Housing Liaison Protocol - Section 1
1 Introduction
1.1 When people live together in close proximity there is always potential for friction and disputes. Some instances can lead to long-standing feuds that are difficult to resolve by any one agency. These disputes are now becoming more common in Moray. It is essential that Grampian Police, the Procurator Fiscal, The Moray Council and Registered Social Landlords have effective problem solving strategies in place to allow early identification and intervention to ensure that the root problems are targeted for action. It is recognised though that many neighbour incidents are of a minor or one-off nature and are resolved without recourse to the law or a multi-agency approach. This protocol is not designed to assist with such incidents. It is the cases where the behaviour of one household causes serious upset to other households or the general neighbourhood that will be targeted for action. These can often involve harassment, violence and criminality and can give rise to widespread misery, anger and fear affecting large numbers of households or even whole estates.
1.2 The Moray Council along with its key partners have been working to reduce risks which threaten the quality of people’s lives through its Safer Strategy (currently under review). This Protocol is designed to ensure that the relevant statutory agencies and other social housing landlords have effective co-operative working arrangements in place to tackle such behaviour.
A Housing Liaison Protocol may yield benefits to the community, the Police as well as to Housing Providers.
Benefits to the Community
- Demonstrates to the public the commitment of Grampian Police, The Moray Council, Registered Social Landlords and other agencies to work together to reduce instances of anti-social behaviour.
- Improves the quality of life for law-abiding citizens through a reduction in the number of incidents of anti-social behaviour.
Benefits to the Grampian Police
- Formal system adopted for sharing information prevents cumbersome process of attempting to retrieve historical information on incidents of anti-social behaviour as one-off requests.
- Can reduce the number of recurring calls, which are a drain on police resources in attending persistent complaints about residents. i.e. one clear channel of communication.
- Information feedback from Housing agencies to the Police to inform of the result of the information exchange e.g. court action to repossess house.
Benefits to the Housing Agencies
- The Liaison Protocol provides for a historical record of evidence, which will facilitate retrieval of information and allow concise production of evidence in a court setting when action is taken against a disruptive resident.
- Housing officers will have access to all relevant documentation and can easily identify police officers from whom statements may be required for court purposes.
- Provides a system for production of statistical information to enable effective monitoring and internal reporting and evaluation of actions taken.