Guidance to empower NHS bodies to deal more decisively with anti-social behaviour has been launched. The Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS) – Guidance for the NHS adds to the provisions to keep NHS premises safe (including powers under the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act). Under CSAS, police chiefs can delegate limited powers to accredited persons within NHS bodies to help tackle anti-social behaviour.
This new guidance for the NHS has been developed by the National health’s central security body NHS Protect with the Home Office and police. Andrew Masterman, Policy Lead – Violence, at NHS Protect said: “NHS Protect has always encouraged NHS organisations to work in close partnership with the police and other organisations to tackle crime. The Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS) provides NHS organisations with another opportunity to strengthen public and local community safety in partnership with their local police force.
“Many NHS employees already contribute to community safety and indirectly, to neighbourhood policing. Through CSAS they can obtain formal accreditation for this role, if their area is covered.”
At the NPCC (National Police Chiefs’ Council), the lead for Local Policing, Chief Constable Simon Cole said: “The Community Safety Accreditation Scheme is about the public, the private sector and the police working as a team to tackle the issues and priorities that matter most to our communities. The increasing uptake by private and public organisations shows how effective it has been. We hope this success will allow police officers to spend more time on patrol and increase community safety.”
Anti-social behaviour on NHS premises can affect the quality of service delivered, by distracting and diverting staff from their duties. It can be stressful or intimidating for staff and visitors, and may escalate into violence or other serious incidents, the authorities point out. NHS Protect – part of the – NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) – says that chief executives, executive boards and senior security managers have been asked to support this new CSAS guidance to help address anti-social behaviour. CSAS is locally driven and NHS bodies would need to ask their local police if they can enter a partnership, under an existing local area scheme or by setting up a new one.
What is CSAS?
The Police Reform Act 2002 provides the authority for chief constables to establish and maintain local CSASs. The schemes are intended to:
contribute to community safety and security, and
combat crime and disorder, public nuisance and other forms of anti-social behaviour in cooperation with the police.
For organisations which regularly provide community safety and security services, CSAS is a framework for entering into a formal agreement with their local police Chief Officer to apply for accreditation under the scheme.
CSAS in operation
Chiefs can delegate certain limited but targeted powers to accredited persons under schedule 5 of the Police Reform Act 2002 and as amended by the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003, the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act 2005 and the Anti-social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014. These include the power to:
Issue Penalty Notices for Disorder (PNDs) for behaviour likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress
Issue PNDs for using electronic communications to cause annoyance, inconvenience, or anxiety to another
Require name and address for fixed penalty offences that cause injury, alarm or distress
Require name and address for persons acting in an anti-social manner
Confiscate alcohol from persons drinking in a protected public place
Confiscate alcohol from under 18s and tobacco from under 16s.
