We know that you may have concerns about coming forward and reporting anti-social behaviour. We will do all that we can to support you and will tailor the support that we provide to fit your particular needs. We will:

• Give you information and advice on the types of action that can be taken to resolve the situation
• Discuss any specific needs that you may have e.g., those relating to language, literacy, hearing or sight impairments
• Tell you about the support services that we and other agencies, such as Victim Support, can provide and make referrals on your behalf if you would like us to
• Work in partnership with other specialist organisations appropriate to your individual needs
• Ask you which method you would like us to keep in contact with you and make sure that this is done
• Provide you with weekly updates on the progress of the case
• Discuss and agree with you the ways in which evidence will be collected (e.g., through Incident Log Sheets or Handheld Voice Recorders), CCTV or Noise Monitoring Equipment
• Consider the security of you in your home and, where necessary, apply on your behalf for a Police Home Security Check

• Provide transport to court, pay expenses for childcare and any other reasonable costs
• Arrange for you to be accompanied to the court before attending, if you would like us to, so that you will know what the court environment is like and how things will happen.

We will not move people as a means of resolving anti-social behaviour – we will deal with anti-social behaviour. The only exception to this is in very extreme situations where there are fears for safety. The recommendations of agencies such as the Police will be required in considering such a move.

In cases involving minor neighbour disputes, we will initially encourage you to speak to your neighbour about the problem. It may be that your neighbour is simply not aware that their behaviour is causing a nuisance to you.

Try to have a conversation with your neighbour. If needed, we can help you think about how to do this. We understand that you may be apprehensive about approaching your neighbour and we can help you prepare the conversation you want to have. You may want to consider the following to help you structure the conversation and understand what you would like to see happening as a result:

• What happened?
• What were you thinking/how were you feeling at the time?
• Who else has been affected?
• What do you want to happen to move forward

Whilst we encourage residents to build and maintain positive relationships with neighbours, we may need to support the conversation where it would help you and your neighbour understand how to overcome the issue

We can facilitate this, in a safe place, for you to express the impact your neighbour’s behaviour is having on you, to resolve things amicably, and agree outcomes that work for both parties. These ’restorative conversations’ help people to come together to resolve their own disputes, rather than having solutions imposed upon them and have the potential to provide a solution much more quickly than more formal action.

We will also, in appropriate circumstances, and with the agreement of the parties concerned, make a referral to a Mediation Practitioner and we will pay the cost of this service.

• We work in partnership with others to engage residents to prevent and manage ASB, achieve positive resolutions and develop thriving communities.
• We ensure that, at sign-up, new residents are made aware of the clauses in their Tenancy Agreement or lease relating to nuisance and anti-social behaviour.
• We use a range of tools such as impact assessments and restorative outcome agreements to help people understand the effects their anti-social behaviour is having on others, give the resident the opportunity to amend their behaviour, and repair relationships between all parties.
• Sometimes the person causing the anti-social behaviour has vulnerabilities which contribute to the behaviour. In such cases, we will work with specialist support agencies to help the person to address this and stop the anti-social behaviour reoccurring.

We will discuss issues of confidentiality with you when you report anti-social behaviour. If you do not want the alleged perpetrator to know who you are we will respect this. It is important that you know, however, that:

• This may limit the types of action that we are able to take to deal with anti-social behaviour. Serious actions such as legal proceedings are unlikely to be possible without witness statements.
• If specific allegations are to be put to the alleged perpetrator the source may be identifiable.

We will do what we can to investigate anonymous reports of anti-social behaviour, however, unless a contact telephone number is provided we will be unable to keep you informed, or ask you for further information. This will limit how we are able to act when attempting to resolve the situation.

The ASB Case Review allows victims of persistent anti-social behaviour, who have previously reported incidents, to request a review of their case where they feel the actions taken have not been adequate. You can request a review or find further information at https://asbcasereview.wales/#top