Special Edition – UK Civil Unrest Support

Much of the focus from Government has been on the criminal sanctions available to deal with those involved in this violence, both on our streets and through incitement online. There is also an important role for civil powers, which partnr Janine reflects on here:

Back in 2011, I was managing a Local Authority ASB team. During the Summer, we saw the death of Mark Duggan and the resulting riots. I remember my team feeling huge fear, sadness, and a desperate want to do something to help manage the violence and support communities affected. 

There was a push from the Government to utilise tenancy powers against anyone involved in the riots who lived in social housing. I recall partnership meetings with the Police, reviewing long lists of names and addresses of those identified at the scene of the disorder. What became immediately clear was that most people were travelling into neighbouring towns to inflict damage, meaning little was occurring within the “locality” of their dwelling house. 

It’s important to say that there was an equal, if not higher, number of people involved who lived in private rented or owner-occupied accommodation. 

In 2014, Government took the opportunity, through the ASB, Crime and Policing Act 2014, to amend the discretionary ground for possession which relates to ASB (Ground 14 for Assured tenancies and Ground 2 for Secure). s99 of the Act widens the ground to specifically cover rioting behaviour, removing the geographical restriction of behaviour having to be in the locality. 

As much focus was on the introduction of the absolute ground for ASB, this amendment passed through with little fanfare and it may be that we are not all familiar with it. 

There are a few points to note:

• It applies to the tenant and/or adult household members (18+). The ground wouldn’t be met if it was a household member under 18 or a visitor who was involved. 
• There must be a criminal conviction 
• The offence must be an indictable offence, which does not include an offence that is triable only summarily by virtue of section 22 of the Magistrates’ Courts Act 1980 
• The offence must have been committed during and at the scene of a riot 
• Riot is defined as per s1 of the Public Order Act 1986
• The offence can occur anywhere in the United Kingdom 
• The legislation only applies in England 
• It is a discretionary ground, and the Court would still need to deem it proportionate to order possession

What about if the behaviour occurs within the locality of the property?

If a tenant, household member or visitor is involved in disorder within the locality of the property then there are a couple of options, depending on the circumstances:

1. If the person is convicted of a criminal offence that is listed as a relevant offence within  Schedule 3 of the ASB, Crime and Policing Act 2014 (which includes public order offences like rioting, disorder and affray, offences against property and racially aggravated offences) then the absolute ground for possession could apply. 
2. If there is no conviction, but it can be shown that the person’s involvement was capable of causing nuisance or annoyance, the discretionary ground for ASB could be relied upon. 

Powerful tools that could act as a strong deterrence from engaging in further acts and showing communities that violence will not be tolerated. 

Of course, many of those involved will not be social housing tenants – tools like the Injunction and Community Protection Notices will also be important considerations, particularly where the criminal threshold is difficult to meet. 

When delivering training on the ASB, Crime and Policing Act in 2014, I recall almost scoffing at s99, believing it to be a knee-jerk political response and something that I truly (and perhaps naively) thought would never be necessary. We are deeply saddened that this is not to be the case.