During the last 3 years I have been involved in Focus Groups and Tenant Involvement Groups (SIG’s) with Wolverhampton Homes. It all started when they were reviewing Choice Based Lettings/ Homes in the City. I was very interested in the activity and requested to take part in future opportunities.
On Wednesday 25th January 2012 I attended a Special Interest Group (SIG) for Anti Social Behaviour (ASB)Â within Wolverhampton. Present were Nigel Homer (Area Manager), Louise Ward (Tenant Participation Officer) and 9 tenants from across the city who have expressed an interest in ASB and possible ways of controlling that “crime”.
The discussion was about an upcoming cross city consultation surrounding how ASB is managed. At present in Wolverhampton there are several organisations who deal with ASB -Â Wolverhampton Homes, West Midlands Police, and Wolverhampton City Council.
One of the questions posed to the group was if ASB management should be operated by a dedicated team instead of having three different organisations manage it, or if it would be better to keep it as it is. The group’s opinion was that it would be best to create a dedicated team as this would bring many benefits.
The opinions of the attendees from this meeting will be forwarded within a report from the Tenant Participation team to the board and the consultation process will continue. There was no definate indication as to what the outcome will be and no indication as to how soon this change would take place.
What is Anti Social Behaviour (ASB)?
You may ask yourself what Anti Social Behaviour is. Well, it is defined as behaviour which can include that following:
- Abusive or noisy neighbours in what is normally a queit neighbourhood.
- Night time noise in properties or the surrounding gardens during the hours of 11pm – 7am
- Threatening, yobbish behaviour
- Fly-tipping
- Graffiti…. just to name a few.
Anti Social Behaviour doesnt just make living your day to day live unpleasent it ruins lives and can make an area feel unsafe and in some cases unwelcome to visitors.
Further information on ASB can be found on Wolverhampton Homes website at this link.
Who can I report ASB to?
If you are a tenant of Wolverhampton Homes and are victim to Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) you can report this to Wolverhampton Homes on 01902 556789 or the out of hours ASB team if the activity happens outside of office hours on 01902 558901. You can also report it by visiting your Wolverhampton Homes One Stop Shop at the enquiry desk and requesting to speak in a private room. Of course, if it is an emergancy then dont hesitate call 999.
You dont need to know if the housing status of the offender of the ASB. By housing status this means if they are a Wolverhampton Homes Tenant, Private tenant or owner occupier of a property.
If you are not a Wolverhampton Homes tenant but a private tenant you can report the matter of ASB to your landlord’s Estate Agent (if you have one) or to West Midlands Police on 0345 113 5000 or the NEW non emergancy hotline 101.
Stop Hate in Wolverhampton
Also discussed at the meeting was the launch of “Stop Hate in Wolverhampton” campaign which launched on 24th January 2012. For more information please see our article.
How do I get involved?
To get involved  in these “Focus Groups” and Special Interest Groups (SIG’s), simply click here to read more on how you as a resident can get involved and help change specific things which matter to you and your community.
I have been involved in various SIG’s and Focus Groups across the 3 years and enjoy every one that much that I ask the Tenant Participation Team for more ways to get involved and I have looked at applying to be on the Review Panel and also the Tenant Board 2012. For me, my community matters.