Press release – Community Trigger

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West Lindsey District Council has reaffirmed its commitment to the Community Trigger process, which will come into effect on Monday 28 November 2022.  

Working with ASB Help, a national charity who provide advice and support to victims of antisocial behaviour (ASB), councils, police and registered social housing providers in Lincolnshire have overhauled their Community Trigger policy with the aim of providing an improved service to victims experiencing persistent antisocial behaviour.   

The Community Trigger protects victims of persistent antisocial behaviour , providing them the right to request a formal review of their case.

If the local threshold is met, an ASB case review is carried out, bringing together councils, police and registered social housing providers to take a collaborative, problem solving approach to find a solution to the ongoing antisocial behaviour. Additional agencies may also be involved such as mental health or drug and alcohol services. Case review panels will be chaired by an independent representative, with no prior involvement in the case, ensuring impartiality throughout.

Any victim of antisocial behaviour can utilise the Community Trigger, or if they wish to, victims can get another person to act on their behalf, such as carer, family member or local councillor. Victims can be individuals, businesses or community groups.

In Lincolnshire, a local threshold has been established which must be met. The threshold is as follows:

The victim has reported three separate, but related incidents (within 30 days of taking place) to either the district council, police, or registered housing providers within the previous 6 month period and feel no effective action has been taken to resolve the ASB which persists.

An additional threshold has been introduced which allows a senior manager (one of our Community Safety managers or a police inspector) to activate the trigger where they feel it is necessary to safeguard a vulnerable victim of antisocial behaviour.

Once a request for an ASB case review is made, a specific point of contact who has had no direct involvement in the case will be assigned to gather the required information from the relevant agencies. From this, they will decide whether the threshold has been met.  

If the threshold is met, the case review will be carried out to identify how partners responded to the complaints and any further actions that can be taken to try and resolve the issue. Victims will be given the right to attend the initial section of the review or to provide a written statement to express the effect the antisocial behaviour has had.

Persistent or repeated acts of antisocial behaviour can have a debilitating impact on victims, and the cumulative impact of such incidents over a period of time can be underestimated. We encourage our communities to report issues and not to suffer in silence.

Information on how to request an ASB Case Review is available on the Antisocial behaviour section of our website, alternatively victims can phone us and speak to a member of the community safety team.

For the latest news on West Lindsey District Council visit our council news pages

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