Inside home affairs: Exactly how does the SNP plan to tackle antisocial behaviour?

Published on Wednesday 23 July 2008 21:54

EXACTLY how does the Scottish Government propose to tackle drunken louts, vandals, noisy neighbours and other "antisocial" types?

It is a question that is forming in the minds of commentators, academics and police officers.

The previous Labour administration's answer was to introduce a mixture of apparently tough new measures, such as Asbos for teenage tearaways and dispersal orders for groups of youths hanging about on street corners.

Jack McConnell, the former first minister, threatened to name and shame the worst culprits in a strategy that struck a chord with neighbourhoods terrorised by the few.

The message was strong – but the results were mixed at best. Cathy Jamieson, the then justice minister, pledged to cut numbers of persistent young offenders, only to abandon the target as the total steadily increased.

Meanwhile, some councils belligerently refused to dance to Labour's tune. The high-profile move to allow local authorities to impose Asbos on youngsters aged 12-15 was particularly unpopular among social workers and liberal politicians, who feared a generation of children were being demonised.

Fergus Ewing, the community safety minister, last year announced that the Scottish Government would take a fresh look at the national antisocial behaviour strategy.

The official line was that "nothing has been ruled in or out", but the relative quiet on the subject since then has fuelled chatter that the SNP is reluctant to follow Labour's "tough love" approach, but has little idea what should take its place.

One leading academic said: "The government's only solution to youth crime, so far, appears to be more diversionary activities for unruly kids. That's fine as far as it goes, but it's not enough. People are asking: what else are you going to do?"

A government source insisted that the review is "proceeding well".

The source said it was proving to be extremely exhaustive and suggested that the final plan may not be revealed until early next year.

One year on since the government first started talking about the review, a major summit is about to be held to thrash out the nitty-gritty.

The antisocial behaviour seminar will be staged in Edinburgh next week, when officials will hope to start putting some meat on the bare bones of their review.

Around 100 practitioners and experts from local government, police, voluntary groups and academia will take part in the brain-storming session.

The event, to be jointly hosted by the Convention of Scotland Local Authorities and the Scottish Government, will also be attended by Mr Ewing.

After that, it will be a case of wait and see. But the voices demanding to know the government's plan for tackling antisocial behaviour are unlikely to go away.