable behaviour agreements
  • good neighbour agreements
  • parenting contract agreements
  • referral to support services
  • education within schools

Formal action

If early intervention through informal action and preventative measures are not successful in resolving issues, then proportionate enforcement actions will be considered.

Formal actions may include:

  • community protection warnings
  • community protection notices
  • criminal behaviour orders
  • noise abatement notices and orders
  • injunctions
  • notice of possession proceedings
  • demotion orders
  • possession proceedings and evictions
  • closure notices and orders
  • parenting orders

What we're not able to do

We can't take action on the following:

  • children playing in the street or communal areas
  • young people gathering socially unless they are being intimidating
  • being able to park outside your own home
  • parking related issues on the road or shared access drive
  • DIY and car repairs unless they are taking place late at night
  • disputes between neighbours (e.g. boundary disputes or parking disputes)
  • reasonable day to day noise (e.g. babies crying, children within a household, appliance noise, doors closing)
  • one-off parties and barbeques 
  • giving dirty looks or stares
  • unpleasant or inconsiderate behaviours
  • reasonable actions that are part of everyday activities
  • name calling and social media disputes, unless they are considered as harassment 
  • reasonable levels of disturbance that can be reasonably expected

We can't:

  • guarantee the outcome of any action
  • provide alternative accommodation (except in very serious circumstances)
  • keep a case open when no further action can be taken

Community Trigger Requests

Victims and communities experiencing anti-social behaviour (ASB) can request a review of their case to bring agencies together to find a solution.

This is known as a Community Trigger, or an Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Case Review.

It is an important safety net for victims and communities experiencing anti-social behaviour.

For full information about the process and how to raise a request, visit:

Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner: Community Trigger Requests

Noise nuisance

When agreed by the case officer during an active investigation, customers can use the Noise App.

Noise from neighbours is very common, and it can be very upsetting.

The main problems are caused by:

  • barking dogs
  • loud music or TV
  • shouting
  • banging doors
  • DIY activities

No home is totally soundproof so everyone can expect a degree of noise from neighbours.

If you are being disturbed it may be because:

  • the neighbours are behaving unreasonably. For example, playing loud music late at night or allowing their dog to bark all day.
  • the neighbours are behaving normally, but the sound insulation in the floors and walls may not be good enough to cut out the sounds of everyday living.
  • you may have become over sensitive to the noise. Some people tune in to the noise from next door and find it annoying, while others would not.

Approaching your neighbour

If you feel you are able to, you can approach your neighbour to discuss the noise.

They might not realise they are disturbing you.

We understand some people may not feel comfortable doing this and would rather involve us.

We understand your complaint may be about more that one type of noise.

This can be discussed with your caseworker.

What noise nuisance in the house can be 

  • Household chores
    Some household chores can be very noisy. Before you decide to do some hoovering or mowing the garden, stop and think about the time of day you are doing this work. Neighbours might not like to be disturbed by these noises at 6am and in late evening, especially if they have young children who may be in bed. House work tasks between 7am and 7pm would not necessarily be classed as noise nuisance.
  • DIY
    Home maintenance is essential, but lots of DIY can be very noisy. Hammering, sanding, scraping and car maintenance can take their toll on neighbours and the rest of your household. Please consider your neighbours when you are carrying out work. Let them know if you plan to do anything that involves work on walls or floors that could be extremely noisy. Try to avoid drilling and banging late at night and early in the morning.
  • Children and / or babies
    We are not able to take action on noise from children playing or babies crying. If you're concerned about a child, please report it.
  • Dog barking
    Examples of excessive barking includes:
    • frequent sporadic barking for long periods of time
    • constant barking over more than a minute or two
    • barking early in the morning or late at night
  • Loud music and parties
    If you are planning on playing loud music or having a party, make sure speakers are away from walls and floors, and keep the volume reasonable. Please think about the time of day when you are playing music.
  • Playing a musical instrument
    If you play a musical instrument and need to practice, think carefully where and when. If you tell your neighbours that you will be making a noise, and agree what days and times will cause them least disturbance, you are less likely to have complaints.

Report noise nuisance

If you report noise nuisance to us, we will ask you to keep diary sheets for an agreed amount of time.

This would usually be between 2 to 3 weeks.

You will record the:

  • time
  • duration
  • type of noise

We will ask you to return them to us before any further action can be taken. 

Download and fill out the anti-social behaviour diary information sheet. 

Downloading the noise app

Once diary sheets have been returned we can look at installing our noise app onto your smart phone.

This is a free app available for Android and Apple phones.

The app will be installed for an agreed amount of time.

The number of recordings you can submit will be agreed with your caseworker.

It is a legal requirement that your neighbour will have to be told in writing that surveillance is taking place. 

If recordings are received and your caseworkers considers the noise to be excessive, action might be taken against your neighbour.

How to install the noise app

For the noise app to work correctly, your location settings on your phone needs to be switched on.

  1. Go the the App Store.
  2. Search for 'The Noise App'.
  3. Click to download it. Once it has downloaded, click open.
  4. Once the app opens, click 'Get Started'.
  5. Choose the country of use as United Kingdom and click next.
  6. Start typing 'South Tyneside Council' and it will auto-fill 'choose this as the investigator'.
  7. Enter your email address. 
  8. Complete the information in the boxes (First name, last name, email, telephone). Create a password, then click 'Create Account'.
  9. After clicking 'Create Account', a screen will appear thanking you for signing up. Click 'Continue', then go to your emails and open the one from The Noise App. If it isn't in your inbox, check your junk folder. Click 'Confirm my account'.
  10. You will then need to go back to the Noise App. Click 'Login', and enter your email address and password.
  11. Complete your address information and click next.
  12. You will then see a screen with a red button - tap the red button.
  13. You will get some pop ups asking you to confirm access to your phone's microphone and storage. Click 'allow' on these, then press and hold the red circles for 30 seconds the timer will count the seconds.
  14. You will be asked questions about the length of time the noise has been going on, what type of noise it is, where in your home you are and how intense the noise is. Complete these one by one clicking next after each one.
  15. You will then be asked to complete the address of where the noise is coming from. You only need to do this once and won't be asked again.
  16. Send the report to South Tyneside Council Housing Services.

Your caseworker will receive each recording by email.

Your GPS must be activated before making a recording using the Noise App.