Only half of ASBOs stop antisocial behaviour, Home Office reveals

Up to December 2003, 42% of ASBOs had been breached, compared with 36% in 2002.

Of those breaching the orders up to December 2003, 55% ended up in prison, including 46% of people aged under 18.

A total of 403 ASBOs were issued in England and Wales in 2002, rising to 1035 in 2003.

The number of ASBOs meted out rose to 730 in the third quarter of last year, up 20% on the second quarter. This takes the total number of ASBOs issued since their introduction in 1999 to 3826.

Matt Foot, a founder of the pressure group ASBO Concern, said: “They are still promoting these in a gung-ho way as we go into an election, yet we now have the evidence that they are not working as this 42% figure shows.

“These orders are simplistic and don’t begin to tackle the reasons why people offend in the first place – they set people up to fail.”

Tom Manion, chief executive of Irwell Valley Housing Association, one of the leading housing association users of ASBOs, said none of its orders had been breached.

“Some of that’s down to luck maybe,”

he said. “But we are tough on every front: prevention, rehabilitation and enforcement … You’ve got to work equally hard on all three but the emphasis now is very much on enforcement, because it’s easy, measurable and on the government’s agenda.”

Announcing the figures on Tuesday, home secretary Charles Clarke encouraged the sector to name and shame ASBO recipients.

He said: “Today we are making the position crystal clear – your photo could be all over the local media, your community will know who you are and a breach could land you in prison.”

Last October the High Court ruled that Brent council in north-west London had acted legally in publishing the names and photographs of a gang that had been given ASBOs.

But it said publicity should be proportionate and balance the rights of the individual with those of the community (HT 15 October 2004, page 13).

But the children’s charity NCH, which runs the Dundee Families project to rehabilitate people who behave antisocially, said naming and shaming children was counterproductive.

NCH senior policy adviser Jacqui McCluskey said: “In some cases [it] can glorify bad behaviour … There are also reports of vigilante attacks on children who’ve been identified.”