Labour and Tories talk tough on antisocial behaviour

Victims of antisocial behaviour will be able to give evidence anonymously if the Labour party is re-elected.

Both the Conservatives and Labour unveiled their election manifestos this week, on Tuesday and Wednesday respectively. While the Tories pledged to expand drug treatment programmes from 2500 to 25,000 residential places and “give local people a say over police priorities”, Labour drew brickbats and bouquets with its promise to grant anonymity to victims of antisocial behaviour.

Bill Pitt, head of the neighbourhood nuisance team at Manchester council, said he supported the change. “Anything that is going to be supportive to witnesses has got to be good. The balance is beginning to weigh a little more toward the interests of witnesses.”

But Matt Foot, coordinator of pressure group ASBO Concern, said the change would guarantee miscarriages of justice. He said: “There is no way of contending anonymous evidence. The witness could be anyone.”

The Conservatives also promised to increase homeownership and extend the right to buy to housing association tenants, as they had previously announced (HT 17 September, page 10). Labour said it would increase homeownership by 1 million in the next five years and build an extra 10,000 homes a year by 2008 – as covered in the ODPM’s five-year plan (HT 14 January, page 7) and its consultation paper on Social Homebuy (HT 8 April, page 9).

There was broad agreement within the sector that neither party was going far enough.

Liz Atkins, director of strategy and communications at the National Housing Federation, said: “Labour say they will build an additional 10,000 homes a year but that still falls short of the recommendations in the Barker report. We would also say it is much more important to build new homes than [for the Conservatives] to further extend the right to buy to housing association tenants.”

A Shelter spokeswoman said: “The Labour manifesto has airbrushed out the problem of homelessness. And we are disappointed the Conservatives haven’t spelt out a clear target for building the social rented homes needed.”

The Liberal Democrats had not yet published their election manifesto when Housing Today went to press.