Community wardens have established themselves across Scotland as key players in tackling anti-social behaviour, a first national conference of wardens heard in Glasgow.
Deputy Justice Minister Hugh Henry promised that more warden posts would be created to add to the 400 already in place and another 150 which have been approved.
Mr Henry said: "Community wardens have been a success story across Scotland. They have already established themselves as trusted resources for the community, dealing effectively with antisocial behaviour.
"Every council in Scotland has now appointed community wardens. Around 400 wardens are already in place and within the next few months, a total of 550 wardens funded by the Scottish Executive will be patrolling Scotland’s streets.
"All are helping to improve the quality of life and local environments. All are helping to reassure communities that local authorities and the Executive are on their side.
"But as a relatively recent development, we realise that there is scope for ensuring that all local schemes are working as effectively as they can.
"There is scope for sharing experiences between schemes so that the rest can learn from the best.
"We need more hard evidence that we’re doing things well, that local schemes are operating as effectively as they can. For example, the evaluation undertaken in Renfrewshire showed the positive impact of community wardens.
"Results like those are testament to the effectiveness of community wardens in rebuilding respect in our communities, in preventing antisocial behaviour and giving communities the confidence to take on the small minority whose behaviour blights the lives of the hard-working majority.
"Where local successes can provide national lessons then we must share them. Working together we can help deliver a safer, stronger Scotland."
Community wardens can undertake a variety of tasks. Local authorities, together with the police, their community planning partners and local communities decide on local priorities and precise duties which may be quite different in Glasgow, say, compared to the Western Isles.
The Executive adds that it has committed almost £22 million to support the deployment of community wardens across Scotland as part of its strategy to tackle antisocial behaviour.
