Antisocial behaviour powers put children at risk of eviction
Neil Puffett
Monday, December 16, 2013
Proposed new powers that could result in children as young as 10 being evicted from their home for bad behaviour have been criticised by a coalition of leading charities.
It has emerged that under the Antisocial Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill, which is currently going through parliament, new Injunctions to Prevent Nuisance and Annoyance (Ipnas) could also be used to “exclude” people from their homes.
The injunctions can be handed to anyone aged 10 years old or older.
Under the current wording of the legislation, injunctions for this purpose could be applied for through the civil courts by councils, chief police officers, or housing providers.
For the order to be granted, the court will have to be convinced that the alleged antisocial behaviour includes the threat of violence against someone, or represents a “significant risk of harm” to other people.
Penelope Gibbs, chair of the Standing Committee for Youth Justice (SCYJ), whose members include Barnardo’s and the NSPCC, said the proposed powers are not the right way to deal with youth offending.
“This new law says a child can be excluded from their own home if they risk harming someone – not necessarily their own family," she said.
"Children should not be excluded from their own homes under civil legislation,” she said.
“No-one condones violence but, if a child does threaten others, the local authority should be working with the child and family to stabilise the situation and prevent the child's behaviour escalating, not excluding them from their home."
Concerns have previously been raised that provisions in the bill could mean young people could get in trouble for simply being “annoying”.
Ipnas could be used against children as young as 10 for any behaviour “capable of causing annoyance” to another person, whereas existing antisocial behaviour orders, which they are set to replace, can only be taken out against people causing actual “harassment, alarm or distress”.
In January, the Association of Chief Police Officers told the home affairs select committee that the new injunctions “have the potential to be used inappropriately” and “unnecessarily criminalise” children.
The Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Bill is due to go to report stage in the House of Lords on 8 January.
