Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will (a) review and (b) update the definition of anti-social behaviour in the (i) Antisocial Behaviour Act 2003 and (ii) Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011.

The Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 was repealed and replaced by the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. Section 2(1) of the 2014 Act defines antisocial behaviour as “a) conduct that has caused, or is likely to cause, harassment, alarm or distress to any person; b) conduct capable of causing nuisance or annoyance to a person in relation to that person’s occupation of residential premises; c) conduct capable of causing housing-related nuisance or annoyance to any person”.

Section 101(2) of the Police Reform and Social Responsibility Act 2011 defines anti-social behaviour as “behaviour by a person which causes or is likely to cause harassment, alarm or distress to one or more other persons not of the same household as the person”.

There are no current plans to amend these definitions.