Anti-Social Behaviour Pilots Monitoring and Evaluation Phase 2

In March 2023 the government published the Anti-Social Behaviour Action Plan. Within this it committed £2.5m for a pilot for safer travel which builds on the model established in the West Midlands in 2021 and involves deployment of Transport Safety Officers (TSOs) on the transport network to enforce and help to reduce ASB.

In November 2023 DfT announced that it will be funding four local authority areas to pilot TSOs on their transport network. They are: Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole; Lancashire County Council; Stoke-on-Trent City Council; and a consortium in Essex led by Thurrock Council in partnership with Southend-on-Sea City Council and Essex County Council. Pilots are expected to launch by end-January 2024 and conclude by March 2025.

DfT is also providing funding to Transport for West Midlands to support delivery of the pilot programme, drawing on their experience of setting up the original TSO scheme, and to expand their TSO operation to incorporate a focus on Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG).

The evaluation aims to:

Understand the effectiveness of introducing Transport Safety Officers on local transport networks and the extent to which doing so reduces anti-social behaviour on public transport thereby making it safer for the public.

Identify learn lessons and good practice that can be used to build capability across local government and enable other authorities to roll out similar interventions in their local areas.

Inform future funding and operational decisions relating to deployment of Transport Safety Officers on local transport networks.

The evaluation programme will also feed into the department's work on tackling violence on women and girls on transport, providing valuable evidence about how elements of this intervention can contribute to delivery of specific actions specified in the Transport Champions Recommendations for Tacking Violence Against Women and Girls report and the wider ambition they are seeking to achieve.

Evidence from the evaluation will be used to respond to recommendations 11 and 12 in the Champions' report by providing evidence of the impact of having an increased presence of staff, including those with enforcement powers, on the transport network and the barriers and enablers to establishing effective partnerships between local authorities, police forces and transport operators