Anti-social behaviour case review delay explained

Just days before it was due to begin, one part of the Crime and Policing Act 2026 has been put on hold. According to the statutory instrument published on legislation.gov.uk and signed by Home Office minister Sarah Jones on 21 October 2026, the planned 26 October 2026 start date for section 6 and Schedule 3 has been removed. If that sounds like a tiny legal edit, it helps to pause here. This change means a new process linked to anti-social behaviour case reviews in England and Wales is not starting yet, even though it had already been scheduled.

The amendment is short, but it does something specific. It changes an earlier set of regulations - the Crime and Policing Act 2026 (Commencement No. 3 and Saving Provisions) Regulations 2026, listed as S.I. 2026/960 - by deleting regulation 4(f) and regulation 4(i). Those were the lines that would have switched section 6 and Schedule 3 on from 26 October 2026. **What this means:** we are not looking at a brand-new policy announcement here. The government has not rewritten section 6 or cancelled Schedule 3 in this document. It has simply taken away their start date, and in law that can make all the difference.

So what was delayed? The explanatory note says section 6 would introduce a new process for a further review of anti-social behaviour case reviews carried out under section 104 of the Anti-social Behaviour, Policing and Crime Act 2014. Schedule 3 would add the working detail: how those reviews should be carried out, what procedures need to be in place, and what consultation duties apply. In plainer English, the law was preparing a new way to take a second look at how an anti-social behaviour case review had been handled. It was also setting out the rules around that extra layer of scrutiny, so this was not just a cosmetic change.

If you are new to this area, the phrase 'case review' can feel dense. An anti-social behaviour case review is the process used when someone believes repeated reports of anti-social behaviour have not been dealt with properly by the agencies involved. The delayed reform was about what happens after that review, not about rewriting every anti-social behaviour power overnight. That distinction matters because technical legal notices can make small changes sound bigger than they are, or hide important delays in dry language. Here, the source text is narrow but meaningful: it is about review procedures and accountability, not new offences or wider policing powers.

Commencement regulations are one of those parts of law-making most people never get taught. Parliament can pass an Act, but different sections of that Act often begin on different dates. A commencement regulation is the formal switch that tells everyone when a particular section actually starts to operate. Once you know that, this instrument becomes much easier to read. By removing the switch-on wording from the earlier regulations, ministers have delayed the effect of section 6 and Schedule 3 without reopening the whole Crime and Policing Act 2026.

For now, the practical result is simple: on 26 October 2026, the new further review process will not come into force in England and Wales. People working in policing, councils, housing, community safety and victim support will need to keep using the current arrangements until the government brings these provisions in on a later date. **What this means for you:** if you were expecting a new review route to open this month, it will not. The explanatory note is clear that these provisions are meant to be brought into force later, so this is a delay rather than a cancellation, but no replacement date has been given yet.

The explanatory note also says no separate full impact assessment has been produced for this amending instrument. The reason given is that the wider impact was already considered as part of the broader Crime and Policing Act 2026 package, and this specific amendment is not expected to have a significant effect on the private, voluntary or public sector. That may sound procedural, but it tells us something useful. The Home Office is treating this as an administrative postponement rather than a major policy reversal. So the next thing to watch is simple: a fresh commencement date. Until that appears in another legal instrument, the reform exists on paper, but not yet in practice.