Policy paper

Anti-social behaviour hotspot response programme

Updated 21 March 2024

This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government

Applies to England and Wales

© Crown copyright 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/anti-social-behaviour-action-plan/anti-social-behaviour-hotspot-response-programme

About the programme

Anti-social behaviour hotspot response

In March 2023, the government launched its Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) action plan to crack down on anti-social behaviour, aimed at restoring people’s confidence that this behaviour will be quickly and visibly punished.

This includes funding an increased police and other uniformed presence to clamp down on anti-social behaviour, targeting hotspots. Initially, we are working with 10 police force areas who started their patrols in July 2023.

For 2024/25, we are combining funding streams for ASB Hotspot Response and Grip serious violence hotspot policing, given the significant overlap between the hotspots. This will see thousands of hours each month of additional patrols taking place in places blighted by anti-social behaviour and serious violence.

Programme locations

10 PCCs across England and Wales were selected to pilot Hotspot Response from July 2023. These were:

  • Cleveland

  • Durham

  • Derbyshire

  • Northumbria

  • South Wales

  • Essex

  • Lancashire

  • South Yorkshire

  • West Midlands

  • Staffordshire

Data update

Anti-social behaviour hotspot response

Data received from pilot forces for July until the end of January showed that over 100,000 additional hours of ASB-focused patrols were delivered in pilot areas across England and Wales.[footnote 1] This has led to an increase in enforcement activity including nearly 800 arrests, close to 2,000 stop and searches and nearly 1,000 uses of anti-social behaviour tools and powers.

We anticipate pilots from the ASB Hotspot Response programme will deliver up to 150,000 hours of additional individual police and partner patrols by 31 March 2024.

We anticipate, based on initial estimates, that the merged Hotspot Response fund will deliver between 600,000 and 900,000 hours by 31 March 2025.

  1. This figure is the number of hours police and partners spent patrolling at hotspots, counting each person separately. Number may be subject to change if further data or clarifications are received from PCCs ↩

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