Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to prevent an increase in anti-social behaviour.

The Government is committed to tackling and preventing anti-social behaviour. The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 provides the police, local authorities and other local agencies with a range of flexible tools and powers that they can use to respond quickly and effectively to anti-social behaviour.

The powers in the 2014 Act are local in nature, and it is for local agencies to determine whether their use is appropriate in the specific circumstances as they are best-placed to understand the needs of their community and the most appropriate response.? The Home Office published statutory guidance to support local areas to make effective use of the powers.

It is for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, as operational leaders and elected local representatives, to decide how best to respond to individual crimes and local priorities but to help ensure that the police have the resources they need to do so, we have given policing the biggest funding increase in a decade and are recruiting 20,000 additional officers over the next three years.

As well as regular engagement with ASB partners, we keep anti-social behaviour under review through the Anti-Social Behaviour Strategic Board which brings together a range of partners and representatives from key agencies and other Government departments.