Innovative scheme launched to support witnesses

New Progress Housing Association now offers a personalised witness support service, which is thought to be one of the first of its kind in the country. The service, which is offered 24 hours a day, seven days a week, is tailored to the individual needs of each witness to provide them with the required level of support. It aims to encourage more people to report incidents of anti-social behaviour and to give them greater confidence to speak out against perpetrators.

Every witness is assigned a dedicated case officer, who will assist them every step of the way; from the initial report to accompanying the witness to court, if legal action is required. Case officers maintain regular contact with the witness to ensure that they and their families are given the necessary support.. The team has a wide range of tools they can use to ensure that witnesses can live without fear. These include installing free panic buttons in witnesses’ homes, evening and weekend visits, and offering respite in local hotels for those suffering from noise nuisance.

Along with the witness support service New Progress has also developed a number of innovative strategies to tackle anti-social behaviour, and was one of the first social landlords to achieve the government’s Respect Standard accreditation. Recent initiatives include training the local police force on the legal tools available to help them tackle anti-social behaviour, the use of investigators and covert CCTV to gather evidence of violence, drug dealing and harassment, and the introduction of self-representation in court, which has saved the organisation over £150,000 to date without compromising on the high success rate of cases.

New Progress provides the support to all residents living in the communities where it owns homes; regardless of whether they own or rent their home.