This afternoon, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between HM Government of Gibraltar’s Housing Department and the Royal Gibraltar Police was signed by the Principal Housing Officer, Mrs Geraldine Reading and the Commissioner of Police, Richard Ullger in the presence of the Minister for Housing, the Hon Steven Linares MP.

The aim of the MOU is to establish a formal basis on which the two parties can work together with the objective of creating peaceful, fair and cohesive neighbourhoods within the Housing Department’s communities.

The MOU plans to achieve this by regular meetings between the Housing Department and the RGP and at these meetings they will work together to:

• Increase individual’s knowledge and understanding of issues within their community.

• Develop a common understanding of anti-social behaviour and its impact on HMGoG tenants

• Facilitate the resolution of disputes between individuals

• Help people to better understand the roles of the Housing Department and the RGP, thereby promoting public confidence in both agencies.

Both parties have said they recognise that they are likely to be dealing with some information which will be of a sensitive and confidential nature so the MOU expressly stipulates that no such information will be passed to any third party without full authorisation. In addition, the sharing of any information between the Housing Department and the RGP will always conform to the requirements of the Data Protection Act 2004.