Victim Support Scotland response to report from Antisocial Behaviour Independent Working Group

25 February 2025 – Victim Support Scotland (VSS) welcomes the recommendations and actions of the Report from the Independent Working Group on Antisocial Behaviour. 

VSS Chief Executive, Kate Wallace, was a member of the Working Group. Importantly, recommendations focus on a long-term approach to prevention, with the intention of reducing the number of victims and the harm to victims, and to counter the lack of effective support.

With regards to impact on victims, the Group found that:

There were key differences between antisocial behaviour that occurred in public spaces and that which occurred within the home or immediate vicinity.

• No single age grouping carried out antisocial behaviour more than any other. This is not simply a young person’s issue.
• There is a high correlation between antisocial behaviour and other types of crime, for example, hate crime. Disability hate crime was one of the most commonly seen linked crimes with people targeted because they had a disability or long-term health condition
• Escalations into violence, threatening and intimidating behaviour and other serious issues were reported as commonplace.

The harm caused by antisocial behaviour was, at times, very high and long-term. Victims reported significant impacts on their mental health, physical health, financial situation, ability to retain employment and relationships with others. Most of the victims who came forward to share their experiences had been enduring the behaviour for many years without adequate support.

Additionally, victims across the board reported the lack of an effective response to reports of antisocial behaviour as well the impact of the harm being trivialised.

Kate Wallace, Chief Executive of Victim Support Scotland, commented:

“The Working Group listened carefully and extensively to views from a range of stakeholders including victims, and have reflected their findings in the report.

“Funding to tackle antisocial behaviour has seen dramatic decreases over a sustained period of time. We acknowledge budgetary challenges, but the consequence of this is significant issues with antisocial behaviour within communities across Scotland. We know the impact of what can be perceived as a minor crime has a significant impact on victims. We welcome the implementation of these recommendations to prevent antisocial behaviour from occurring in the first place and improve legislation to more effectively tackle this type of crime.”