Where are the antisocial behaviour hotspots in Blaenau Gwent
The report covered the 2024 summer, autumn and spring terms, and provided data on the number and types of anti-social behaviour (ASB) that had occurred during the period.
Cllr Jules Gardner (Labour) said hotspots had been mentioned in the report as a reason for the increase in punishments aimed at tackling the rising number of ASB and serious violence incidents in the county borough.
Man with serious mental disorder strangled taxi driver before taking off clothes
Oasis band member visits South Wales bakery to try 'the best ever' Welshcakes
Cllr Gardner said: 'I just wonder if there is any data on where the hotspot locations are and how many people instigated the anti-social behaviour in those areas, areas so that we can actually see what the increase is not just the punitive sanctions taken against those individuals.'
He stressed that the information would give councillors more context to the report.
Young people and partnerships team manager Joanne Sims said the information could be provided in future reports.
Ms Sims said: 'What we have provided you with is high level information.
'ASB hotspot directs a lot of our team's work, but this report reflects on the previous year and hotspots change.
'What we are talking about is historical and what was the concern at the time and was it addressed.'
Cllr Sonia Behr (Labour) said that a list of all types of antisocial behaviour had been included in the report, but it didn't include possession of 'potentially' offensive weapons, which it should.
Cllr Behr said that 'slingshots' are becoming 'more of an issue these days.'
'They are used for killing birds and more latterly criminal damage of property, said Cllr Behr.
School inclusion manager Julie Sambrook said she would 'check' where the list had come from and whether it was a set list provided by the safeguarding multi-agency partnership.
If not possession of offensive weapons could be added to it, explained Ms Sambrook.
Councillors went on to agree the report.
The report showed that 76 ASB incidents by school children had been recorded during 2024/2024 with the highest number of 33 taking place during quarter three which cover October to the end of December.
Warning letters had been issued on 76 occasions, but no home visits or Police involvement is recorded.
The types of incidents include: nuisance behaviour and setting fires as part of a group, criminal damage, verbal abuse and inappropriate use of an electric scooter.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Times
38 minutes ago
- Times
Ignoring prison crisis won't make it go away
Of all the bin fires raging across government last summer that might have prompted Rishi Sunak to chuck it in and call an election, the problem of Britain's overflowing prisons was one of the fiercest. And now we learn just how fierce, thanks to a review that reveals jails repeatedly came within three days of being officially 'full' in the two years before the election, until ministers finally came to the rescue with a brilliant scheme simply to release criminals earlier. Labour ministers no doubt feel sore about it. It was they who ended up releasing offenders like Isaac Donkoh, a gang leader convicted of kidnapping and torturing a teenage boy; or Lawson Natty, convicted of manslaughter for killing a 14-year-old boy; or Jason Hoganson, released early in error and, within a day, back to assaulting his ex-partner. These were not the headlines with which a party in possession of a stunning victory wanted to launch its 'decade of renewal'. The government can now happily point to the review by Dame Anne Owers in arguing that the lucky breaks handed to Donkoh and co were at least a decade in the making, with more than a walk-on part for Tory cuts and the unfailingly cloddish machinations of one Chris Grayling, a name that shall serve for ever as a watchword for misbegotten numbskull-duggery. Dame Anne was the doyenne of the jailhouse under Blair, serving as chief prisons inspector from 2001 to 2010. And it's probably fair to say that the 'tough on crime' brigade would not share all her views. But her report reads as bland fact rather than polemic. Besides, she has been warning about a prison capacity crunch since the Blair days. The Tories trumpeted her first warning in early 2007, when David Cameron accused the then-government of having 'stuck its head in the sand'. They don't make sandpits deep enough for the Tory justice ministers and Treasury officials since then who have pretended to believe the prison population is not going to keep growing despite repeatedly adopting policies that fuel population growth and tougher sentencing. The result, as described by Dame Anne, is 'a cycle of prison capacity crises'. While the prison population rose most sharply under Labour, from 66,300 in 2001 to 85,002 in 2010, it has kept rising since, to 87,726 last year. Whereas there used to be more women, children and young men in jail, and more men serving short sentences, the past decade has seen fewer women and many fewer children locked up, with more capacity filled by older men serving longer sentences. The exception is the backlog of people sitting in jail while waiting for a court date, which now accounts for a fifth of prisoners, compared to a seventh in 2015. Despite promises to be tough on crime, the 2010 coalition found it convenient to adopt projections saying that more prison space wouldn't be needed. The Treasury had no intention of releasing cash to build prisons — and indeed, was keen to save money by selling them off and laying off experienced prison officers. First Ken Clarke and then Grayling both appear to have connived in the delusion, so that by 2017, the system was running with fewer than 1,000 free places. Under the radar, more criminals were tagged or detained at home under curfew rather than being jailed. For a short time, things stabilised, though another crunch was coming when Covid hit. Afterwards, with Boris Johnson's thousands of extra police officers on the beat and the courts jammed up, things started to spiral. Day-to-day work at the Ministry of Justice was taken over by all sorts of special committees and meetings, in which frazzled officials crunched the numbers to work out exactly how Donald Ducked the whole system was and then, having found it was indeed just days from catastrophe, sounding the alarm. In these emergency phases, officials, police and prison officers would kick off the first of several rounds of a sliding puzzle game at 5.30am each day, shunting prisoners frantically between police cells, crowded jails and court rooms, a task in which, as the review puts it, 'the marker of success was 'whether everyone got a bed last night''. The costs were wild: filling a proper prison cell costs the Treasury £150 a night, whereas a police cell costs £688, with the result that the government has spent £70 million and counting on not having enough jail space. The usual congratulations are due to the Treasury for its characteristic forethought in generating such staggeringly expensive savings. Obviously, something had to give, and that something was the enforcement of judge-given sentences. There were two chaotic early release schemes, the first at the end of the Tory government and the second at the start of Labour's. Already stretched probation officers scrambled to assess who could be released and when, under various overlapping criteria, sometimes at a few hours' notice — followed by a dash to arrange the services meant to help stop an ex-convict falling instantly back into a life of crime, like addiction treatment or temporary accommodation. Similar stress in the probation service means monitoring all this properly is basically impossible. Even if you are among those who believe in locking up fewer people, it is clear that a country with a growing population and decades of overcrowded jails needs more prisons. Less crowded jails are safer, better able to police violence and drugs and more likely to rehabilitate at least some of the population. So why haven't we been building them? It's a different face to the same old problem: we can't build anything. It has always been a bit more expensive to house people in prisons than houses, but the cost gap is now absurd. Per person housed, it costs about six times more to build a jail than it would to build them each a one-bedroom flat. There are environmental regulation, shortages of building materials and workers and so on, but even where big capital spending has been earmarked for prisons, it doesn't get spent because of a 'major block', as Dame Anne calls it, within the government's own control: planning. Even with prisons full and dangerous criminals being released prematurely to cope, it is still taking prison projects at least two years to get planning permission. Usually, it takes longer. Three major projects first proposed in 2020 only made it through the process with the help of central government rulings four years later. It does not take a statistician to see that at this rate, more offenders will go free earlier and earlier before anything changes. A few weeks ago, the Tories were out promising a 'zero-tolerance' approach to petty crime. Unfortunately for them, the country has zero tolerance for this dipstickery. There are neither enough prisons, nor probation officers nor court hours to punish all the people they want to put away. 'Tough on crime' requires building on time, and they didn't.
The Guardian
3 hours ago
- The Guardian
Labour accused of using Jimmy Savile's name to ‘bait' Nigel Farage
Labour's use of Jimmy Savile's 'toxic' name appeared to be an attempt to 'deliberately bait' Nigel Farage and would distress survivors of child sexual abuse, a lawyer for victims of the late TV presenter has said. Alan Collins, the head of the abuse team at Hugh James solicitors, said it was 'concerning' to see Jess Phillips, the safeguarding minister, and others use Savile's name to try to 'score points over political opponents'. Labour has accused Farage and Reform UK of being 'on the side of predators like Savile' by opposing the Online Safety Act. Peter Kyle, the technology secretary, was the first minister to make the comparison when he told Sky News last week: 'I see that Nigel Farage is already saying that he's going to overturn these laws. So you know, we have people out there who are extreme pornographers, peddling hate, peddling violence. Nigel Farage is on their side. 'Make no mistake about it, if people like Jimmy Savile were alive today, he'd be perpetrating his crimes online. And Nigel Farage is saying that he's on their side.' Kyle defended the remark, which was criticised as 'one of the most disgusting things a politician had ever said' by Reform's chair, Zia Yusuf. Phillips, who has spent years supporting abuse survivors, later said she would like to speak to Farage about 'one of those modern-day Saviles', referring to Alexander McCartney, who abused at least 70 children online, and 'just needed a computer', she said. Heidi Alexander, the transport secretary, also refused to distance the party from the Savile comparison, telling Sky News that Farage was 'in effect saying that he is on their side because he's saying he's wanting to repeal the Online Safety Act'. However, Collins said the comparison would have 'triggered' distress and trauma among any survivors of child sexual abuse, not just those who came into contact with the late Jim'll Fix It host. 'Lots of victims who were abused in whatever circumstances, often when they are seen by a psychiatrist or a therapist, they will mention the name Savile, even though they weren't his victim, they get triggered by it,' he said. 'So when it comes up on TV or radio it's a common refrain that they get triggered by it.' Collins said Labour's use of the name 'demonstrates the lack of understanding' of its effect on survivors. He added: 'One doesn't want to think along these lines but one could think it was an attempt to deliberate bait [Farage], so to speak. Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion 'His name is so toxic I struggle to understand why the government would throw his name out there. It's really concerning. There is nothing constructive in it,' he added. Collins said he was not seeking an apology from Labour but would urge Phillips and Kyle to stop reprising Savile's name: 'They should stop using it and concentrate on the day job which is safeguarding vulnerable people and kids.' Hundreds of people targeted by Savile came forward after his death in 2011, forcing a reckoning for the BBC and other institutions that had lauded one of Britain's most famous light entertainment figures despite repeat concerns about his conduct. Richard Scorer, another solicitor who represented Savile's victims, said it was 'completely wrong for any politician of any party to seek to score points using the suffering of Savile victims'.
The Independent
9 hours ago
- The Independent
Quarter of Britons say summer rioters were treated unfairly as Labour vows fresh crackdown
A quarter of people believe rioters involved in last summer's violent clashes were treated unfairly by the legal system, after 1,876 people were arrested. Violent scenes spread across the UK in the wake of the Southport stabbings, which saw three young girls killed at a Taylor Swift-themed dance class. Disinformation regarding the suspect and his immigration status caused widespread riots, which led to 1,110 people being charged with violent disorder offences. A new YouGov poll of nearly 5,000 people found that 12 per cent believed the rioters had been treated 'completely unfairly', while 14 per cent said they had been treated 'somewhat unfairly'. Six in 10 of Labour voters believed they had been treated fairly, after the disturbances saw mosques and hotels housing asylum seekers targeted by large mobs. In comparison, 70 per cent of supporters for Nigel Farage 's party Reform UK believed the legal system had been unfair to perpetrators, which saw some rioters receive nine-year prison sentences. Dozens of suspected protesters are still wanted by police, with a national appeal launched to identify people for offences including throwing bricks and seriously assaulting people. It comes after a series of protests in recent weeks outside a hotel in Epping, Essex, where migrants are housed, after an Ethiopian asylum-seeker was charged with allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl. Additional protests have spread to Bournemouth, Edinburgh, Manchester and Norfolk, but so far, wider unrest has been avoided. In London, demonstrations have taken place outside the Britannia Hotel in Canary Wharf and the Thistle City Barbican Hotel in Islington, which are also reportedly housing asylum seekers. On Sunday, flares were set off and a group of people attempted to break into Britannia by breaching the fences and 'harassing occupants and staff'. Further protests have been planned for later this week, including eight demonstrations outside hotels on Friday evening as part of an 'Abolish Asylum Day'. Sir Keir Starmer's government has indicated it is not willing to tolerate a repeat of 2024's riots, with a government spokesperson stating that contingency plans had been 'strengthened since last year's shameful scenes'. Tensions have been further heightened after Mr Farage and Warwickshire County Council leader George Finch claimed there had been a 'cover-up' after police charged two men, who are Afghan asylum seekers, with the alleged rape of a 12-year-old girl. In a letter to the home secretary and Warwickshire Police's chief constable, Mr Finch claimed that not publicising the pair's immigration status 'risks public disorder breaking out on the streets of Warwickshire'. The issue of how much information is revealed by police regarding suspects has been the subject of fierce debate following a string of high-profile cases, including the Southport killings last year. On Tuesday, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said 'we do think more transparency is needed' in the information given by police and that 'guidance needs to change'. Meanwhile, Conservative shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick has warned that 'the public's patience with the asylum hotels and with the whole issue of illegal migration has snapped', after small boat crossings topped 25,000 for the year so far, a record for this point in the year. Detentions are set to begin by the end of the week as part of Sir Keir 's 'one in, one out' deal to return Channel migrants to France. The deal, which has now been approved by the European Commission, means the UK will be able to send people crossing the Channel in small boats back to France in exchange for asylum seekers with ties to Britain. It also means that anyone arriving in a small boat can be detained immediately, and space has been set aside at immigration removal centres in the expectation that detentions will begin within days. The prime minister said the ratification of the treaty will 'send a clear message – if you come here illegally on a small boat you will face being sent back to France'.
