An integrated approach to reduce begging in · PDF fileEnforcement, assistance and communication An integrated approach to reduce begging in Westminster WES55411 Begging.qxd 25/10/04

Enforcement,assistance andcommunication

An integrated approachto reduce begging in Westminster

WES55411 Begging.qxd 25/10/04 9:12 am Page 1

Begging not only blights London’s landscape.Visitors to London cited aggressive begging as thenumber one reason that they would not return tothe capital.

The chaotic lifestyles of beggars are frequentlylinked to homelessness, drug addiction, petty crimeand street drinking. Begging is degrading for theindividual concerned and intimidates members ofthe public.

It is time to take a stance against begging. Asbegging trailblazers and in line with Westminster’sCivic Renewal Programme to regenerate the heartof London, this is exactly what the City Councilintends to do.

To effectively tackle the problem of begging inWestminster, a three stage approach has beenadopted. We will:• Employ an enforcement campaign to ensure

beggars are removed from the streets.

• Provide assistance to enable beggars to change their disordered lifestyle.

• Carry out a communications campaign to deterthe public from giving directly to beggars.

Effective partnership is key to the success of ourfight against begging. By engaging with theMetropolitan Police, Social Services, theEnvironment and Leisure Department andvoluntary organisations we will ensure that beggarsare removed from the streets, enforced against andgiven access to appropriate help or support.

By tackling begging, Westminster residents,businesses, tourists and those working in the City will all benefit. The message will be made loud and clear.

Begging in Westminster will notbe tolerated.

Begging in Westminster

Enforcement,assistance andcommunication

“Begging on the streets is a scar on the face ofcentral London… That's why, working with thepolice, we aim to prevent begging.”

Councillor Simon MiltonLeader of Westminster City Council Annual State of the City Speech, March 2004

Begging within Westminster is one of the City’s longest standing problems.Westminster’s location at the centre of London and the rapid expansion of thevibrant 24 hour economy means the number of beggars within the City isunparalleled within the UK.


1 We will audit and profile the people begging inWestminster to better inform our activity.

2 We will seek to reduce begging outside cash points andother sites in the city where members of the public aremost likely to be intimidated by beggars.

3 With Westminster Police, the Crown ProsecutionService and other agencies, we will seek to implementa robust legal intervention programme for all those whoare arrested more than twice and charged with beggingin the City.

4 We will continue to implement the ‘Killing with Kindness’campaign with the London Borough of Camden andother partners. We will also implement an alternativegiving programme in the City during 2004.

5 We will work with housing providers to introduceAcceptable Behaviour Contracts and Agreements andsupport access to appropriate treatment services thatwill address begging.

6 We will support the further development of theWestminster Criminal Justice Intervention Programme,in partnership with the Drug and Alcohol Action Team.This targets persistent drug using offenders and offerssupported pathways into treatment and out of crime.

1Killing with Kindness campaign evaluation report, Feb 2004. Not all of those

arrested were tested for drugs.

will not be tolerated

“I know that begging makes both visitors and residents feel afraid. My officers arecommitted to dealing with low level crimes and anti-social behaviour. It is throughtackling these crimes and arresting those responsible that we send a clear messageout – crime and anti-social behaviour is not tolerated in Westminster.”Commander Chris Allison, Head of Policing in Westminster

HOW

We will aim to tackle begging through:

• Enforcement

• Intervention

• Positive communication

• Partnership work

TARGETS

We will target beggars who operate at or from thefollowing places:

• Cash points

• Symbolic locations

• Hostels and property managed or owned by theWestminster Housing Partnership.

WESTMINSTER’S BEGGINGENFORCEMENT INITIATIVE

Begging is one of the most visible signs of a ‘streetculture’ problem and members of the public often findbegging intimidating. We therefore need to address theproblem of begging and its underlying causes.Research found that 77% of people arrested and testedfor drugs tested positive for Class A drugs1.

There are benefits for everyone in helping those whobeg because of drug use to access effective treatment.Not only does it help the drug addicts, but it also assiststhe local community and those intimidated by begging.

To tackle begging we will develop initiatives to addressthe immediate and underlying problems, includingeffective drug and alcohol treatment, better use ofenforcement powers and ‘alternative giving’ schemes for members of the public. Specifically:

AIM

To create a cleaner and saferenvironment for the generalpublic across Westminster bytaking effective action to reducebegging.

OBJECTIVE

Through an effective partnershipwith the Metropolitan PoliceService and other stakeholderswe aim to:

• Reduce begging aroundcash points.

• Undertake proactiveinterventions against thosepersons deemed to beprolific beggars.

• Work with housing providersto discourage people frombegging within the City.

• Discourage the public fromgiving to beggars.

• Undermine the drug marketin Westminster by reducingthe number of drug users.

• Ensure that support andtreatment is available tothose beggars who areprepared to accept help and change their lifestyle.


Audit and profile

Between January and December 2003 theMetropolitan Police made a total of 1,315 arrests for begging in Westminster. Analysis of the datashowed that 570 different people were arrested forthe offence, 298 were arrested once while 52 werearrested five times or more.

Whilst this data has provided baseline begginginformation for Westminster, it will be complementedby further monthly audits carried out in associationwith the Metropolitan Police. Audit results will thenbe compared to police arrest data to both profileand determine whether enforcement is affectingbegging activity within the City.

“We will mount repeat operations and the informationgathered from audits will help provide the evidencerequired to pursue Anti-Social Behaviour Ordersagainst persistent beggars.”

Councillor Simon Milton, March 2004

We will audit and profile the people begging inWestminster to better inform our activity.

Covent Garden

Soho

Charing Cross


Picture of beggar at cashpoint

In association with banks and the Metropolitan Police,we aim to reduce begging at cash points andsymbolic locations by:

• Pre-setting CCTV cameras in the West End toensure that cash points are continuouslymonitored, enabling rapid enforcement againstbegging.

• Agreed partnership work with the MetropolitanPolice to respond to calls from the CCTV controlroom to enforce against beggars in theselocations.

• The creation of a photograph album of beggarsthat repeatedly offend to aid recognition andenforcement.

Cashpoint begging

“Home Office research tells us that 54% of the publicwill no longer use a cash point machine if there issomebody begging next to it.”

Councillor Simon Milton Leader of Westminster City Council Annual State of the City Speech March 2004

We will seek to reduce begging outside cashpoints and other sites in the City wheremembers of the public are most likely to beintimidated by beggars.


Objective statistical analysis shows that manypeople who beg spend the money on hard drugs1.Westminster is committed to offering support andtreatment, in partnership with a range oforganisations, to ensure that those beggars who are prepared to seek treatment and change theirlives, are able to do so. However, if people who begare not prepared to seek help, we will take action. We will make use of the full range of anti-socialbehaviour legislation and enforcement protocolsdrawn up with the Metropolitan Police and the Crown Prosecution Service.

Where appropriate, we will apply to the courts forAnti-Social Behaviour Orders against those whopersistently break the law. Many of those affectedmay need to access support services withinWestminster and therefore we do not seek to prohibitthese people from coming to the City. We only askthat they behave responsibly when they are here. We also have a responsibility to other local authoritiesand so, to avoid displacing begging to other areas,we will ask the courts to extend the order to includeall of England and Wales.

Legal intervention

With Westminster Police, the Crown Prosecution Service and other agencies,we will seek to implement a robust legal intervention programme for all thosewho are arrested more than twice and charged with begging in the City.

“Effective enforcement is key. There must be a consistentmessage that sanctions against anti-social behaviour areextremely serious and that breach of them will lead tounwelcome consequences for the perpetrators.”Respect and Responsibility – Government’s Anti-Social Behaviour White Paper(March 2003)

Individual is seen begging, arrested, given access to necessaryservice(s) and asked to stop begging in Westminster

Individual is seen begging a second time, arrested, given accessto necessary service(s) and asked to stop begging in Westminster

Individual is seen begging a third time, arrested, given access tonecessary service(s) and given a warning letter asking them to

stop begging in Westminster

Individual is seen begging a fourth time, arrested, and charged with being a public nuisance

Individual is seen begging a fifth time, arrested and postconviction Anti-Social Behaviour Order proceedings are started

➔➔

➔➔

1 Looking for change: the role and impact of begging on the lives of people

who beg, Luton University and the Rough Sleepers Unit, 2001


Killing with Kindness is the strapline of thecommunications campaign run by Westminster, inpartnership with the London Borough of Camden,Thames Reach Bondway, the West End DrugsPartnership, the Government Office for London, theAnti-Social Behaviour Unit, the Metropolitan Policeand local businesses. The campaign was designed toraise public awareness about how money given tobeggars is spent and to consequently deter the publicfrom giving to beggars. It confirmed to the public thatgiving to beggars is counter productive and providedclear statistical evidence that the majority of thosearrested for persistent begging were users of crackcocaine and heroin.

The campaign was originally run in 2003 andevaluation demonstrated its success. It is beingfollowed up with a further hard-hitting campaigninvolving both Westminster and Camden. Thecampaign will be borough wide and through it wehope to engage with a number of businesses toensure maximum marketing opportunities.

In addition to deterring the public from giving directlyto beggars, we will be establishing a diverted givingscheme. The proceeds of this will be targeted to helpindividuals who lead chaotic lifestyles.

Communication

We will continue to implement the ‘Killing with Kindness’ public informationcampaign with the London Borough of Camden and other partners. We will alsoimplement an alternative giving programme in the City during 2004.

“Setting up a diverted giving scheme inWestminster would appear to be pushing at anopen door – the public clearly support it.”Westminster City Council, Streets of London: a study of street culture inWestminster, October 2001


Using this approach we aim to:

• Improve partnership working and communicationwith housing providers to send a clear message thatbegging will not be tolerated.

• Ensure that housing providers, working inpartnership with Westminster City Council, utilise allavailable powers to tackle anti-social behaviour.

• Ensure that they provide residents with access toappropriate support and treatment to addresssubstance misuse problems. We want housingproviders to actively seek ways to discourage theirtenants from begging on Westminster's streets.

Housing providers play a vital role in our strategy toreduce rough sleeping and hostels offer vital servicesto support this particularly vulnerable group. Whilemany of the people who beg in Westminster are nothomeless and often live outside of the City, there isevidence that some Westminster residents areengaged in begging. It is not acceptable for peopleresiding in Westminster accommodation to beg onthe City's streets.

We will work in partnership with housing providersand act assertively to tackle begging amongst theirresidents. Specifically we will work together to drawup Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and Agreementswith residents involved in begging. If they persist wewill seek Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and if theseare breached then offenders will probably lose theirtenancy.

Housing agreements

“We need to get beggars off the streets. We have put inplace a range of initiatives designed to help people offthe streets and into more permanent accommodation.”

Councillor Angela Harvey – Cabinet Member for Housing, Westminster City Council

We will work with housing providers to introduce Acceptable BehaviourContracts and Agreements and access to appropriate treatment services toaddress begging.


This targets persistent drug using offenders andoffers supported pathways into treatment and out of crime.

Individuals who beg invariably spend the money on hard drugs, as objective statistical analysis hasshown. Data from the last Killing with KindnessCampaign in 2003 showed that 77% of thoseindividuals arrested for begging tested positive for class A drugs.

Whilst enforcement action against prolific beggars isnecessary, assistance and treatment will be madeavailable, through arrest referral, for those who beg tofeed their dependency but want to change their lives.

When arrested for a trigger offence such as begging,an individual is linked to an arrest referral drugsworker at the custody suite or court. This acts as anentrance point to the Criminal Justice InterventionProgramme (CJIP), which aims to direct drug usingoffenders into treatment and away from crime.

From September, Westminster’s CJIP has beentargeting persistent begging offenders in an attemptto engage with them and provide access to thetreatment and relevant support services that theyneed. To support this, all persistent beggars are beinggiven a card with details of a 24 hours a day, sevendays a week hotline number, which can be called togive access, support, advice and information to thoseconcerned about drugs.

Drug and alcohol treatment

Studies in the United Kingdom have found that many beggars are often drugusers. A study by the Rough Sleepers Unit and Luton University identified that“86% of people begging reported currently using drugs” (including heroin,cannabis, crack and cocaine).

Looking for change: the role and impact of begging on the lives of people who beg, 2001

We will support the further development of the Westminster Criminal JusticeIntervention Programme in partnership with the Drug and Alcohol Action Team.


Trailblazing initiatives

Initiative

Inputs

Outputs

Outcomes

Tactics

• Westminster andCamdenTrailblazingManagers

• Communicationsdepartment

• Partnershipworking (police, railcompanies, TfL,GLA)

• Killing withKindnesscampaign

• Communicationsstrategy

• Reduced publicdonation tobeggars

• Making beggingunprofitable

• Communicatinghow money canbetter help thedisadvantaged

• Posters displayedin shops, transporttermini, banks,restaurants,licensed premises

• Press releases andmedia interviews


• Communicationsdepartment

• Strategy• Communications

campaign• Targeted collection

points

Targeted direction ofpublic donations tosupport:• Local RSU

initiatives• DAAT initiatives• Voluntary service

initiatives

Collection points instrategic locations

• Rough SleepingManager

• Housing providers• Communications

department

• Collaboration withhousing providersto deploy ABCs & ABAs

• Communicationsstrategy

Improved behaviourand increasedawareness of civicresponsibility bytenants

Requirement thatindividuals:• Sign ABCs & ABAs• Refrain from

begging andengaging in anti-social behaviour

• Consider tenancytermination whereASBOs are breached


• Analyst• Safer Streets Team• ASB Unit• CPS

• Develop datacollection

• Mapping andanalysis capacity

• Develop ASBOstracking system forbeggars

• Improvedbehaviour andincreasedawareness of civicresponsibility bythose arrested forbegging

• Deter and reducerepeat offendingpatterns

• Identification ofrepeat offendersthrough ASBOscase trackingsystem

• Positive arrest andcharge policy

• West End CCTVManager

• All WestminsterCouncildepartments

• Police• CPS• ASB Unit

• Immediateidentification ofbeggars at ATMsby CCTV staff

• Westminsterpersonnel to reportobserved beggingincidents

• Prompt policeresponse

Reduction ofbegging at allidentified sites inWestminster

• Cameras pre-setfor 10 min sweepsat ATMs and highprofile locations

• Positive arrest andcharge policy

• Post convictionASBO applications

Killing withKindness

Diverted Giving

AcceptableBehaviour

Contracts andAgreements

Tackling repeatoffenders

Tackling cashpoint beggingand symbolic

locations


Westminster City Council is determined to endbegging in the City. Begging reduces the quality of life for residents, it undermines local businesses,dissuades tourists from coming into the heart of thecapital and negatively impacts on the lives of themany people who work in Westminster.

Through enforcement, assistance and effectivecommunication we are confident that begging inWestminster can be reduced.

Trailblazing analysis

“We must be explicit about the fact that the public, whenthey give to those who beg, are often funding serious drughabits...Giving money to those who beg is not a benign actwithout consequences - it contributes to lives being lost.”

Jeremy Swain, Chief Executive of Thames Reach Bondway

Various methods will be used to measure the success of the trailblazingcampaign and the initiatives put in place to tackle begging.

These will include:

• Monthly counts to ascertain whether the numberof beggars in Westminster has been reduced.

• Annual, independent surveys carried out by MORIto confirm whether the diverted giving scheme issuccessful and to gauge residents’ fear of cashpoint begging.

• Feedback from people who live, work and visitWestminster via City Surveys to determinewhether begging still impacts on their lives.

• Analysis of begging arrests to determine whetherindividuals arrested for begging are continuing tooffend.

• Publicising the amount of money collected throughthe diverted giving scheme and how it is spent ona quarterly basis.



Documents

An integrated approach to reduce begging in · PDF fileEnforcement, assistance and communication An integrated approach to reduce begging in Westminster WES55411 Begging.qxd 25/10/04