Redesigning Services to Tackle Antisocial Behaviour: Lessons from Suffolk
- truthaboutlocalgov
- Oct 28
- 8 min read
Antisocial behaviour (ASB) continues to place significant pressure on local authority services, particularly where incidents are concentrated among a small number of households. ASB encompasses a wide range of disruptive and harmful activities from vandalism and intimidation to noise complaints, substance misuse, and aggressive begging. These behaviours often reflect deeper social challenges such as poverty, trauma, mental health issues, and intergenerational disadvantage.
In 2025, police forces across England and Wales recorded over 963,000 ASB incidents, equating to a national rate of 14.34 incidents per 1,000 people. The financial burden on councils is substantial. The estimated annual cost of ASB and related violence to the UK economy is £60 billion, with £37.5 billion attributed to violent crime alone. For local authorities, repeated interventions, enforcement actions, and safeguarding responses drain both budgets and staff capacity.
Suffolk County Council’s approach offers a valuable case study in how service redesign can reduce demand and improve outcomes. Analysis by the council’s Community Safety Partnership identified 80 families as being responsible for a disproportionate share of ASB incidents. These households were placing high demand on services across housing, policing, social care, and education.
In response, Suffolk developed a whole-system, preventative model that combined early intervention, multi-agency collaboration, and targeted support. This included:
Using customer insight tools to identify high-demand families.
Aligning interventions with the Troubled Families agenda.
Embedding restorative practices and trauma-informed approaches.
Coordinating responses across housing providers, police, youth services, and mental health teams.
The impact has been significant. In 2024, Suffolk Constabulary launched Operation Spotlight, a targeted policing initiative funded by a £1 million Home Office grant. The operation delivered 9,000 additional patrol hours across 16 ASB hotspots and achieved a 45% reduction in recorded ASB incidents within a year. Beyond enforcement, the initiative helped embed sustainable problem-solving activities and build public confidence.
Suffolk’s model aligns with national best practice, including the Home Office’s ASB Strategic Principles, which emphasize early intervention, victim support, and cross-boundary collaboration. It also reflects findings from the Local Government Association’s 2024 ASB survey, which highlighted that 80% of councils experience delays due to poor information sharing, and that ASB is disproportionately concentrated in deprived areas and among individuals with long-term health conditions. For other councils, Suffolk’s experience underscores the value of investing in data-led, preventative approaches. By redesigning services around the needs of high-impact households and fostering multi-agency accountability, local authorities can reduce repeat demand, improve community safety, and deliver more sustainable public services.
Identifying the Root Cause
Suffolk’s Community Safety Partnership undertook a comprehensive, data-driven analysis that revealed a striking concentration of antisocial behaviour (ASB) among a small number of households. Specifically, 80 families were identified as being at the root of persistent ASB issues across the county. These families were responsible for a disproportionate number of incidents, triggering repeated interventions from police, housing, education, and children’s services.
The scale of impact was stark: the 10 most prolific families accounted for 1% of all recorded crime in Suffolk, a statistic that underscored the urgency of moving beyond reactive enforcement to strategic prevention. Further analysis revealed that these families often faced multiple and overlapping challenges, including:
Poor mental health
Substance misuse
Domestic abuse
Entrenched poverty
Low educational attainment
Unemployment and social exclusion
These complex needs were contributing to cycles of crisis and intervention, with traditional service responses often siloed and reactive failing to address the underlying causes. Suffolk’s own data showed that 1,150 “troubled families” were costing the county £86 million annually, with each family generating an average of £75,000 in public service costs across housing, policing, social care, and education.
This insight prompted a strategic shift. Rather than responding to incidents in isolation, Suffolk redesigned its services to tackle root causes through a whole-system approach. This included:
Integrated support plans developed by multi-agency teams.
Customer insight tools to track service demand and engagement.
Alignment with the Troubled Families programme, enabling access to national funding and frameworks.
Embedding trauma-informed and restorative practices to build trust and resilience.
The goal was clear: reduce demand through early intervention, build sustainable relationships with families, and create pathways out of entrenched disadvantage. This marked a transition from managing problems to actively resolving them, with a strong emphasis on prevention, personalisation, and community engagement. Suffolk’s approach has since been recognised as a model of best practice, aligning with the Home Office’s ASB Strategic Principles and informing wider policy discussions on how local authorities can deliver more effective, joined-up responses to complex social challenges.
A Whole-System Response
Suffolk County Council’s transformation programme, Supporting Lives, Connecting Communities (SLCC), originally focused on adult social care, but its principles have been successfully adapted to address antisocial behaviour (ASB). The programme is rooted in demand management, aiming to reduce reliance on statutory services by fostering community-based solutions, personalised support, and early intervention.
Key Components of Suffolk’s Whole-System Approach:
Multi-agency collaboration: Professionals from social work, housing, policing, education, and health came together to co-design and deliver integrated support plans for families identified as high-demand. This collaborative model broke down silos and enabled more effective, coordinated responses.
Community-led support: Suffolk empowered local networks such as voluntary groups, neighbours, and faith organisations to provide informal assistance. This reduced dependency on formal services and helped build trust and resilience within communities.
Redesigned pathways: Referral processes were streamlined to ensure timely and appropriate support. Agencies adopted shared digital platforms like ECINS, enabling real-time information sharing and reducing duplication of effort.
Spotlight on the Family Networks Initiative
One of the most innovative pilots under this approach was the Family Networks initiative, which worked intensively with two of the most demanding families in Suffolk. These families comprised 44 individuals across 15 households, and had long histories of ASB, safeguarding concerns, and service dependency. The intervention focused on:
Building bespoke support packages tailored to each household’s needs.
Engaging extended family networks to share responsibility and provide practical support.
Reducing long-term dependency on public services by addressing root causes such as trauma, poverty, and mental health.
Early results from the pilot indicated improved engagement, reduced crisis interventions, and better outcomes for children and adults alike. The initiative aligned with the national Troubled Families programme, which estimates that each high-need family costs the public sector £75,000 per year, and that targeted interventions can reduce this by up to 40%. Suffolk’s whole-system response has since been recognised as a model of best practice, aligning with the Home Office’s ASB Strategic Principles and informing wider reforms in children’s social care and community safety.
Financial Impact and Demand Management
Suffolk County Council’s transformation programme, Supporting Lives, Connecting Communities (SLCC), delivered £38 million in savings over four years in adult social care alone. These savings were achieved by shifting from reactive service delivery to proactive, community-based support, and the same principles were applied to tackle antisocial behaviour (ASB). The ASB-focused interventions contributed to significant demand reduction across multiple services:
Fewer repeat ASB incidents involving the same families, with Suffolk Constabulary reporting a 42% reduction in ASB personal calls, and similar reductions in environmental and nuisance categories.
Reduced numbers of children entering care, supported by initiatives like the Stronger Families programme, which kept 584 children out of care, saving the equivalent of 1,000 years of care days.
Improved school attendance and engagement, particularly among children from high-demand households receiving targeted support.
A cost analysis of two high-demand families in 2009 revealed a total public sector cost of £370,000, with the largest proportion attributable to police and justice system interventions. In contrast, the Family Networks intervention which worked intensively with 44 individuals across 15 households cost £241,700, or £5,755 per person, and was projected to deliver significant cost avoidances over five years. These figures demonstrate the value of early intervention and whole-system collaboration in reducing long-term service dependency and improving outcomes.
Voices from the Frontline
“Mixing practitioners from different parts of the public sector has helped us recognise the commonalities across the services – we’re all seeking a good outcome for families, but we’re going down different pathways to get there.”
Victoria Woods, Probation Officer, Norfolk and Suffolk Probation Trust
“Social workers have been driven down an endlessly reductive path of procedures… we spend more time collecting information than actually listening to families.”
Allan Cadzow, Assistant Director, Children & Young People’s Services
These reflections highlight the importance of restoring professional autonomy, building trust, and focusing on outcomes rather than process core principles that underpin Suffolk’s success in ASB demand management.
Implications for Other Councils
Suffolk’s whole-system approach to tackling antisocial behaviour (ASB) offers a compelling blueprint for other local authorities seeking to reduce demand, improve outcomes, and deliver more sustainable public services. The case study highlights several key lessons that are widely applicable across the sector:
1. Use Data to Target Interventions
Data-led approaches are essential for identifying high-impact households and allocating resources effectively. Suffolk’s analysis revealed that just 10 families were responsible for 1% of all recorded crime in the county. Nationally, the Local Government Association’s 2024 ASB survey found that 80% of councils experience delays due to poor information sharing, and that ASB is disproportionately concentrated in deprived areas and among individuals with long-term health conditions. Investing in robust data systems such as ECINS or shared dashboards can help councils:
Identify repeat offenders and victims.
Track service usage across agencies.
Monitor outcomes and evaluate impact.
Prioritise early intervention and prevention.
2. Break Down Departmental Silos
ASB is a cross-cutting issue that spans housing, policing, education, health, and social care. Suffolk’s success hinged on multi-agency collaboration, with professionals co-designing support plans and sharing accountability. This aligns with the Home Office’s ASB Strategic Principles, which call for joined-up working across boundaries and clear referral pathways.
Community Safety Partnerships (CSPs), mandated under the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, are a key vehicle for this integration. The 2024 CSP Review recommends strengthening their role and improving alignment with Police and Crime Commissioners.
3. Invest in Prevention
Preventative approaches are not only socially beneficial they’re economically sound. Suffolk’s Family Networks pilot targeted two families comprising 44 individuals across 15 households, aiming to reduce long-term dependency on public services. National research shows that investing in preventative support can save more than £3 for every £1 spent, with potential savings of £11.1 billion if scaled nationally. The RAND Corporation’s review for the National Audit Office found that targeted ASB interventions can reduce costs by up to 40%, particularly when focused on early risk factors such as trauma, poverty, and mental health.
4. Empower Practitioners
Frontline staff are often best placed to innovate, build trust, and deliver personalised support. Suffolk’s approach empowered practitioners to work flexibly across agencies, share learning, and co-create solutions with families. This aligns with findings from multi-agency safeguarding research, which highlights the importance of ecological approaches that address social conditions not just individual behaviours. Training, reflective practice, and shared leadership are key enablers. Councils should invest in:
Cross-sector training on trauma-informed and restorative practices.
Joint supervision and case reviews.
Communities of practice to share insights and build capacity.
Conclusion
Suffolk’s experience demonstrates that tackling antisocial behaviour (ASB) requires more than enforcement it demands a strategic, compassionate, and data-informed approach. By identifying the root causes of persistent ASB and redesigning services around the complex needs of families, Suffolk has shown that it is possible to reduce demand, improve outcomes, and restore community confidence. For councils grappling with high service demand and constrained budgets, this model offers a practical and scalable blueprint for change. The evidence is clear: targeted, whole-system interventions not only reduce repeat incidents but also deliver long-term savings and better life chances for those most at risk.
Suffolk’s work highlights the power of:
Multi-agency collaboration to break down silos.
Community-led support to build resilience.
Early intervention to prevent crisis escalation.
Personalised pathways to address entrenched disadvantage.
This is not just a story of service redesign it’s a story of hope, innovation, and what’s possible when local government leads with empathy and evidence.
