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Louts 'on notice' says PM

21 August 2004

Increasing use of anti-yob powers are putting louts 'on notice', the Prime Minister said today.

New Home Office figures show that the number of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) issued across England and Wales has more than doubled since March last year.

Anti-Social Behaviour Orders are civil orders made by a court and used to protect the public from behaviour that causes harassment, alarm and distress. They were introduced in 1998 and streamlined to make them easier to use in 2002-3.

Speaking on a visit to an estate in Harlow, Essex, Mr Blair said that there remained much to do but police and councils are using the new powers. The Prime Minister said:

"The public are coming together and the louts are on notice."

More than 2,400 ASBOs have been issued across England and Wales since they were introduced in 1999 with 1,323 taken out in the year to March 2004.

He added:

"Anti-social behaviour can ruin neighbourhoods and make life a misery for decent, hard-working families. That is why we have given local communities the powers they need to enforce respect on the streets.

"ASBOs, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts, Fixed Penalty Notices, dispersal orders, closing crack houses, controlling fireworks, clamping down on graffiti and litter - they can help those that play by the rules beat those that don't. But we must use them."

The figures show that:

  • 422 ASBOs have been issued in Greater Manchester since 1999 - up 232 per cent since 31 March 2003
  • 59 were issued in Liverpool - up 139 per cent
  • 122 issued in Leeds - up 430 per cent
  • 48 issued in the London borough of Camden - up 182 per cent

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