Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of creating a national database to record acts of anti-social behaviour.

The Government is committed to tackling and preventing anti-social behaviour (ASB). We know the serious impact that persistent anti-social behaviour can have on both individuals and communities.

We monitor the national statistics on ASB through police recorded crime incident data and the Crime Survey for England and Wales, which presents people’s perceptions of levels of ASB. Given the localised nature of ASB, we do not currently plan to introduce a national standard for the reporting of ASB or create a national database.

We do, however, keep ASB under review through the Anti-social Behaviour Strategic Board which brings together a range of partners from key agencies and other Government departments to discuss ASB issues and share best practice. We have recently published multi-agency principles, endorsed by the Board, which seek to describe a consistent approach to addressing ASB in local communities and to ensure a strong and effective partnership response to anti-social behaviour, including local reporting and referral pathways.

Recommendations from Part Two of the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Review were published on Monday 7 March 2022. The overall package strengthens and expands the role of PCCs. We want to ensure that PCCs have sufficient tools and levers to more effectively scrutinise and challenge partnership activity on ASB. To do this, PCCs should be able to bring partners together on ASB, direct local ASB strategy and request local data on ASB.