NEW enforcement officers are being trained up in York to crack down on antisocial behaviour, but statistics linked to community safety and graffiti show declines in standards.

By April, new staff will be working with six police officers already tasked with tackling the problem.

The crackdown is through the city's antisocial behaviour hub, which was set up by City of York Council with North Yorkshire Police.

It is based at the council's West Offices and has council staff and police working together to take action over a wide range of issues including:

  • Parking offences
  • Abandoned vehicles
  • Cycling on the footpath
  • Begging
  • Causing harassment alarm & distress
  • Knowingly giving false alarm of fire
  • Drinking in a designated public area
  • Fly Tipping
  • Fly Posting
  • Graffiti
  • Littering
  • Dog Fouling
  • Underage smoking and drinking
  • Traffic management, including stopping vehicles for testing and traffic control.
  • Noise complaints
  • Antosocial behaviour in parks and open spaces
  • Fireworks offences *

A new council report says the hub has dealt with 224 incidents since May 2014, but a separate report says performance on several key measured has slipped.

The council cabinet will receive a report next week saying that the time taken to remove graffiti in York has fallen from around one day on average to around two days, and between 2012/13 and 13/14, satisfaction levels with the quality of streets and public places fell below 50 per cent in a public survey.

A similar fall has happened in satisfaction levels about the council's work to make communities safer, and to reduce crime and antisocial behaviour. The figures fell from around 55 per cent in 2012/13 to 45 per cent and 48 per cent respectively in 2013/14.

Since it was first agreed in November 2013, £555,000 has come from the council and the Police Innovation Fund to get the team up and running.

Superintendent Phil Cain, Safer Neighbourhood Commander for York, said: “The ASB Hub is a ground-breaking approach to keeping our city safe.

“Antisocial behaviour can have a big impact on people’s quality of life, and often requires work from more than one agency to resolve. By working together and coordinating resources, legal powers and expertise, we have created a single frontline team to proactively tackle anti-social behaviour and deliver an excellent service to our communities.

“We are also seeing the ASB Hub deliver benefits on a wider scale, beyond anti-social behaviour, particularly around dealing with vulnerable people.”

The hub has also been praised by police and crime commissioner Julia Mulligan, and council cabinet member Tracey Simpson-Laing, who said the joint working meant problems could be dealt with quicker.

The PCSOs and council enforcement officers will have "Community Safety Accreditation Scheme" powers granted by the police.

An interim report on the ASB hub will be received by the council's cabinet in Tuesday, alongside a performance monitor report which includes the performance statistics. See the cabinet reports here.