The anti-social use of motorbikes is a growing problem. Jim Nixon, RHE Global’s director of community safety, is leading on a new training course designed to optimise the response of ASB teams, housing teams and the police. He talked to Will Hatchett.

Noise from illegally ridden motorbikes can be a persistent and nagging blight, severely impacting on quality of life. And since social housing is often concentrated on estates backing onto fields or wasteland, already disadvantaged communities are most affected by this issue.

Jim Nixon reckons that when he was a neighbourhood police sergeant working in deprived parts of Walsall in the West Midlands, from 2010 to 2016, dealing with complaints about nuisance from illegally ridden motorbikes could occupy up to a fifth of the police’s time.

He recalls: “We would get calls from residents directly, but also from the council and from councillors. In areas where people were riding bikes, it would ruin residents’ lives. It would really interrupt their peace and quiet, particularly at weekends. You would get young kids, some even younger than 10, on these bikes. You would get a good range of teenagers, but also, a good number of adults as well.”

He adds: “Parents or carers were often quite supportive of their kids. In some cases, they had bought them bikes as birthday or Christmas presents or just as gifts, so that was another challenge.” Bikes stopped on the road with uninsured riders could be seized under the Traffic Act 1988. In terms of off-road use, police used powers under section 59 of the Police Reform Act 2002 to seize bikes. Section 59 warnings were registered on the police national computer.

A key problem was identifying the riders. But neighbourhood policing was relatively well-resourced in those days. In Walsall, there were up to nine police officers per neighbourhood team. Officers would recognise repeat offenders based on previous interactions. They knew where they lived.

Other options were available. He recalls: “We worked with the individual and the family. We would always look at doing an acceptable behaviour contract with a young person, as way of getting them engaged before they started going down the slippery slope of being arrested.”

Bikes as a crime gateway

For many young people, the illegal use of motorbikes, if not addressed, could be a gateway to a life of crime. He says: “We found that the bike problems came from a nucleus of kids that were causing just general anti-social behaviour, such as threatening people and causing criminal damage. The best way to deal with that was to nip it in the bud.”

In the days before the financial crash of 2008 and the era of austerity, some local authorities, as part of their youth services, offered facilities that allowed young people to drive and repair motorbikes and cars under controlled conditions, as an alternative to illegal behaviour. 

An example was Walsall’s lottery-funded Wheels project, Nixon recalls. In many cases, it was successful in re-focusing young people from a path that could have led them to prison. However, experience shows, he says, that some young people will ignore such projects and persist in riding bikes illegally on roads and open spaces.

Many people will say that those halcyon days are long gone. Resources allocated to neighbourhood policing have been slashed, so have local youth services which channelled the energies of young people into what Nixon calls ‘diversionary activities’.

Thanks to the internet, cheap off-road motorbikes are more available than ever. E-bikes and e-scooters, often adapted to exceed their legal speed limits, have made roads and pavements dangerous places, especially for vulnerable road users and pedestrians.

Nixon notes the new Crime and Policing Bill, which is passing through Parliament, proposes tighter laws on vehicles involved in anti-social behaviour, with greater police powers to seize and destroy vehicles, including motorbikes, without prior warning. This could be a useful addition to police powers.

Benefits of technology

He also notes that technology offers some positive benefits that were not present in the 1990s, when he first went on the beat. Drones, for example, now being adopted by many police forces, can be used to track speeding vehicles, including motorbikes, whose pursuit would be particularly dangerous. And mobile phones have found many new uses. For example, the latest version of RHE Global’s noise app allows victims of noise nuisance to capture and share video evidence with local authority EHOs and ASB and housing teams.

Nixon is a realist. He says: “We’ll never be able to eradicate this problem. The new training is designed to remind EHOs, ASB and housing teams and the police of powers that they have already, which, in some cases, may have fallen out of use. Solutions will be different in different areas. What we do know is that partnership is key to success. The training will allow participants to share good practice and innovation, so that what has been proven to work in one area can be shared.”

He is offering an additional two hours of consultation and advice for delegates, to help them find the best solution for motorbike nuisance tailored to their local circumstances, resources and needs.

For more information on the up-coming course or regarding the issue surrounding noise from motorbikes, please contact us.

Welcome to my first RIAMS Unpacked where I’ll give you a quick update on what’s new, what’s been reviewed and anything significant that has come across my desk in the world of environmental health. 

This year has seen several new local authorities join RIAMS, taking us to over 200 that make use of our library resources. And we’ve launched our first Renters’ Rights Bill documents and guidance (see links below), the first of many more to come. 

Communities has also welcomed a further 200 users to our discussion boards since December as networking and peer-to-peer support grows and grows. We’ve listened to you, our users, and over the coming months we will be making some refinements to RIAMS to optimise performance and ensure the platform better meets your needs.

Legal and regulatory insights

• The Renters’ Rights Bill has been scheduled for the next stage of the parliamentary process, on 22 April, when it will go to the committee stage in the House of Lords. Expect a lot of chatter and proposed amendments. 

• The Animal Welfare (Primate Licences) (England) Regulations 2024 introduces the requirement to have a licence from 6 April 2026, when enforcement provisions come in.  

• The Crime and Policing Bill is at the committee stage in the House of Commons 

• Government consultation is live on implementation of the licensing regime and specified standards for supported accommodation in England through the Supported Housing (Regulatory Oversight) Act 2023. 

• The Special Procedures Licensing Scheme for Wales came into force on 29 November 2024, and the transition period for applications to be submitted ended on 28 February 2025. The public register is live and starting to be populated.   

What’s New on RIAMS Libraries?  

One hundred and sixteen procedures have been reviewed during March, as well as some of our notices, forms and national guidance documents across England, Northern Ireland and Wales. We’ve added a new procedure on the Renters’ Rights Act 2025, a new notice template for the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private Rented Sector (England) Regs, a whistleblowing procedure for Northern Ireland and new national guidance for pavement licensing and bracken management. 

New e-learning has been published on the Renters’ Rights Bill. As with the procedure, our intention is to keep a close eye on any developments and evolve this information as necessary. Another course, pavement licensing in England, is in the pipeline and set to follow shortly.  

I have just sent out the next batch of reviews to our team of specialist authors for the coming quarter across all subject areas, for updating and checking for accuracy, in line with best practice. Of note to our Northern Ireland subscribers is that we are busy making progress on consumer protection and health and safety updates.  

What’s New on RIAMS Communities? 

We have seen healthy peer-to-peer discussions around private water supplies, housing, environmental protection, noise and enforcement over the last few weeks. 

Our feature – Question of the Month, by Tim Everett – launched this year, tackling some of our more challenging yet common queries. Please continue to send me your questions for Tim ([email protected]). 

I have just heard the fantastic news that Operation Jigsaw is going to be funded for a further 12 months to continue to support local authorities and housing professionals across England. RIAMS Communities stays committed to supporting professionals and all groups that have been set up to facilitate regional forums will carry on enabling collaboration and networking. 

Stay engaged, stay informed – upcoming events and training

• 22 April – Housing Roundtable with Al Mcclenahan from Justice for Tenants

• 29/30 April – Environmental Noise Control and Sound Management at Outdoor Music Events 13 May – Public Health Act Funerals 

• 13 May – Effective Management and Case Resolution Using The Noise App  

RHE Global supports environmental health practitioners across all specialisms to work smarter, network and share good practice. Visit RIAMS to keep up to date with the latest environmental health developments and discussions.

Public Health Act funerals are an important service provided by local authorities, but this provision is often overlooked and is not the first thing that springs to mind when you consider all that councils provide. I spoke to our brilliant new trainer Christina Martin, who is on a mission to change the narrative and raise the profile of this important job. 

But first, a quick introduction: Public Health Act funerals are provided by the local authority for people who have died and either have no living relatives, or the relatives are unable or unwilling to attend to the funeral arrangements. They are a statutory duty under section 46 of the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 with the primary aim of protecting public health by burying or cremating a human body that would otherwise go undealt with.  

There is no set way in which the arrangements need to be made or the funeral organised, leaving local authorities with considerable discretion in terms of how to carry out this duty. Whilst it is important to ensure that public health is not put at risk and costs are recovered from the deceased’s estate, government guidance supports the approach that it is vital that the deceased person is treated respectfully, due consideration is given to their wishes and efforts are made to find their next of kin so they are kept informed of the arrangements. 

Officers working in these roles need to have a good understanding of the law and guidance that governs this work as well as, importantly, the practical aspects of investigating, organising and delivering respectful and dignified funerals for individuals and their families who have no other arrangements or means for doing so. 

I am very excited to welcome Christina Martin, who, in partnership with the Institute of Cemetery and Crematorium Management (ICCM), will start delivering our course from May.  

Christina started working as an administrator in the Environmental Health and Licensing Team at Rother and Wealden Council in 2017, after leaving a hectic job and commute in London to start again by the sea. After developing and writing the council’s procedures on public health funerals, Christina describes how she was challenged by her manager to test them in the real world: 

I soon found myself standing in a half-fallen-down house, full of hoarded art, working on my first funeral case. Months after this baptism of fire, after successfully concluding many cases which involved finding people, arranging fitting funeral services and recouping the costs where possible, I was promoted and given the lead role in this area of work. 

Christina explained that she continually looks for ways to develop and improve her practices and procedure to make sure they are the best they can be, and a key part of the process was attending this same training back in 2018. She then followed this up by measuring her approach against best practice and consultation with key stakeholders. Christina goes on to say: 

This training gave me a great foundation to work from and confidence in my approach, but ultimately though, my processes come from day-to-day, lived experience. Each case presents a new challenge or interaction that becomes a lesson. Equally, as things change with police evidence stores, coroners’ offices and medical examiners, and as I find myself dealing with more banks and institutions, I have developed multiple hints and tips to ensure that this time-sensitive and important job continues to run smoothly. 

Christina’s cases have been covered in the media many times, and she is often approached by journalists to talk about council funerals and funeral poverty. She has worked with national partners to lobby for a widening of eligibility, an increase in the amount of the DWP funeral payment and a change in the law to improve the sparsely worded Section 46.  

She is an ambassador for Locate International, a missing persons and cold case charity, which connected with her over an unidentified woman she buried in 2018. In between all this, she has found the time to write a book, under a pen name, which has sold over ten thousand copies, to raise awareness of the job and the need for this type of funeral (Ashes To Admin: Tales from the Caseload of a Council Funeral Officer). As a result, she is often invited to talk about the subject at literary festivals, events and conferences, both in the UK and abroad. 

As you can tell, I am passionate about doing this job well and ensuring that the deceased person receives the best possible care after death, taking their wishes into account as much as I can. I can’t wait to deliver this excellent course and share my experiences and knowledge with the next group of delegates.  

The next course will be held online on Tuesday, 13 May and you can register here. 

For further resources including our procedure for this type of funeral, visit RIAMS Libraries. Anyone without a subscription can contact RHE Global for a free trial and demonstration. 

RHE Global trainer Anna Smith is running sessions on links between anti-social behaviour and mental health. She places empathy, education, encouragement and, finally, enforcement at the heart of her philosophy. She talked to Will Hatchett.

Anna Smith’s career has been dominated by one theme. She explains: “I’ve lived and breathed anti-social behaviour. It’s the area I’ve worked in from the age of 18, when I started at the bottom of the ladder as an enforcement officer in Darlington.”

Her positive and practical forthrightness has served her well. Twenty years after these relatively humble beginnings, Smith, who lives in the North-East, was a senior manager for the large northern town, heading a comprehensive community safety service that took in private sector housing, CCTV and car parking. 

The holistic role, she explains, included all aspects of ASB and environmental crime, including dealing with stray dogs and abandoned vehicles. Her career, along the way, had taken working in youth offending, reparative justice and victim support and obtaining an LLB law degree and multiple professional qualifications.

Smith was the first person in her county, in 2017, to use new closure powers to shut down a drug house that was blighting an entire street. She successfully applied for multiple civil injunctions, never losing a case, and three public space protection orders (PSPOs). 

Trailblazer for new powers

In 2022, she was chosen to lead the Home Office’s ASB trailblazer project in Darlington. The role came with £300,000 in funding. She recalls: “I was able to put more officers on the ground, getting really good neighbourhood policing, where you speak to people to identify their concerns and come up with strategies to deal with them.”

A combination of social and environmental issues, some seemingly minor but actually very important, make up for a safe and well-liked neighbourhood. The main issue in an ASB hotspot, she notes, could be youth crime or street drinking. Or it could be dog fouling or littering.

Before the trailblazer project, Smith had led on implementing the powers of the 2014 ASB, Crime and Policing Act across Darlington – legislation that gave officers a new set of tools, some of which were controversial, to make neighbourhoods safer.

Timeliness is vital in dealing with problems if public confidence is to be achieved and maintained. The new powers, while sensitive to the multiple causes of ASB, facilitated more rapid action for victims whose lives had sometimes been made hell for years.

For example, she recalls of the drug house which she led on shutting down in 2017: “You had the immediate neighbours, but I would say that at least 15 households in the street were affected by the issue that just one property was causing. They had suffered for months, but the police hadn’t been able to do anything, and they had come to the council literally begging for support. When the house was closed, the residents came outside. They were standing in the street clapping.”

Need for joined-up policies

While Smith welcomed criminal behaviour orders, civil injunctions, PSPOs and new powers replacing the previous crack house laws that the 2014 act brought, she has never advocated an enforcement-led approach. 

She says: “I believe that addressing ASB requires a balance of enforcement, education, empathy and support. My training focuses on helping participants to understand the root causes of ASB, to use effective conflict resolution techniques and to adopt evidence-based strategies for prevention and intervention.”

The powers, she says, need to be applied proportionately and supported by consistent local authority policies. She notes: “A housing strategy should always refer to policies and procedures for both the victims and perpetrators of ASB. I see so many where there’s not even a mention of them. Straight away, that sets alarm bells ringing.”

There must also be efficient case management, regular multi-agency meetings, clear action plans with identified leads and the encouragement of ‘peer challenge’ – with officers emboldened to report their concern to a manager if they believe that a colleague has failed to act appropriately.

She adds: “Essentially, for me, it’s about building relationships. In many cases, people are working in silos. Things don’t change until a serious case review looks at what went wrong, and it often comes down to poor communication.”

Mental health issues

A holistic approach to ASB is likely to identify that poor mental health can lead to undesirable behaviours in the community. She notes: “I’ve been the lead in several cases where people were placed in social housing supported by charities, and problems were caused by a lack of support. It’s a telling statistic that 45% of people experiencing homelessness have been diagnosed with a mental health issue, rising to 80% for people sleeping rough.”

Traditionally, she says, health professionals have been the hardest to bring to the table for multi-agency meetings. However, she believes that this is now changing. She argues that there have been many improvements to how ASB is tackled since she began working in the field two decades ago.

She says: “Things are far better now than when I started. We’ve come a long way in case management and communication. I think that technology will drive this process. In terms of new apps, I think further development of a local authority ASB reporting app would be beneficial, supporting the use of diary sheets.”

Having left her role in Darlington last year, Smith is now keen to share what she has learned over her many years of practice as a trainer and consultant. She says: “I want to fulfil my passion by empowering practitioners to manage casework effectively and to build their confidence in using their tools and powers.”

She notes that, while local authority budgets are stretched, creating good systems and building relationships to tackle ASB doesn’t cost anything. The results can be seen and heard in communities that benefit from such enlightened practices. There is less environmental blight – litter, graffiti and dumped rubbish – and less crime. People are happy to live, work and socialise. In the best cases, they are smiling.