Arms Length Management Organisations, including Brent Housing Partnership, are welcoming the Government's announcement yesterday granting new powers for council housing tenants to tackle anti social behaviour.

The new powers, announced by Tony Blair and Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly, will for the first time give ALMOs the power to issue Anti Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs), under an agreement with their local authority.

In the announcement, the Government praised the work of ALMOs across the UK in delivering safer neighbourhoods.

Helen Evans, BHP Managing Director, said: "Brent Housing Partnership (BHP) welcomes the decision to give ALMOs more powers to tackle anti social behaviour on estates we manage."

BHP is already taking action against against anti social behaviour. In the last year BHP has worked with the council to evict four tenants for anti social behaviour, issued five anti social behaviour injunctions, shut down four crack houses, issued two dispersal notices and arranged for four acceptable behaviour contracts to be signed.

Helen said: "BHP has a team of officers who act upon reports of anti social behaviour and take steps to rule it out. We also provide neighbourhood wardens who can respond to incidents of anti social behaviour on estates.

"Our vision is for all our residents to live in communities where they feel safe and are free from crime and the fear of crime."

Commenting on the announcement, Dennis Rees, Chair of the National Federation of ALMOs which has lobbied for the changes on behalf of the 62 ALMOs across the country, said: "Many ALMOs have already introduced groundbreaking programmes that work with both the victims and perpetrators of anti-social behaviour in their local community.

Today's decision is the last stage to streamline this process, giving residents and those people who tackle nuisance behaviour at grassroots level the authority to stand up against it."

Communities Secretary Ruth Kelly said: "ALMOs are integrating with their communities and are helping to create cleaner, greener, safer neighbourhoods.

Importantly ALMOs are taking the lead in developing innovative and successful approaches to tackling anti-social behaviour through the Respect agendas."