Summary
The Department for Communities is consulting on a draft Equality Impact Assessment in respect of housing-related Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) proposals, specifically injunctions against ASB and Absolute Grounds for Possession.
Documents
Consultation description
The Department was represented on a multi-agency, cross-departmental (ASB) Legislation Review Delivery Group to consider and identify proposed legislative measures which could deliver positive outcomes in addressing ASB in Northern Ireland.
Housing officials identified two topics for potential amendments, similar to powers currently in use in England and Wales: injunctions against ASB and Absolute Grounds for Possession:
Injunctions against ASB
- lowering the threshold for granting injunctions to only require evidence of conduct which is capable of causing nuisance or annoyance
- the inclusion of a power of arrest without warrant where an injunction against anti-social behaviour has been breached and the court believes there is use or threatened use of violence or significant risk of harm to others.
- the power to exclude over 18s from residential premises to be available if the court believes there is use or threatened use of violence or significant risk of harm to others
- the addition of Positive Requirements to injunctions to help individuals to deal with the underlying causes of their behaviour
Absolute Grounds for Possession for secure tenancies
- it is proposed to enable the courts to make an order for possession where certain tests are met, which provide clear evidence that ASB has already been proven to the satisfaction of another court.
The proposals would make the statutory powers available to landlords more effective, more timely and more enforceable when other measures to address the unacceptable behaviour have been exhausted.
Anti-Social Behaviour Consultation
The proposals outlined above were included in a joint public consultation with the Department of Justice which ran from 28 November 2023 until 04 March 2024. An extension was provided until 05 April 2024 for a small number of organisations.
Equality Impact Assessment
As part of the analysis process from the ASB consultation, a small number of concerns were raised in respect of the impact of the proposals on Section 75 categories. In response to this, Housing officials have conducted a full EQIA.
Please note
The Department would like to advise that responses will continue to be accepted in relation to the Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA) only, until 3 February 2025.
In particular we would welcome any comments to the following questions:
- are there any data, needs or issues in relation to any of the Section 75 equality categories?
- are there any other adverse impacts that have not been identified in the EQIA?
- are there any actions that could be taken to reduce or eliminate any adverse impacts in the proposals?