Anti-social behaviour principles

Find out about the principles that local councils and police in Suffolk follow to address anti-social behaviour.

In October 2022 The Home Office Anti-social Behaviour Strategic Board developed a set of principles which seek to describe a consistent approach to understanding and addressing anti-social behaviour (ASB) in local communities. 

Partners involved in responding to and reducing ASB across Suffolk have welcomed and adopted these principles as a guide to delivering the best possible outcomes to victims of ASB.

The principles are: 

  1. Victims should be encouraged to report ASB and expect to be taken seriously. They should have clear ways to report, have access to help and support to recover, and be given the opportunity to choose restorative approaches to tackling ASB.
  2. Agencies will have clear and transparent processes to ensure that victims can report ASB concerns, can understand how the matter will be investigated and are kept well informed of progress once a report is made.
  3. Agencies and practitioners will work across boundaries to identify, assess and tackle ASB and its underlying causes. Referral pathways should be clearly set out between services and published locally. This includes pathways for the anti social behaviour case review and health services.
  4. The public’s ASB concerns should always be considered both nationally and locally in strategic needs assessments for community safety. Best practice should be shared through a network of ASB experts within each community safety partnership, each policing area and nationally.
  5. Adults and children who exhibit ASB should have the opportunity to take responsibility for their behaviour and repair the harm caused by it. Agencies should deliver appropriate interventions, which may include criminal justice options, based on the seriousness, risks and vulnerabilities of the case.

The Home Office chairs the Anti-Social Behaviour Strategic Board, which brings together a range of partners and representatives from relevant agencies and government departments to work together to identify and assess strategic issues relating to ASB and share information and good practice in order to support an effective multi-agency response to ASB.

The principles have been endorsed by:

  • ASB Help
  • Association of Police and Crime Commissioners
  • Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities
  • Historic England
  • Home Office
  • Local Government Association
  • National Fire Chiefs Council
  • National Police Chiefs’ Council
  • Resolve
  • Victims’ Commissioner
  • Welsh Government

In Suffolk, the principles have been endorsed by the Safer Stronger Communities Board which provides governance to the County Anti-Social Behaviour Steering Group. Further information, and ways to report incidence of ASB, can be found here: