Scotland’s biggest social landlord and Strathclyde Police are joining forces to tackle anti-social behaviour and make GHA communities across the city safer.

Chief Constable Stephen House and GHA Chair Gordon Sloan signed a formal partnership which will see 15 officers – 12 constables, two sergeants and an inspector - seconded to GHA for three years to work alongside housing staff on issues blighting our tenants’ lives and neighbourhoods.

The citywide roll-out of the Community Improvement Partnership comes after an earlier pilot project in the East End, Drumchapel and Milton.

The pilots showed that by sharing skills and knowledge, GHA and police were able to respond more effectively to the issues which our tenants see as being most important such as anti-social behaviour, noisy parties, disorder and drug dealing.

A survey in pilot areas showed tenant satisfaction with their local neighbourhood as a place to live increased from 63% to 84%. The percentage of residents who did not feel safe at night fell from 32% to 10%.

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The roll-out of the partnership will see housing officers and police officers share intelligence across the city, identify troublespots and take appropriate action to deal with issues causing the biggest problems for our tenants.

The seconded police officers complement frontline policing and are an addition to, rather than a replacement for, officers deployed in the area.

GHA Chair Gordon Sloan said: "Our partnership allows us to work side by side with the police to tackle priorities in our neighbourhoods, the issues that our tenants and factored homeowners are telling us are causing them misery.

"Together we will use our expertise to find different solutions that will rid individual communities of the problems they face.

"Sometimes that might mean arresting people or in some cases, such as drug dealing, evicting offenders from their homes.

"But it will also be about working together to help those who are vulnerable and just need extra support to change their behaviour."

Strathclyde Chief Constable Stephen House said: "Our focus is on Keeping People Safe and the partnership we have with GHA helps us in our endeavour to place officers at the very heart of communities.

"It allows our officers to step in where a crime may have been committed and work with our partner agencies to make sure the people in our communities are getting the right support from the correct agencies."

Strathclyde Fire and Rescue is also a key partner in the Community Improvement Partnership with a senior fire officer seconded to GHA to help tenants cut the risk of fire in their home.

Home Fire Safety Visits are being rolled out to tenants – with more than 1500 carried out so far - as part of the partnership.

Other measures being taken include installing sprinkler systems in bin stores and fire awareness training for housing staff and wardens.

(GK)