By Annabal Bagdi
The UK’s first county-wide crime busting initiative tackling anti-social behaviour on housing estates was launched in Greater Manchester this week.
Pledging their support to the Crime Concordat, Greater Manchester Police and social housing landlords across the region joined together in a bid to combat crime in communities.
Forging closer links between police officers and landlords, the ground-breaking partnership will see information shared on problem residents.
Greater Manchester Police Assistant Chief Constable Gary Shewan said: “This agreement lays the foundation for a stronger working relationship between the police and social housing sector across Greater Manchester.
“It will mean that the resources, energy and talent within the partnership can be used effectively to help reduce crime and antisocial behaviour within our communities, protect vulnerable people and provide greater support for victims of crime.”
Architects of the agreement, Trafford Housing Trust and Wigan and Leigh Housing, drew on personal experiences with unruly residents to coordinate the initiative.
Neil Turner, chair of the Wigan and Leigh Housing Board, said: “We really are leading the way with this agreement and we believe it can become the national template for other areas of the country to learn from and adopt.”
Trafford Housing Trust’s assistant director Mike Corfield added: “It’s fantastic that the excellent work we have undertaken in Trafford to help combat crime and create safer neighbourhoods has inspired other social landlords and police across the whole of Greater Manchester to adopt this new policy of closer working.”
Social housing chiefs from all ten boroughs will now adopt the innovative scheme to confront issues facing their total half a million tenants within the region.
Taking an integrated approach to community trouble-makers, landlords will work with police teams to develop plans for each locality to better protect residents.
Signing the agreement on behalf of the county’s social housing CEOs, Bolton at Home’s chief executive Jon Lord said: “Working closely with the police is not something new to the social housing sector.
“Across Greater Manchester there are fantastic examples of this partnership approach that have helped to deliver real and lasting improvement for many communities.”
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