The ASB Case Review
We often hear of local residents having to complain several times about the conduct of an individual Royal Holloway student, or problems arising from a particular student household, with no apparent improvement in the situation.
Not only does this place a question mark over the efficacy of Royal Holloway’s own student conduct policy but can result in despair and frustration for the resident who has to live with the consequences of the type of behaviour that many of us are so familiar with. Many in such circumstances simply give up reporting further incidents because they do not believe that Royal Holloway will take any action and, in extreme cases, some residents end up leaving the area altogether.
There is, however, a process that you can use if you think that your reports have not been effectively responded to, and that process is both free and easy to use – it’s the ASB Case Review: formerly known as the Community Trigger.
The Community Trigger was introduced by The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 which introduced a number of specific measures designed to give victims and communities a say in the way that complaints of antisocial behaviour are dealt with. As the Government’s website explains, local agencies, including the police and council, have a duty to carry out a case review when someone requests one and their case meets a locally defined threshold. Each area chooses a lead agency to manage the process and for Egham and Englefield Green that agency is Runnymede Borough Council.
Further details of Runnymede Borough Council’s process can be found on its website but, essentially, one should have reported three or more qualifying incidents of ASB and a qualifying complaint is defined as a complaint of an incident of ASB that was reported within one month of the alleged behaviour taking place. Also, you must apply to use the ASB Case Review within 6 months of the ASB occurring.
Those familiar with incidents of Royal Holloway student misconduct – particularly from student HMOs – will realise that this is a pretty low threshold to reach and yet it appears that the process is rarely used. As the lead agency, Runnymede Borough Council is obliged to publish data on the number of requests received for an ASB Case Review and yet its website reveals that, in the financial year 2022-2023, it only received 4 requests for the whole borough!
This is an easy process for residents to follow at no cost and so is strongly recommended if you feel that your complaints to RHUL have been ineffective. However, as stated on other pages of this website, it’s important that you report all incidents of ASB as and when they occur. Primarily, of course, such reports should be responded to immediately with the intention of addressing the problem that is causing you concern. If the problem continues though, then reporting the initial incidents should ensure that you can qualify for a Case Review when you need to escalate your concerns. In any case, all reports help to build up a bigger picture of local ASB which can be used to press the authorities to take more effective action and may be used to help inform the case for the introduction of an Article 4 Direction.
For further details of how to report ASB, please see our guide and if you would like help on requesting an ASB Case Review then please get in touch. But please don’t suffer in silence.