New £10m funding for ASB - Ministerial Announcement 20th November 2009

Ministers John Denham and Alan Johnston have outlined major training plans to combat ASB.  Are you in one of the 130 areas set to receive this extra funding in the fight against anti-social behaviour?

Explicit is that part of the funding is to be used for extra training for multi-agency teams dealing with the problem of anti social behaviour. The Secretary of State said the cash was going to the areas where local agencies have identified tackling anti-social behaviour as a priority.

John Denham said:
"We want to ensure front-line staff know what to do in tackling anti-social behaviour"
"There is a need to keep peoples skills and knowledge up-to-date"

To support this Government funding initiative the National BTEC Neighbourhood Nuisance and Anti Social Case Working Programme has negotiated a bursary scheme from the Neighbourhood Justice Foundation of a £215.00 discount for every student from organisations within the 130 areas enrolling on the winter term running from January to March 2010 in universities throughout the UK.

The National Programme, only launched this year, has already attracted over 660 students from over 220 organisations dealing with ASB in communities and has created a vibrant professional body of ASB case working student and qualified practitioners.

The programme teaches proper use of all ASB interventions and the full range of ASB tools and powers from a sound investigative, evidential and victim care perspective under both civil and criminal procedure rules. It is also the only National BTEC accredited set of qualifications for ASB case workers.

As a direct result of feedback from the student body we have added foundation level skills based practical qualification events in taking statements, cognitive interviewing and tools and powers. These will be added to during 2010 to include practical evidence giving in court and evidence gathering. A strong feature of these is that they are competitively priced and will be delivered as one day tutorial based events.

Bob Kennett, the Academic Director of the National BTEC Programme said.
"This excellent and much needed funding is particularly helpful to housing organisations as increasingly they are required to take on more work and far more complex cases. It is always about the quality of case working which we believe is best achieved through specialised accredited education and qualifications. To support these ideals and to make the funding go further for students in the designated areas we have negotiated a £215.00 bursary discount from the Neighbourhood Justice Foundation for winter term students"

He also added
"However my main concern is that not all ASB practitioners, particularly from housing providers, are "wired" into local CDRPs in these areas and may miss out on challenging for or receiving this funding for these qualifications. So I would urge any ASB practitioners in any of these areas to contact us if they are in this position so that we can extend this bursary scheme to them as well"

Statement from the Trustees of the Neighbourhood Justice Foundation
The primary aim of the Neighbourhood Justice Foundation is to professionalise Anti Social Behaviour (ASB) and Restorative Justice (RJ) Case Workers through programmes of education which lead to UK recognised qualifications.

This college approach will have a key role in driving learning and best practice in ASB & RJ work and will provide a strong voice which speaks to the media and government about the needs of the profession.

This approach will also mean greater partnership between employers and educators for the improvement of ASB/RJ work education and CPD to allow individuals clearer career and progression structures internally and between agencies.

Importantly this approach provides a much more sophisticated understanding of supply and demand for public and private authorities looking after ASB/RJ issues in communities, which in turn will assist these professionals in securing the resources that ASB/RJ workers need to be effective.

Our secondary aim is to find, obtain and disperse bursary funding and discounts for the emerging professional body to achieve recognised and consistent qualifications. We have already obtained funding from the Women and Work Skills for Justice Fund for students so we are pleased to support the profession now with this latest release of government monies.

So even if you are not in the designated areas we would urge you to engage with the providers of the qualifications to see if there are ways of finding bursaries for your students.

From the National ASB BTEC Team
You may have already been contacted by our marketing partners the Red Snapper Group but if you have not do not delay in finding out more about the opportunities to make your own budgets or this specific funding go further.

To find out more please call 0845 299 7144 or visit www.safetynetassociates.co.uk