Community safety teams to housing officers in 130 councils are being encouraged to make greater use of anti social behaviour powers and new measures are being introduced to support residents and community activists.

A key aim is to brief local residents on their rights when they suffer from nightmare neighbours, aggressive gangs or mindless vandals. It is planned to hold leaflet campaigns and regional events and to provide information for local media to get this message across. There will also be additional training to help residents and community champions challenge police and councils and shape the approach to tackling anti-social behaviour.

In a move to spur more action there will be extra funding for local work to tackle anti-social behaviour such as environmental clean up campaigns, supporting community led projects to engage young people and creating more attractive public spaces.

There will also be help for people living in social housing including support for tenants to challenge landlords, councils and the police where they are failing or not acting quickly enough. Social landlords will be given new guidance on how to use their powers effectively and a revised Respect Standard is being launched, which will be binding on social landlords for the first time.