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I want to make a complaint

Information on How to contact the ASB team can be found in this section

Health and safety appeals advice

I want to make a complaint what do I do?

Contact our ASB Hotline on 01206 282731 or the Customer Service Centre on 01206 282581, or email us directly on ASB@colchester.gov.uk.  We aim to contact you within 2 working days of your report to us.

If you have been assaulted or your safety is threatened - please contact the Police immediately.

The Anti-social Behaviour Team will deal with complaints of anti-social behaviour caused by named individuals or families and will work with partner agencies such as Police, Social Services, Colchester Borough Homes to secure a resolution to the problem.  Generic issues of anti-social behaviour, such as groups of youths hanging around a street corner, anti-social behaviour by the public in general in a particular area will be dealt with by the appropriate Neighbourhood Action Panel.

Anti-social behaviour is deemed to be anything which causes "alarm, distress or harassment to person(s) not of the same household".  This is a very wide remit and there will be a wide range of issues which can cause this "alarm, distress and harassment", which will be affected naturally by each customer's individual tolerances, sensitivity and vulnerability and each case will be assessed objectively on its own worth.

The ASB team will categorise ASB complaints.  The categories have been devised in conjunction with Colchester Borough Homes to ensure that our resources are targeted at the highest priority cases of anti-social behaviour.

The enforcement of legislation will be in a proportionate and consistent manner, in accordance with the terms of the "Enforcement Concordat".

Contact the Council to complain or for advice

You can do this by:

  • Telephone either; the ASB Hotline 01206 282731 or the customer service centre 01206 282581
  • E mail via our website
  • In person by visiting the Customer Service Centre
  • Letter
  • Referrals by a partner agency eg Police CDRP Street Wardens etc.
  1. Your complaint is discussed either over the phone or in person and assed as to who is most appropriate to deal with it.  If not ASB team you will be advised and referred to the correct agency if ASB Team you will be sent record sheets.
  1. Evidence sheets sent to be complete and return record sheets for two weeks or as directed

IF you do not complete record sheets no further action will be taken by the ASB team

  1. Record sheets are reviewed.

If we are unable to proceed because the complaint is not anti-social behaviour you will be informed in writing within 5 working days.

If we can proceed we will discuss an action plan within 5 working days. 

If it is not possible to identify any perpetrator/s then the case may be

referred to other agencies however if a perpetrator has not been identified in the record sheets further partnership working with the Police, Street Wardens and any other relevant agency may be carried out to try to establish who is allegedly responsible.

  1. Letter sent to the perpetrator (your details will remain confidential) and more record sheets are sent to monitor the situation. Information dependant this may occur sooner
  1. Information requested from Partner Agencies as relevant.
  1. The situation improves no further action will be taken.
  1. No improvement or the situation worsens, visit to victim and perpetrator. Where applicable, Acceptable Behaviour Contract is agreed between ASB Team, partner agency (usually the Police) and Perpetrator.
  1. Landlord notified.
  1. Evidence gathered for further action.  This includes record sheets kept by the victim, witnessing by ASB officers, Environmental Control Officers, Police and other ASB partners.
  1. Once the correct evidence is obtained formal action can be taken.

ASB covers a huge area and each case needs to be assessed on its own merit.  Severe cases may require more direct action and some of the above steps may need to be omitted, where some steps may need to be repeated for other types of cases.  It is important that flexibility is maintained as the case is evolves and is reviewed. 

 I have made a complaint, what happens next?

One of our team will contact you to discuss your complaint in more detail and we will then ask you to complete evidence sheets for two weeks.  This is a vital part of the process as this helps us to deal more effectively with your complaint and provides accurate and detailed information about what has happened.

Once the incident diaries have been returned and we agree that ASB is occurring we will contact the person causing the problem.  Often this is successful, but if the problem continues we will contact them again and consider further interventions such as an Acceptable Behaviour Contracts, Good Neighbour Contracts or as a last resort an Injunction or Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO).

Your evidence sheets may indicate to us that another agency should be involved in this complaint, such as the Police, and we will advise you of this and make contact on your behalf.

We will keep you updated on all action taken.

 What type of Action can the ASB Team take?

 We have used many types of actions, often called "interventions" to try and change behaviour, examples of these are described below;

Mediation- usually used in neighbour disputes, where behaviours can be changed as a result of a greater understanding of each other's situation and how each person is affected by the ASB.

Acceptable Behaviour Contracts (ABC) - These have proven to be a very successful tool in combating ASB in the borough; they are a written agreement between the individual, the council and usually the police, that they will not enter into or continue with behaviour that causes distress to others.

Good Neighbour Contracts - This is a written agreement between the individual and their neighbour it would also be signed by the ASB team or police, this has been useful in dealing with neighbour disputes.

Legal Action - The council will take legal action, when we can show that all earlier interventions have been tried and were unsuccessful,

Anti- Social Behaviour Orders - If all other available interventions have failed, we can apply to the Magistrates Court for an Anti-Social Behaviour Order (ASBO), an ASBO prevents the individuals from carrying out specific acts of ASB which cause alarm, distress or harassment.  In extreme cases the ASBO can exclude the person from entering a particular area or estate for a period of time.  The ASBO lasts a minimum of two years and a breach is a criminal offence which is dealt with by the Police or Crown Prosecution Service.

The team are a consulted on all ASBO's which the Police apply for.

Injunctions -An injunction is an order from the Court that either requires someone to do something or stops them from doing something.

Criminal Proceedings - At any time during the investigation the perpetrator may commit a criminal offence, or the police may have enough evidence to suggest that they have committed a criminal offence.  If this is the case then they may then charge the perpetrator and take them to court