ALTON politicians and officials have poured scorn on new government measures to tackle antisocial behaviour. Billed as New Labour's stand against "yobs", the plans will empower parish and town councils to issue fines to people found spraying graffiti, drinking under-age and generally causing a nuisance. In towns, "neighbourhood wardens" and "urban rangers", both to be trained by the police, will be increasingly responsible for ensuring antisocial disorder is combated. In villages, existing parish wardens or rangers - who at present might be found picking up litter, maintaining local parks or performing neighbourhood watch duties - could be called upon to execute the new powers in villages. Gordon Clements, chairman of Binsted Parish Council, was unequivocal in his response to the government's proposals. "I look upon this with horror," he told The Herald. "Parish councils can't get involved in it." He argued that, apart from the powers being a form of "law enforcement", which the council would not want responsibility for, the amount of work required in administering them would require more effort than members, who give their time for free, would be able to put in. Mr Clements added: "I know some parish councils wouldn't want to get involved." Alton Town Council's deputy clerk Greg Burt was equally sceptical. "I can't see any town council officers or staff going up to people and giving them fixed- penalty notices," he said. "Because they'd be potentially putting themselves in the front line." Mr Burt believed that the town council could make use of such powers only if they called upon the sort of private security company it hired this summer to combat antisocial behaviour in the town. "They're the obvious people to patrol our parks and spaces. They're trained in conflict management. They've got the appropriate clothing. They're able to respond to the people who are perhaps aggressive when they're challenged." He argued that the government issuing such powers to local councils was "great for headlines", but useless in terms of implementation. Ruth Bright, the Liberal Democrat's prospective parliamentary candidate, said that she was "very doubtful" that this form of parish-policing could work, and advised any parish council seeking to employ fine-issuers to "tread carefully". While stressing that she considered parish councils to be of great importance to local communities, Mrs Bright argued that they were "pretty toothless" in terms of local enforcement and that to give them such power would be "an awful lot of responsibility". "They're not paid and it's one hell of a burden in terms of accountability," she said. Alton town councillor Alan Chick also questioned how towns and parishes could successfully implement the new powers. Arguing that the government was taking the "cheap way out", by placing the burden of tackling antisocial behaviour on local communities, instead of recruiting more fully- qualified police, he said: "It seems that they are coming up with solutions while not dealing with what's at the coalface." More police was the "proper answer", he said. Meanwhile, Hampshire Police Authority has voted against employing 25 community officers - police-trained civilians with no powers of arrest - after months of controversy surrounding their effectiveness and cost. The Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs), dubbed "plastic policemen" and - because of their purpose as a high-visibility crime deterrent - "mobile scarecrows, have been refused by the authority. Paul Kernaghan, the chief constable of Hampshire Constabulary, said he was "disappointed" by the move. The authority expressed worry at the long- term viability of the PCSOs, arguing that funding for the officers could only be guaranteed until 2006 and could eventually fall on local taxpayers. Alternative forms of policing, including the training of volunteers into Accredited Community Safety Officers (ACSOs) in local authority partnerships, would "encourage public reassurance and help frontline policing" without the police having to foot the whole bill. Simon Hayes, the chairman of Hampshire Police Authority, said: "In arriving at this decision, we had regard to the significant time and effort invested in developing and implementing .......... an ACSO scheme." The scheme, he said, had already put 114 such support officers "on the streets" but that "to continue to achieve efficient and effective policing", partners would have to bear "their share of the cost". The authority said that employing full warrant-holding police officers remained the "preferred option, should any additional funding be made available for more staff".
