Executive Summary
Following the government’s pledge to clamp down on antisocial behaviour the antisocial behaviour action plan was launched in March 2023. A key objective of this plan is to see perpetrators of anti-social behaviour facing swift and visible justice for their actions. Cleveland was one of 10 trailblazer areas piloting the ASB Immediate Justice scheme from August 2023.
Following on from the pilot and acknowledging lessons learnt from the pilot areas, the government has confirmed that the ASB Immediate Justice scheme will continue running for a further six months in the pilot areas, before being rolled out nationally. This is to give time to develop the operating models and capture lessons learned from the different approaches to Immediate Justice adopted by each of the pilot areas.
Cleveland has developed two separate pathways to deliver Immediate Justice: one for adults and one for young people (age 12 – 17).
The adult model will take referrals through the new out of court disposal team, UTurn. We anticipate that the most likely candidates for Immediate Justice through this team will be those who have committed public order offences. Individuals will be encouraged to accept responsibility for their actions and make amends by contributing to activities within the community, designed to create benefits and improvements to community spaces. Where appropriate, the team will consult with the victim as part of the Immediate Justice process in order to try to ensure that victim’s needs and wishes are incorporated into the activity.
The youth referral pathway for immediate justice, will be delivered through the existing Youth Offending Services (YOS) across Cleveland. This will identify young people from the age of 12, who have reached the stage of a second warning letter for antisocial behaviour, demonstrating persistent engagement with antisocial behaviour activities and risk of these behaviours escalating into criminal acts. This scheme has a greater focus on restorative / educational activity through existing frameworks in place in local YOS services as well as reparative activity to make good within the community. Where possible this will be victim informed with the option of linking in with YOS restorative workers.