The National Audit Office study is to study the cost-effectiveness of tackling anti-social behaviour.
The NAO reports it will publish findings by the spring of 2007.
The Home Office estimates there are more than 66,000 instances of anti-social behaviour each day, at a direct cost to the victims and the criminal justice system of £1.3 billion a year.
Since 1997, the Home Office has introduced new legal powers for the police and local authorities to deal with anti-social behaviour. The Home Office set up the Anti-Social Behaviour Unit in 2003 to co-ordinate its strategy in the Together Campaign, which has an annual budget of £24 million.
The National Audit Office study will investigate the use of a range of anti-social behaviour interventions, and will be the first research on the cost-effectiveness of individual interventions with the perpetrators of anti-social behaviour. Such interventions include Anti-Social Behaviour Orders, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and Fixed Penalty Notices. An NAO study on this topic will provide local practitioners with reliable data on the costs of interventions and their impact on the behaviour of perpetrators, allowing them to target their resources more effectively. The NAO will include a review of case files, interviews with Anti-Social Behaviour Co-ordinators, and focus groups with local communities.
