Community Safety Team

Community safety is best seen as an aspect of our quality of life in which individuals and communities are protected from, equipped to cope with, and have increased capacity to resist, crime and anti-social behaviour. (LGA definition).

Our Community Safety team directly contributes to helping local communities feel safer and helping to reduce levels of antisocial behaviour to improve residents’ quality of life.

Some of the main functions of the Community Safety Team include:

• Coordination and administration of the Safer North Hampshire Community Safety Partnership, alongside our neighbouring districts at Rushmoor Borough Council and Hart District Council.
• Oversee the Councils strategy to reducing antisocial behaviour and contributing to supporting a borough where all feel safe.
• Manages and coordinates antisocial behaviour cases, considering informal and formal interventions to address antisocial behaviour using a range of tools and powers.
• Provides advice and guidance to residents in relation to Community Safety or antisocial behaviour concerns.
• Overseeing Community Trigger reviews of persistent cases where victims of ASB do not feel they have received an appropriate response from the partner agencies involved (see below).
• Supporting community groups, events and initiatives which contribute to improving community safety.
• Provides expertise to inform a variety of other council functions where community safety needs to be considered.
• Provides detailed analysis of crime and antisocial behaviour trends for informing the community safety strategic assessment, problem profiling and other antisocial behaviour concerns.

Anti-social behaviour is described by law as conduct which has caused or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person. There are many different types of antisocial behaviour, such as rowdy, threatening or intimidating behaviour, graffiti, vandalism and begging to environmental crimes such as littering, fly tipping and dog fouling. The Council will not tolerate antisocial behaviour and it will use its range of powers to take the most appropriate action to address it.

If you are affected by antisocial behaviour it is important that this is reported, so the relevant organisation including the Police, Housing provider or the Council is aware.

If you are experiencing antisocial behaviour at the time, contact:

• 101 - In non-emergency situations or report online via the Hampshire Police website
• 999 - In emergency situations such as when a crime is in progress or there is an immediate risk to life.

If you would like to discuss a case of antisocial behaviour call 01256 844844. Our Contact Centre will direct you to the correct department depending on the nature of your antisocial behaviour concern. You can also contact the Community Safety Team by emailing community.safety@basingstoke.gov.uk.

Community Trigger (ASB Case review)

If you (or others with your consent) have reported 3 (or more) incidents of antisocial behaviour within a 6-month period and feel the issues haven’t been resolved, you can activate the Community Trigger (also known as ASB Case Review). This has been designed to give you, the victim, the right to demand that agencies deal with persistent antisocial behaviour.

In Hampshire and the Isle of Wight, Hampshire Constabulary are the first point of call for initial contact from a victim or representative wanting to use the community trigger. Raising a community trigger can be done by calling Hampshire Constabulary on 101. We will assess the eligibility of any community trigger requests.

For further information on the Community Trigger, visit the Safer North Hampshire website

Community Safety Partnership

The 1998 Crime and Disorder Act acknowledges that the causes of crime and disorder are complex and varied and that achieving a reduction in crime and disorder should therefore not be a matter solely for the police. As a result the act established Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs) between the Police, Local Authorities, the Voluntary Sector, local residents and businesses and made them jointly responsible for reducing crime and disorder.

In north Hampshire, one strategic Community Safety Partner has been established to cover Basingstoke and Deane, Hart and Rushmoor with the aim of creating safer communities, reducing crime, and reducing the fear of crime in the area. The Portfolio Holder Partnerships, Cllr Jenny Vaux, represents Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council on the CSP.

Strategic Assessments are assessments of crime and disorder, which allow Community Safety Partnerships to respond more effectively to the community, plan activity, allocate resources and deliver activities that focus on priorities and achieve results. The Strategic Assessment informs the annual Partnership Plan, which then details how partners will work to tackle identified priorities throughout the year.

Strategic Assessment 2021-22 (published September 2022)(PDF) [2 Mb]

Community Safety Partnership Plan 2020 to 2023(PDF) [2 Mb]

Community Safety update - January 2022(PDF) [312 kb]