In May 2007, HouseMark carried out a snapshot survey of the systems that its members were using to manage their anti-social behaviour cases and to report on ASB performance. Using a combination of responses to an email survey and data entered into HouseMark s ASB activity measures benchmarking system, 117 responses were obtained. Approximately half of respondents were using specialist ASB databases (28 24%) or their housing management systems (29 25%) for the purpose, with most of the remainder relying on ad-hoc in-house systems based on office-suite databases and spreadsheets such as Microsoft Access and Excel or on manual paper-based systems. Two organisations in the survey were using their CRM (customer relationship management) systems. 2007 HouseMark Ltd. All rights reserved.
Who responded? The survey sample of 117 comprised mainly housing associations and arms length management organisations (ALMOs). Organisation type Number Percentage of sample Housing association 82 70% ALMO 23 20% Council 12 10% Total 117 100% Who uses what? Housing associations in the sample were the most prolific users of specialist ASB software, with 30% of them adopting this solution. No councils in the survey were using specialist software. Councils and ALMOs were more likely than housing associations to use their housing management systems for ASB, although anecdotally a number reported problems. We have recently purchased and implemented xxx. I have to say that we are having teething problems and reporting from it is virtually impossible at the moment. I am aware that my Housing staff are constantly raising IT issues that need to be resolved. We currently use xxx which is useful for keeping case notes but useless for reporting, benchmarking, etc. We currently use xxx where possible, but unfortunately it does not have all the functionality we require so we also have a manual system. A similar proportion (around 40%) of organisations in each sector reported using manual or paper systems, although several reported plans to introduce higher-tech solutions. 2
Specialist ASB software Housing management system Office suite Paper/ manual CRM All Housing Association 25 16 34 6 1 82 ALMO 3 8 9 2 1 23 Council 0 5 5 2 0 12 All 28 29 48 10 2 117 Specialist ASB software Housing management system Office suite Paper/ manual CRM All Housing Association 30% 20% 41% 7% 1% 100% ALMO 13% 35% 39% 9% 4% 100% Council 0% 42% 42% 17% 0% 100% All 24% 25% 41% 9% 2% 100% Specialist ASB software 28 of the sample reported that they used specialist ASB software. Of these, the system most commonly mentioned was ReAct, with 11 users. Five users had developed their own systems; but note that several other specialist products started life as bespoke solutions for a single organisation, and have since been developed for wider use. The Appendix includes some basic information and contact details for suppliers of the main specialist ASB software products, including a number not appearing in the survey results. Specialist ASB software Number Percentage of sample ESB ReAct 11 39% Bespoke in-house solutions 5 18% Civica Public Protection 3 11% 3
Specialist ASB software Number Percentage of sample HUBSolutions Casewise 2 7% InCase ASBO 2 7% Pro-Wide 2 7% Serros ASBD 2 7% NonStopGov TAB 1 4% Total 28 100% Housing management systems 29 organisations used a specialist module in their housing management software, or made use of existing contact management or workflow options. The most commonly used system (21% of the sample) to be used in this way in our sample was IBS OPENHousing several users of this system specifically mentioned the contact management module. However, the sample size is too small to draw significant conclusions from. Adapted housing management software Number Percentage of sample IBS OPENHousing 6 21% Anite Housing 5 17% Comino/Civica Universal Housing System 5 17% Northgate Housing/Sx3 5 17% Academy Housing 3 10% Orchard archouse Plus 3 10% Aareon QL Housing 2 7% Total 29 100% Other record system The most common method for managing ASB cases amongst our sample was in Access database or on Excel spreadsheets, with some organisations referring to their systems 4
simply as paper or manual systems. No doubt within this set of respondents, some are using sophisticated databases and fancy spreadsheets, which may be the most appropriate solutions for small organisations. But a number of these organisations reported that they are actively investigating the facilities offered by specialist software products and additional modules for their housing systems. Other system Number Percentage of sample Excel spreadsheet 33 55% Access database 15 25% Manual or paper system 10 17% Customer relationship management (CRM) software 2 3% Total 60 100% Conclusion The increased emphasis on anti-social behaviour, reflected in the Government s Respect agenda, and the expectation on landlords to commit to the Respect Standard for Housing Management can be expected to increase the trend amongst social landlords to move towards more sophisticated and specialist applications to manage their ASB caseloads. HouseMark s ASB activity measures benchmarking has attracted strong support from our members. One supplier has already introduced enhancements to facilitate data collection for HouseMark ASB benchmarking and using this HouseMark compatibility in its marketing. There is a growing understanding of the need to measure the effectiveness of landlords response to ASB. This can be expected to increase on the publication of the HouseMarkauthored Performance Improvement Toolkit for the Respect Standard for Housing Management. 5
Appendix Caseworks Civica Public Protection InCase ASBO 2006 NonStopGov TAB Caseworks is a web enabled, modular, multi-agency database for handling anti-social behaviour. It is a modular system, which accommodates a variety of specialist functions while sharing the same person and property data. HUBSolutions Ltd www.hubsolutions.co.uk Civica Public Protection (formerly Flare) is an integrated system that provides comprehensive capabilities for recording and monitoring all aspects of the anti-social behaviour process, from service requests and visits to notices and prosecutions. It offers a multi-disciplinary suite of recording and reporting tools for core regulatory and enforcement functions such as environmental health, trading standards and private sector housing. Civica UK www.civicaplc.com/uk InCase ASBO is a corporate anti-social behaviour case management system, designed specifically for public sector organisations. INTEC Public Sector www.intecpublicsector.com Tagish's Tackling Anti-social Behaviour solution is a web-based case management application specifically designed to support all aspects of Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour in a multi-agency context. It allows staff to manage case referrals as well as allowing frontline staff, such as community wardens, environmental and local housing office teams, to log and record actions or refer cases to specialist caseworkers. Tagish Ltd www.tagish.co.uk 6
Pro-Wide ReAct Sentinel Serros ASBD Pro-Wide is a dedicated anti social behaviour case management and reporting system that has been developed by front-line ASB officers since the mid 1990s. Users particularly like its ease of use, clear layout and high degree of automation. Systems are tailored to individual organisation needs and future development is supported on a one to one basis. There is also a very usable free version (excluding installation and training) to assist smaller organisations. Contact: info@prowide.co.uk ReACT is a browser based anti social behaviour database designed specifically for social housing landlords. It has been developed, in conjunction with front line housing management staff, to properly record every aspect of incidents and complaints, to manage the action to be taken, record costs and to provide detailed reports and statistics. Electronic Business Systems Ltd www.e-b-s.co.uk Sentinel is a web-enabled data capture tool allowing organisations to report incidents of anti-social behaviour into one central database over the internet, intranet or extranet. Sentinel is designed to manage the full spectrum of anti-social behaviour problems from noisy neighbours, vandalism, envirocrime, litter, youth nuisance through to hate crime. Its modular nature means that it can be tailored to record and analyse all types of incidents. Vantage Technologies Ltd www.vantage-technologies.co.uk Designed in partnership with Calico Housing in Burnley, the ASBD software is a fully-integrated package to track and monitor anti-social behaviour cases. Serros Software www.serros.co.uk 7
TASBIT UNI-form Anti- Social Behaviour TASBIT (The Anti-Social Behaviour Intelligence Toolkit) provides any housing organisation and Crime and Disorder Partnership with a comprehensive case management and intelligence system to consistently and accurately record every incident of anti-social behaviour. TASBIT was been developed out of a partnership comprising Unisoft Systems, MacRae York Thompson (surveillance and intelligence experts) and Flagship Housing Group as a means to accurately record incidents, monitor action being taken and provide precise cost breakdowns on a case by case basis. Unisoft Systems Ltd www.tasbit.co.uk An ASB module that complements CAPS Solutions Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system for local government and other UNI-form modules that help local government organisations manage, update and share information relating to land, property and people. CAPS Solutions Ltd www.caps-solutions.co.uk HouseMark 8 Riley Court Millburn Hill Road University of Warwick Science Park Coventry CV4 7HP Tel: 024 7646 0500 Fax: 024 7646 0093 info@housemark.co.uk www.housemark.co.uk 8