Town hall chiefs attack plan to remove oversight role in dispersal powers

The Local Government Association has called on ministers to scrap plans to strip councillors of their role in overseeing dispersal powers.

The LGA insisted that keeping councillors involved in decisions about the powers would prevent them being used when there was little or no public support for them.

The proposals to remove councillors from the process and leave the decision on the powers’ use to the police is contained in the Anti-Social Behaviour Bill, currently going through Parliament.

Cllr Anita Lower, the LGA's Anti-Social Behaviour Champion, said: "When people are affected by nuisance behaviour in their local neighbourhoods, it is often to the council – rather than the police – that they first turn.

"Councils possess a wealth of expertise in tackling anti-social behaviour and helping people feel safe in their neighbourhoods. The added flexibility provided by the package of measures in the Bill, and the streamlining of the powers, will enable councils to continue to take quick and robust action to protect the communities they serve.”

Cllr Lower, who gave evidence to the Home Affairs Select Committee last week, added: "Leaving the decision over when to use dispersal powers solely in the hands of the police, without communities being consulted, risks controversial decisions being made that could be avoided.

"While community concerns can be dealt with by police and crime commissioners (PCCs), the local nature of the problems that dispersal powers are used for and the large geographic area covered by PCCs will make this difficult. Keeping councillors at the heart of decisions over when to use dispersal powers would prevent them being used when there is little or no public support for them.  

"Victims of persistent anti-social behaviour want to see action. This is more likely to be provided by the new casework systems the police have been trialling than the community trigger pilots which have only been operating for a few months and have yet to be evaluated."