ࡱ> fhe`  ,bjbjss 1<Y#:y666 @ LLL`8 (,`W,``"VVVVVVV$FXhZPVLVLLV777LLV7V77jSLLWVT peLjOT2VV0WURZZdWV"ZLyV hJ74<p?VV^W``` ``````LLLLLL  1.0 Introduction This report provides feedback on the Seminar: - Witness Support A Key to Successful Resolution, organised by the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland (CIH) in conjunction with the Scottish Executive, attended by Gavin Nichol and Thomas Hughes on behalf of Forgewood Community Council. 2.0 The Logistics 2.1 Venue/Date/Time 2.1.1 The Seminar took place in the Hilton Glasgow Grosvenor on, Thursday 18 September 2003. The event commenced at 9:15 and concluded at 16:30 approximately. 2.2 Cost The total cost of attending the course is currently estimated at 236 i.e. 118 per person. What remains of our Awards for All funding should cover the cost. The cost per person comprises the fee i.e. 95+VAT, plus the public transport travelling expenses incurred. 3.0 Keynote Speakers 3.1 Professor Tom Mullen, School of Law, University of Glasgow presented his paper titled Witness Support: The Key to Successful Resolution - The Legal Context( 3.2 Sheriff Lindsay Foulis General discussion 3.3 Bill Pitt, Manchester City Councils Head of Nuisance Strategy Group gave a talk on Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour* 3.4 Denise Taylor of The Leicester Witness Cocoon Project gave a talk on the work undertaken by her voluntary group. 4.0 Feedback 4.1 The morning session was given over to the Presentations of the guest speakers. A brief resume of each follows: - 4.1.1 The first of the invited guests to speak was Mary Mulligan, MSP, Deputy Minister for Communities. Mary gave a brief resume of the Scottish Executives consultation paper Putting our Communities First and explained how feedback from this process would ultimately result in the proposed Anti-Social Behaviour Bill being brought before the Scottish Parliament for debate and then made law, if so decided. Ms Mulligan made it clear that the Scottish Executive recognised that the proposed Bill if enacted was not a cure-all for anti-social behaviour in our areas. She went on to explain that the proposed Bill was only one part of a wider strategy that will see a range of initiatives being introduced by a number of agencies working in partnership to tackle this problem throughout Scotland. Mary called for witnesses to be supported when agreeing to give evidence against those accused of anti social nuisance behaviour. The MSP went on to say that there was a need to ensure that witnesses did not suffer and are supported and protected when they come forward to make a complaint. Every effort should be taken to limit any intimidation, reprisals and inferred/perceived fear of violence of those who come forward to testify in court. It is only when the perpetrators of anti-social behaviour get the message that their Community will not tolerate their misbehaviour and that a system is in place that punishes the guilty quickly and decisively that this problem can begin to be solved. The Deputy Minister went further and said that everyone in Scotland has the right to support and protection regardless of the areas they live in 4.1.2 Professor Tom Mullen, School of Law University of Glasgow was the first of the Keynote Speakers to address the audience. Professor Mullens presentation dealt with the Legal Context of the system and how best a witness could/should be protected/supported when giving evidence in the current court system. This presentation made light work of a very complex and technical subject and was of great assistance to us for this reason. 4.1.3 Sheriff Lindsay Foulis, a clearly talented and well-respected solicitor in his own right, gave a somewhat convoluted talk, which was well received by those with a detailed and/or professional knowledge of the Scottish Courts System. Unfortunately, the subjects covered by Sheriff Foulis were of a very technical and job specific nature and which, if we are honest, were of little use/relevance to us. 4.1.4 The written word is a wholly inadequate medium, by which, to convey the simple brilliance that was Bill Pitts Presentation. Suffice to say, we recommend that, should the opportunity present itself, our group go along to hear this man speak on this subject. Bill is a plain talking, charismatic, firebrand, type of guy. His honest presentation was underpinned by an irreverent attitude towards all that political correctness stands for, and was better for it. His no nonsense style and the stark message that he delivered gave those professionals in attendance much to ponder with regard their attitude to making use of ABCs and ASBOs. We do not use the term lightly for fear of diminishing the impact of it, but this guy is quite simple the best speaker you could wish to hear on this subject. So what was so great about his message? The answer is a simple one; according to Bill, Sink Estates need to be demolished. These welfare ghettos (some would argue like Forgewood) belong to yesterday and should be replaced by purpose built modern homes, designed for and suited to the needs of tomorrows tenants. The rules of expected standards of conduct need to be spelt out to the residents and breaches of these rules dealt with quickly and decisively. The punishment needs to be sufficiently harsh to be a deterrent to those whose behaviour would otherwise cause problems for their immediate neighbours and ultimately the wider Community. Landlords need to seen to be willing, ready and able to enforce order in their areas. A multi-agency approach is what is required to support the RSLs in this onerous task. The afternoon session was given over to workgroups. These consisted of talks given by a range of professional on relevant topics associated with the main theme of the day. Gavin and I attended the workshops Help for the Non Professional Witness: A Guide to What Goes on in Court taken by Jim Bauld, Associate, TC Young Solicitors and then a presentation by Victim Support Scotland entitled Witness Service A Brief History and experience from the courts taken by Allison McKenna and Annette Shaw. Conclusion This is the second in a series of four Seminars being organised by the CIH that deal with specific aspects of the issues and mechanisms being put in place to tackle/eradicate Anti-Social Behaviour in our Communities. You may recall that we were not fulsome in our praise of the previous event and indeed went so far as to question whether we should attend the future events. However, we are pleased to report that this latest Seminar was of great interest and use to us. It is clear form what we have heard thus far that the Scottish Executive is committed to tackling all aspects of anti-social behaviour in our Communities. It appears that on this occasion the rhetoric is being backed up by guidance and funding. However, this support, welcome as it is, is no guarantee of success. 5.3 Local Authorities/Landlords, working with the relevant agencies, must take the lead in the fight against Anti-Social Behaviour. The relevant public agencies and residents/community/voluntary groups must come together to deal with the problem in Partnership. Unfortunately this approach is simpler to spell out than it is to achieve, if recent experience is anything to go by. 5.4 Ultimately it will be up to Communities themselves to set the parameters of what constitutes acceptable standards of behaviour in their immediate vicinity. Peer Group Pressure must be used to deter would be NEDS from affecting the quality of lives of their neighbours. As Community Councillors our task is simple, to ensure that a system is in place that ensures that we are aware and kept informed of the extent of the problem in our area. We need to give much thought to how we do this. Assuming that we are successful in our attempt to set up such a system, we must ensure that the various agencies operating in our area do whatever is in their remit to tackle the problem in a co-ordinated and consistent manner. Recommendations We should continue to send delegates to the future CIH Seminars, which deal with this subject. Although future funding may present us with a problem, given that our Awards for All funding is almost spent. We further recommend that our group meet to discuss on a single-issue basis how best to engage with the Community on this issue. Our up coming team building event should provide us with an excellent platform for this. A key role for the Community Council will be to ensure the Scottish Executives rhetoric in this regard is matched by the efforts of those working at the coalface. To this end we recommend that we continue to work in partnership with the relevant agencies operating in our area to ensure that benchmarks for the standards of behaviour expected are defined and published throughout all tenures in Ward 3. To this end we should have this matter place on the Agenda of the FPMG as soon as is practicable to have placed on record the efforts being made by NLC and the RSLs to identify and tackle the troublemakers. 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