ASB Awareness Week shines a light on ‘a high quality ASB service’

Resolve, who are the UK’s leading organisation on community safety and anti-social behaviour, are also the organisers of ASB Awareness Week, which is supported by the UK Government, the Fire Service and Police Forces across the country. Once again, Northamptonshire Partnership Homes’ (NPH) staff from the Tenancy Compliance Team will also be supporting ASB Awareness Week alongside West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) and Northamptonshire Police and Fire Service (NPFS).

The theme for the 2025 ASB Awareness week is ‘Making Communities Safer’ and one of the strands coming out of this is to make it easier to report ASB. NPH residents have a number of different channels available to them to report instances of ASB. This includes online, in-person at various drop-in sessions, via telephone and email. Additionally, over the past 18 months our Tenancy Compliance Team has undergone several key changes to transform the support on offer for victims of anti-social behaviour.

Since starting with the organisation in May 2022, NPH Tenancy Compliance Team Manager, Ryan Surridge, has steered the team of officers through process changes, implementation of new software, increased feedback opportunities for their service users and was the first social housing provider to gain a coveted national accreditation award (outside of the pilot).

In addition to the accreditation we were shortlisted in the category of ‘Employer of the Year’ for the 2025 ASB Awards. Resolve said: “Northamptonshire Partnership Homes offer a high quality anti-social behaviour service, recognising the importance of making communities safer and ensuring that appropriate resources are in place to support all victims of ASB. The organisation meets the Resolve Standard principles and underlying commitments.”

NPH’s Head of Tenancy Management, Darren Berwick, said “I know how hard the team have worked to provide such a high-quality, vital service to NPH residents. I am extremely proud of their achievements and hope that this level of service from the team gives confidence to our residents that we take all reports of ASB seriously and how committed they are to resolving them”.

In recognition of their success, here’s a closer look at what improvements the team have made to their working practice and how they’ve made a difference to the people they support.

Case management
In the past, ASB cases were handled jointly by Tenancy Compliance Officers (TCO) and Housing Officers (HO). Since the beginning of 2024 all ongoing issues of ASB are now dealt with solely by the Tenancy Compliance Team. This means the team manage all cases firmly in line with the ASB policy which has strict guidelines in place. They still work closely with HOs as needed, but HOs can focus on supporting their residents. They’ve also overseen the addition of two new TCOs and a new post of Tenancy Compliance Co-ordinator to give administrative support to the team. This new way of managing ASB cases has sped things up and overall has made for a more seamless experience.

Noise App
The introduction of ‘Noise App’ allows those experiencing ASB to capture audio of the issues they are experiencing and easily share it with TCO’s to investigate (there’s also noise monitoring equipment for those without a smart phone). The audio within the app is time stamped, GPS logged and, if required, can be used in court as evidence. It has streamlined the working practice with WNC’s Environmental Health Team who also use the Noise App and will often assist NPH in resolving cases. As the local authority they have access to differing powers to us and therefore are a vital partner in addressing noise nuisance issues.

Working in Partnership
As the largest social housing landlord in West Northamptonshire, NPH’s working relationship with WNC is a key factor in resolving ASB issues. Together we have implemented a joint noise nuisance procedure to ensure efficacy and consistency when handling cases. The team also work with WNC colleagues to review practices, for example, they reviewed and updated the training scripts used by the customer Contact Centre at WNC. We also work in conjunction with NPFS, for example, gaining a Possession Order against a tenant who had been charged with multiple drug offences.

FAQs for Residents
We now provide a frequently asked questions sheet to all residents when opening a case. This empowers victims from the beginning to understand the process and their rights. It also includes an explanation of the complaints process and ASB Case Review process which manages expectations in regard to what the team are able to do and what their limitations are.

Customer Feedback via Independent Market Research Company
We use a ‘closed case satisfaction feedback’ process to understand where they are doing well and what they can improve on. Previously these surveys were conducted by a member of NPH staff but they wanted to ensure customers felt comfortable to provide honest feedback, especially if they were dissatisfied with the service. Therefore, since April 2024, we use an independent company to conduct surveys on their behalf. The team also undertake interim satisfaction surveys at the 6-week stage of the case. NPH have compared feedback results with 12 organisations that use the same survey, and they rank top for case handling and second for case outcome satisfaction.

Resident Scrutiny Panel
A resident scrutiny panel was tasked with obtaining tenant input on the service provided. The recommendations are currently being considered and will be implemented where possible. The report also found our ASB service was good value for money and the panel felt that we should do more to publicise the great work they do around ASB support for NPH residents.

Members of the Tenancy Compliance Team will also be at two of NPH’s popular Community Café’s during ASB Awareness week. They will also be joining WNC, NPFS and other partners in Northampton’s Market Square on Tuesday July 1st. You can see the full schedule of events on WNC’s website here. The team can also be contacted via email on asb@nph.org.uk