Quick getaway

"We all know what it's like when you're moving – it's a number one stressful event. But try doing it when you're subjected to a hideous crime and you're giving evidence in court," says Caroline Jones. She should know. After managing several difficult relocation cases at the London Borough of Waltham Forest, she has spent the past three years developing a protocol to streamline the process of moving vulnerable and intimidated witnesses.

Looking after witnesses is a crucial part of tackling crimes such as domestic violence, racism and antisocial behaviour and taking perpetrators to court. Persuading victims to come forward when they're still living alongside their tormentors is understandably difficult, and temporary housing solutions can do further damage to already vulnerable families. Rehousing people in the same area often offers little protection but, until now, there has been no fast-track answer to cross-borough relocation.

The police rehouse 3500 witness households every year and in each case, they can spend weeks ringing round housing providers, hoping to call in favours. While they do that, the victims of crime are subject to further intimidation.

Under Jones' protocol, however, social landlords sign up to provide accommodation on a reciprocal basis and witnesses can be moved to a place of safety within days. The fastest move to date took just 24 hours.

Clearly, the project has been successful, albeit on a very small scale, but its trial period will soon be over. Developed on a shoestring – the Housing Corporation granted innovation and good practice funding totalling £38,000, and there was additional money from the police – it has been piloted by a handful of authorities and associations in areas including Hillingdon in west London, Barnsley and Waltham Forest. About 30 witnesses have been rehoused since 2000. Now, though, it is destined for bigger things.

Much of the success with witness relocation involves achieving a permanent home, and the speed of relocation has a major positive effect on the psychological well-being of the family involved

Richard Player, metropolitan police

The Home Office has made witness protection a priority as part of its drive to crack down on antisocial behaviour, and seized eagerly upon a ready-made solution. In the autumn, it will put up the funding to extend the scheme geographically, with a long-term view to going nationwide. When the scheme goes nationwide, there will be a dedicated national coordinator and a recruitment drive for social housing providers; police and housing providers will be able to send a rehousing request to the coordinator, who has access to lists of void properties in organisations signed up to the protocol and will forward the request to social landlords that may be able to help.

When an offer comes in, the police undertake a risk assessment – checking for the perpetrator's extended family or a history of similar abuse in the area, for example – and other local authority departments such as social servcies, health and education, will receive details of any special care a family needs to settle in.

"Much of the success with witness relocation involves achieving a permanent home, and the speed of relocation has a major positive effect on the psychological well-being of the family," says detective inspector Richard Player of the Metropolitan Police, one of the officers who has worked closely on the protocol's development. "Several people have had their lives changed for the better through the protocol, and given evidence in significant cases."

That is about all Player will say on the subject, because the defining feature of the protocol is secrecy. Information about families being relocated is distributed on a strictly need-to-know basis, and housing officers have no idea that the tenant they are dealing with is different to any other. The police won't give details of the process by which witnesses are relocated, for fear of aiding perpetrators to track their victims, and individual RSLs will not reveal how many witnesses they have rehoused or the costs involved. "If your life was at risk, you'd want it that way too," says Player.

I remember going to Northern Ireland to scope out if it would work there and one officer said to me, ‘you have no idea how amazing this project is’

Caroline Jones, diversity solutions

The costs of relocation are met by the referring landlord, but the Home Office, police and housing providers all acknowledge that these are likely to be minimal compared to the drain on community resources from crime and the legal fees wasted on aborted legal cases, when witnesses are too afraid or frustrated to continue. Caroline Jones estimates that it can cost £50,000 just to get a case to court, but this can easily reach £100,000 in more complicated cases. If the relocation scheme gives tenants the confidence not to withdraw their evidence, savings will clearly be substantial. And this doesn't begin to take into account the money saved by not having officers ringing round housing providers or having to house witnesses in temporary hotels or private rented homes.

Jones left Waltham Forest last year to join a consultancy, Diversity Solutions, and continue work on the protocol. She is also advising the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister on its new housing and employment mobility scheme.

She says the protocol has received a warm welcome, particularly from the police. "When we did the launch in Waltham Forest, 200 organisations came from across the UK to see what was happening. We thought it would be a little local thing, but we soon had people phoning us up asking if they could be part of it. I remember going to Northern Ireland to scope out if it would work there and one officer said to me, 'you have no idea how amazing this project is'. It was all the things that the police had been trying to do for years but nothing had been happening."

Jones admits, however, that "it's not a sexy project" and it's true that there isn't much glory for social landlords that take part. Jones says publicising the scheme is not an option yet in case it is seen as an inducement to witnesses. "We wouldn't put up a sign saying 'give your evidence here and we'll help you to move', because any judge would throw that case out of court."

This could explain why although there were many RSLs represented among the 200 people at Waltham Forest's launch of the scheme, this has translated into very few sign-ups. Another factor is that, unlike local authorities and the police, RSLs have no statutory responsibility towards vulnerable witnesses, although the Home Office is encouraging them to become more active in confronting antisocial tenants. The Home Office believes that when the scheme goes national, the logistical restraints inherent in its modest beginnings will be lifted and RSLs will be lining up to get involved.