The way that landlords are being asked to keep communities safe and the tools available to them is changing. Hear directly from the Housing Ombudsman, legal experts and practitioners on what you should be doing.

• The government’s ASB Action Plan is starting to hit our streets, with 16 areas across England and Wales now piloting a new ‘hot spot’ approach in neighbourhoods with notoriously high levels of ASB
• ‘Immediate justice’ schemes mean there are new powers to bring perpetrators to justice within days of a crime being committed
• The Community Trigger, which was designed to give repeat victims of ASB a stronger voice to force an intervention, is also set to be relaunched as the ASB Case Review – meaning tenants will have a much clearer understanding of when and how their landlord should act

This all comes as the Regulator of Social Housing sets out proposed changes to the Neighbourhood and Community Standard, which will place more emphasis on partnership working with police and local authorities, and landlords begin to publish data around ASB cases and tenants’ perception of how cases are handled as part of the Tenant Satisfaction Measures.

This event will:

• Provide practical insight into what all these changes will mean for  service delivery
• Set out best practice and learning from those operating in pilot areas.

We will hear from expert speakers on issues including:

• Legislative changes and new powers available to our teams
• Balancing prevention with enforcement
• Community engagement
• Insight into the effectiveness of new ASB hot-spot areas
• ASB complaints handling.

This event is essential for anyone working in ASB:

• ASB officers and managers
• Neighbourhood managers
• Other customer facing staff dealing with ASB
• Policy and strategy teams
• Customer insight teams.

10.30 Welcome and introductions from the Chair

• • Adam Frame, ASB Manager, L&Q Group

10.40 The Housing Ombudsman on improving ASB complaint handling

• • Cathryn Vallender, Dispute Resolution Manager, Housing Ombudsman Service

  • Samantha Vernon, Dispute Resolution Manager, Housing Ombudsman Service

11.10 One Vision Housing on preventing ASB

• • Kyle Lane, Assistant Neighbourhood Services Manager, One Vision Housing

  • Steven Aston, Community Safety Team Leader, One Vision Housing

11.40 New tools and powers available to landlords through the ASB Action Plan and the Renters Reform Bill

• • Donna McCarthy, Partner and Head of Housing Management and Property Litigation, Devonshires

12.10 Q & A and reflections on the morning sessions

12.30 Lunch

13.10 Policing hot-spot areas and collaborative work with landlords

• • Leighton Hammett, Chief Superintendent – Crime Prevention and Partnerships Lead, Essex Police

13.40 Overview of the PAC service model

• • Emily Hawkins, VAWG Officer, London Borough of Lambeth

14.10 Closing remarks from the Chair

• • Adam Frame, ASB Manager, L&Q Group

14.20 Close 

Donna McCarthy, Partner and Head of Housing Management and Property Litigation, Devonshires

Donna heads up a team at Devonshires Solicitors advising on all aspects of housing management law and practice, acting for Local Authorities, Registered Providers and private landlords in complex litigation, including possession proceedings; actions to restrain Anti-Social Behaviour; injunctions and disrepair actions.

Donna started her legal career in the in house legal team at the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, combining part time studies with a mixed litigation practice including housing law. She qualified as a Chartered Legal Executive in 1994.

Between 1994 and 1999 she worked as a specialist housing litigator, predominantly advising and representing tenants with particular specialism in representing those with mental capacity issues, regularly taking instructions from the Official Solicitor.

Donna’s expertise in complex dispute resolution, both in and out of court, sits alongside her extensive experience in advising on non-contentious policy and procedure in addition to regulatory matters.

She has particular specialism advising on mental health, safeguarding and capacity issues both is respect of litigated matters as well as from a regulatory perspective where she advises on health and social care aspects including enforcement action and dealing with adverse incidents. She also advises on issues arising from care contracts and service level agreements, including dispute resolution.

Donna regularly contributes and writes articles, including contributing to Devonshires Housing Management Brief, as well as articles on upcoming legislative changes and sector updates and is Devonshires most prolific trainer, regularly presenting seminars, workshops and webinars and is responsible for co-ordinating the Housing Management training programme..

In her spare time Donna volunteers at Inspiring the Future, presenting in schools and college on legal career options.

Leighton Hammett, Chief Superintendent – Crime Prevention and Partnerships Lead, Essex Police

Leighton has been a police officer for twenty years, working mainly as a senior detective targeting Organised Crime. For the past 14 months he has been working in a senior partnerships role looking at how the community safety network can as a system prevent Crime and ASB.

He is leading the Essex Police ASB Hotspot Pilot, commissioned by the Home Office and has also previously led the Hotspot approach to tackling serious violence

He is passionate about working together, sharing data in order to have a rich picture of the problems and community need. This then allows problem solving from an informed position, leading to sustained positive change.

Leighton is married with two young boys, outside of work he enjoys volunteering at his local football club and playing golf (badly).

Cathryn Vallender, Dispute Resolution Manager, Housing Ombudsman Service

Cathryn has worked within the social housing sector for over 15 years, leading on and delivering operational housing services including ASB and community safety for registered providers. As well as providing social housing litigation for a number of providers across the South West of England, primarily focusing on ASB injunctions, possession and housing disrepair claims.

In November 2022 she joined the Housing Ombudsman Service. This role allows for the overview of the Scheme in its investigation and assessment of housing complaints, seeking to drive service standards, best practice and wider learning for members through casework.

Kyle Lane, Assistant Neighbourhood Services Manager, One Vision Housing

With a commitment to creating opportunities and changing lives, One Vision Housing is a provider of over 13.6k homes across the North West. Their Community Safety Team is dedicated to forging a better future for communities and has been praised for its approach to community safety.

The driving force behind the housing association’s approach is Kyle Lane, Assistant Neighbourhood Services Manager, who has worked in housing for over 14 years.

Kyle has a real passion for bringing innovative ideas to life and championing community and tenant engagement to improve service delivery.

Emily Hawkins, VAWG Officer, London Borough of Lambeth

Em has several years’ experience working in frontline DA/VAWG services. Em is a qualified IDVA, specialising in working with women in contact with the criminal justice system & problematic substance use. This means that Em has had experience working with women who are at risk of homelessness due to ASB, as well as women who have had accommodation instability due to VAWG. Em leads the work associated with the safe accommodation framework for MOPAC and supports internal colleagues with VAWG and homelessness, such as DAHA. Em is also an experienced VAWG trainer and group programme facilitator.

Sam Vernon, Dispute Resolution Manager, Housing Ombudsman Service

Sam has 20 years’ experience working in the social housing sector. She spent a number of years delivering ASB services for a large landlord in the Northeast, as well as managing housing operational teams. She also has experienced working with residents and partner agencies in developing community resilience in neighbourhoods.

Sam joined the Housing Ombudsman Service in November 2022 as Dispute Resolution Manager. The role sits within the Dispute Resolution function which is responsible for conducting fair, impartial and independent investigations into complaints

Adam Frame, ASB Manager, L&Q Group

Steven Aston, Community Safety Team Leader, One Vision Housing

If you are unable to attend an event or public training course, please let us know in writing (email is fine) at least 48 hours before. Please email [email protected]

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