Anti-social behaviour support team worker to be axed despite rise in complaints
Council chiefs will press ahead with plans to cut the budget and axe a member of staff from its anti-social behaviour team - despite the number of incidents being on the rise.
ASBO incidents went up five per cent in Wolverhampton last year, but £89,000 will be cut from the service's budget.
That is despite residents in the city highlighting anti-social behaviour as their biggest concern in a survey last year.
The cuts will see one member of staff axed and Wolverhampton Homes take on the funding of jobs from 2017 onwards.
Chiefs at Wolverhampton City Council are saving £150,000 in total from their community safety service by 2018, which includes anti-social behaviour work.
A 20-strong anti-social behaviour team was launched last year.
They dealt with 2031 new cases in 2013/14, up five per cent from the year before, which saw 1,925 cases.
The number of ASBOS handed out more than doubled, from four last year to 11 in 2013/14.
But customer satisfaction also increased, with almost 92 per cent happy with the service provided by the anti-social behaviour team, up from 85 per cent.
Bosses have previously decided, as reported in the Express & Star, to scrap the weekend noise complaints service.
A report which goes before the council's cabinet tomorrow states: "Tackling anti social behaviour is the top priority for the residents of Wolverhampton. Indeed, when questioned in the residents' opinion survey 2013 about how they feel about their area, their biggest concern for their neighbourhood (36 per cent) and city (42 per cent) was anti-social behaviour."
It costs £372 to deal with each case, down from £505. The national average cost was £709 in 2012/13.
"There is concern about the lost of three full time posts under the Wolverhampton City Council medium term financial strategy and the impact this will have on victims and communities across the city.
"Because of the volume in cases, the focus of the team in on reacting to anti-social behaviour reports as they come in.
"There is a strong feeling that there is a need for more proactive work to be done, including targeted work in neighbourhoods and communities where there is under-reporting.
"Feedback from staff and partner agencies has raised concerns about the impact the loss of the three anti-social behaviour posts will have on service users and service delivery."
However the service was praised for the way council and Wolverhampton Homes staff have worked together.
The budget reduction will see £35,000 taken out in 2015/16 and £115,000 in 2017/18.
For noise complaints, staff will now only respond at weekends if a person's health or well-being is at 'serious imminent risk'.
