Antisocial behaviour in West Dunbartonshire is on the up while funding to deal with complaints is reducing, according to a councillor.
Dumbarton Labour member David McBride says there could be over 1000 cases by the end of the year, causing misery for residents.
He is calling on the SNP administration to sort out the problem with the issue set to be discussed at a meeting of West Dunbartonshire Council on Wednesday. He states, in 2017/18 the antisocial behaviour budget was £719,000 and there were 312 cases during that year.
However by 2020/21 the budget reduced to £398,000 and the number of antisocial behaviour cases had increased to 978.
Councillor McBride said: “The number of antisocial behaviour cases was 511 at the start of September which is only five months into the financial year so we are well on track to hit over 1000 cases.
“However, because of Covid and the issues trying to contact the council, it’s possible that we may be under-reporting the number of cases. If this is the case then we might see a spike in cases over the next seven months, so councillors need to be sure that we have the capacity to respond to the workload and variety of antisocial behaviour issues that our residents are subjected to.”
Last week, we reported how almost 20,000 calls to the local authority throughout 2020 had been unresolved and the figure for this year, up until the end of August, was 7411.
The council’s Anti-Social Investigation and Support Team (ASIST) deal with complaints of serious antisocial conduct across the West Dunbartonshire area and, where necessary, raises legal proceedings for ASBOs and evictions.
The councillor went on: “Local residents should be able to feel safe in their own home and shouldn’t be subjected to excessive loud music, youth disorder, threatening behaviour and so on. If they are then they should report it so that the council and others can provide assistance to resolve the matter.”
He has tabled a motion to the meeting which he hopes will be supported by all members and asks for concern over the high number of cases and cut to spending to be noted.
The councillor is calling on West Dunbartonshire Council chief executive Joyce White to bring forward a report to a future council meeting setting out the details of the antisocial behaviour service including staffing levels, casework and operational arrangements across the area.
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