So the range of measures expected to be set out in yesterday's Queen's Speech for tackling antisocial behaviour is welcome acknowledgement that a more coordinated and concerted effort is needed to tackle the problem. It has seemed bizarre, for example, that in the past, a consultation paper on the antisocial behaviour orders has come from the Home Office, only for a variation on the same theme to appear a few days later from what's now the ODPM.
The task, though, is to convince the sector – which, after all, will be the poor bloody infantry in Blair's new assault – that the measures will prove effective in combat. Plans to cut benefit have already been derided as punishing the most vulnerable as well as being impractical. There is widespread scepticism that antisocial behaviour orders are the answer; fewer than 500 have so far been imposed and they cost, on average, £5000. Only if the plans are backed up by new resources in terms of staffing, expertise, training, assistance and hard cash will the sector know Blair is really serious.
Only if the plans to tackle antisocial behaviour are backed up by new resources will the sector know Blair is serious
There's a natural distaste in the housing world for paying people who've traditionally offered their services for free. But as the pool of volunteers dwindles – for the smaller, less prestigious organisations at least – it seems payment of board members will soon become a reality (see page 22). But let's not get hung up imagining that £5000 a year, the maximum recommended for an ordinary board member in the Housing Corporation's consultation paper, will be a magnet for fat cats. Instead, it will help open the field to many people the sector desperately needs, but who can't volunteer because they have no childcare, or are self-employed, or have demanding jobs.
Source
Housing Today
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