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A KEY weapon in the fight against community crime - or merely a badge of honour for yobs? Following the controversial introduction of Anti Social Behaviour Orders (Asbos) in England and Wales in 1999, 10,000 have been issued.

Over 70 have been issued in Southampton - but do they work?

Critics - with the Tories in the vanguard - insist some Asbos may work, but most do not.

Others maintain they criminalise behaviour which is otherwise lawful, and argue Asbos are handed out too readily and the order terms are too open-ended.

Unsurprisingly, the public has long been sceptical.

A Mori opinion poll published in 2005 found that while 82 per cent of the British public were in favour of Asbos, only 39 per cent believed they were effective in their current form.

Public confidence was further eroded that year when a report compiled by Napo, the probation and family court staff union, revealed "ample evidence" of the inconsistent issuing of Asbos which resembled "a geographical lottery".

The report went on: "There is great concern that people are being jailed following the breach of an Asbo where the original offence was itself non-imprisonable. There is also evidence that Asbos have been used where people have mental health problems where treatment would be more appropriate.

In Napo's view the time is right for a fundamental review of the use and appropriateness of Anti Social Behaviour Orders by the Home Office."

Two years later, the Local Government Ombudsman also published a report criticising Manchester City Council for serving an Asbo based purely on uncorroborated reports of nuisance by a neighbour. The red-faced council then paid £2,000 in compensation.

The debate surfaced again this week when a respected think-tank, the Institute for Public Policy Research, announced Asbos can be counter-productive when imposed on the very young and when used in isolation.

It instead called for an extension of the Sure Start scheme for disadvantaged children and an extension of parenting groups and counselling.

Meanwhile an under-fire government has pointed to a cross-government Youth Crime Action Plan, which is due to be published this summer.

This aims to set out how a reduction in the number of young people committing offences will be achieved.

A government spokesman said: "This work will develop practical ways to support young people to stay out of trouble and to tackle youth offending.

"The views of young people themselves will be key - both in terms of defining the problem and the solutions."

Waffle or a new dawn? Only time will tell.

The Southampton Crime Reduction Partnership has been a national leader in using the powers that local government and the police now possess. In the city in recent years, in addition to Asbos, a far larger number of "acceptable behaviour"

contracts have been agreed, together with seven dispersal orders - giving the police powers to disperse groups of people in "hot spots".

Of course Asbos don't always work, but breaching one is an offence, and the courts can deal with the offender, and do. From the point of view of the person served with an Asbo it is a clear "last chance saloon" - stop doing the things that have caused it to be served, and you will not have a criminal record. Take no notice, and you probably will.

I have seen the effect of these measures in a number of neighbourhoods in my constituency. Streets and areas wilting under what they see as attacks on their safety and ability to go about their business in peace have been transformed by the effect of several Asbos served on some of the leading perpetrators of such behaviour, with Acceptable Behaviour contracts for others. In some instances, dispersal orders around places like local shops have been effective, where youngsters committing acts of vandalism or threatening behaviour have made people worried about using local shops.

Asbos don't transform hooligans into angels overnight.

But they do make people think twice about what they've been doing and, even if reluctantly, change how they behave.

And that is good news for everyone who wants to live in a safe Southampton.

Breaching the conditions of an Asbo is a criminal offence, punishable by up to five years in prison. This means individuals are being sent to prison for committing acts which are not in themselves illegal.

Liberty is deeply concerned about the way Asbos are being used. If individuals are committing crimes of intimidation or harassment, then the criminal law should be used to tackle their behaviour.

Increasingly, children and vulnerable people who need help and support are being served with Asbos. We fear this will create greater problems for those individuals and society.

Asbos mask the real problem. If there is a proven problem of bad behaviour by young people then criminal law should be used. It is, and always has been, a criminal offence to threaten, abuse, terrify, damage the property of, any shopkeeper/ neighbour/innocent old lady. Asbos usually hide the lack of any coherent strategy to deal with the problem. They get the headlines but there is little evidence they solve the problem.

Some are quite ridiculous: a ban on a guy going into any pub in West Yorkshire, bans on beggars in shopping centres. They simply "displace" the problem.

In Britain today there is no question that people need protecting from crime, but we must not become an Asbo land, where it is a crime to be irritating and a crime to be a child.

1:32pm Friday 22nd February 2008

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