New Petitions

Petition PE750, in the name of Paul McKenzie, calls on the Parliament to urge the Executive to address antisocial behaviour by introducing a number of measures, including establishing a separate police force to deal solely with such issues, forming a support group for victims and introducing mandatory neighbourhood watch schemes. Before being formally lodged, the petition was hosted on the e-petition site between 18 February and 1 June 2004. The petition gathered 241 signatures online and it stimulated 64 comments via the discussion forum.The petitioner also proposes that there should be undercover antisocial behaviour officers, professional witnesses and more closed-circuit television. However, the Executive has provided funding to local authorities to extend community warden schemes, has set up specialist antisocial behaviour teams to which police officers have been seconded and has established separate schemes to support victims of antisocial behaviour. It has also invested £12.3 million in bringing online more than 2,000 CCTV cameras throughout Scotland.The petitioner suggests that the Executive should also create a database of all telephone calls to the police and that anonymity should stop being afforded to those who cause antisocial behaviour. However, forthcoming guidance on the local strategies that will be required under the Antisocial Behaviour etc (Scotland) Bill will emphasise the importance of recording telephone calls on antisocial behaviour. The bill will also create a presumption that the identity of a person who is the subject of an antisocial behaviour order can be made public.In addition, the petitioner seeks legislation to prevent people who cause antisocial behaviour from living in dense pockets in neighbourhoods. The Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 and the Homelessness etc (Scotland) Act 2003 make provisions to ensure that families who perpetrate antisocial behaviour are given housing support services to enable them to sustain tenancies.Do members have any views?

Do members accept that?Members indicated agreement.