Case Study Wigan

‘Face Lift’ addressed crime and grime

The Face Lift campaign in Wigan tackled crime, grime and the fear of crime by making the authorities more visible. A survey confirmed increased public confidence in the authorities after the environmental week.

The campaign was run in five areas of Wigan, focusing on a wide range of environmental issues. The idea was to focus resources and give council estates a facelift by improving cleanliness, clearing litter hotspots and blitzing fly-tipped rubbish.

Since the week-long campaign, anyone caught dropping litter or fly-tipping on the estates has been fined. The council has also stepped up CCTV surveillance and litter patrols.

Visible authorities

The environmental week in May 2006 featured a wide range of activities led by Wigan Council’s street cleansing and ground maintenance teams, the probation service and neighbourhood policing, tenants’ and residents’ teams, and the BTCV Street Scene Team.

The programme included a bulky goods amnesty, an eco fun day, planting and litter picking sessions, and workshops on issues relating to gardening. The council is also running a tip-off line asking residents to call when they see anyone dumping litter.

Addressing fear of crime

Following Face Lift, 61 per cent of residents felt that the amount of litter lying around had improved and 67 per cent felt that anti-social behaviour had reduced.

"This can largely be attributable to the police and members of the anti-social behaviour unit knocking on the doors of residents as well as drop-in sessions to give Face Lift a personal, face-to-face approach." - Paul Dandy, Street Scene Coordinator

The campaign proved successful also in terms of BVPI 199 score. In one area the score reduced from 30 per cent in May 2006, to 15 per cent in August 2006, and 10 per cent in November 2006. Incidents of criminal damage have fallen by 68 per cent from May 2005 levels since the implementation of the Face Lift scheme.

Increased public confidence

All the people interviewed stated that they thought graffiti levels had reduced and 97 per cent felt that fly-tipping was better. The same survey revealed that 82 per cent thought that they were less likely to be a victim of crime after Face Lift, and 87 per cent thought the police were doing a better job.

By having many agencies working in an estate their visibility has also helped to reassure local residents that there is an authoritative presence.

"One of the main problems in society today is the lack of authority figures that people used to respect. Face Lift helps to redress this situation in some of our most deprived estates" - Paul Dandy

Use of new and old powers

Wigan Council got the idea of using an environmental week to tackle signal crimes from the National Reassuring Policing Programme (NRPP). Face Lift also made use of the new powers vested in local authorities in the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 as well as existing powers through the Environmental Protection Act 1990 in order to issue more fixed penalties for littering.

On the anti-social behaviour side, Wigan Council is more interested in the reassurance agenda, that is, having a visible presence, door knocking, and establishing relationships between the police, statutory agencies and residents. The council will and has imposed ASBOs, but does not put an emphasis on them.

The campaign must go on

The team behind the campaign believes that the scheme must go on to make the improvements last. A small, cross-agency team has been set up and deployed in one of the areas to sustain the increased expectations of the community. Predominantly this team will take referrals of anti-social behaviour and environmental degradation.

Moreover, a team has been established through Neighbourhood Renewal Funding (NRF) that will work to improve the quality of the environment in Wigan, adding to the sustainability of Face Lift.

Key new objectives will include reducing anti-social behaviour further, encouraging more members of the public to engage in activities on the estates, the introduction of Green Gyms and engaging with young people and a possibility of training them in more vocational studies such as horticulture or sustainable development.

Placing community at heart

"Placing the local community at the heart of the decision-making process is demonstrably the best way to improve LEQ [local environmental quality] and reduce ASB [anti-social behaviour]. Working in any area needs a high commitment of staff in order to build relationships with the community. Only when this has occurred will the community begin to trust statutory agencies" - Paul Dandy

Paul’s team has produced an evidence document pack explaining how Face Lift has worked in Wigan.

For more information, please contact Paul Dandy at p.dandy@wiganmbc.gov.uk