‘Fining for profit’ is rampant in the UK. The vast majority of fines for litter and ASB offences are now given out by private companies, who are paid per fine. The company isn’t paid by the council – and they put up…
We recently received this email from a mother in Cornwall, who was issued with an ASB warning and two Community Protection Warnings banning her from reporting stalking incidents to the council or police. This case shows how authorities are using these powers to silence people, including people trying to report crimes. Because ASB powers are so open-ended, they can be used to suit the convenience of local authorities and the police where they perceive a member of the public to be ‘difficult’. This shows that the powers are not serving victims of offences – or those trying to report offences – but…
This guidance is based on the Manifesto Club report, Gatekeepers: How Councils are Controlling Access to the Public Square, which found that restrictions on political stalls are now the norm across England and Wales. This guidance is to help councils work towards a more liberal approach to local campaigning, which encourages local engagement and democracy as well as respects free speech. The importance of the public square Public squares, pavements and pedestrianised areas have traditionally been venues where citizens, campaigners, political parties, community groups and others can engage with the public, hand out leaflets, show banners, run street stalls and talk with…
(Guest post by Brian Mooney) My borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (H&F) has decided to spend millions on Artificial Intelligence (AI)-linked CCTV cameras and Live Facial Recognition that can pick out individuals – which are controversial due to concerns over accuracy. The council’s Cabinet report also proposed to use AI-linked cameras to enable automatic vehicle tracking and GPS tagging. It also pushes for surveillance drones, even though the whole borough sits within a congested ‘restricted flight zone’ with special permission needed. The stated purpose of all this tech is to work with the police (eg ‘identifying the routes taken by criminals’), even…
A decade ago, anyone could set up a table in the town square and engage passers-by. Now, councils are replacing open public space with ‘event zones’ that must be booked and approved. Our new report found that out of 321 councils surveyed in England & Wales: Only 19 councils (8%) allowed genuinely informal campaigning without fees or prior vetting — the vast majority impose red-tape, fees, licensing or outright bans. How control works 1. ‘Licensed’ event spaces replace the public square Councils now designate specific locations as ‘events’ or ‘promotions’ zones, which people have to apply to use. Everywhere else is off-limits.…
Clause 4 of the Crime and Policing Bill includes a substantial increase in penalties for breach of Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO) and Community Protection Notices (CPNs), from £100 to £500. The main result of this change will be more people getting massive fines for dubious non-offences such as having a messy garden, begging, standing in groups and ‘idling’. These penalties will be largely issued by dodgy private enforcement companies who are paid per fine. The Bill is now in the Lords, and two peers – Lord Tim Clement Jones and Baroness Claire Fox – have introduced Committee Stage amendments to remove…
We have been touch with Nigel and Sheila Jacklin since 2018, when they were issued with an order banning them from going to their local beach. The police have pursued cases against the Jacklins for the past 8 years, including two prosecutions alleging that Sheila’s gestures of Hindu prayer were ‘rude’ hand gestures. This must be one of the worst cases of police corruption that we have come across, in terms of the repeated and petty targeting of people over such a long time for their everyday actions. Here is an account by Nigel of the events of the past 8 years….…
The Crime and Policing Bill will introduce a swathe of liberty-robbing measures: it will create absurd new crimes, new blank-cheque powers, and out-of-proportion new penalties. Here is the Manifesto Club’s briefing in advance of the House of Lords Second Reading on 16 October, highlighting some parts of the Bill that are particularly concerning. Increase in fines for ‘busybody’ offences from £100 to £500 (Clause 4) Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) allow local authorities to ban particular activities in a particular area, if they believe that an activity is having a ‘detrimental effect on the quality of life’. Community Protection Notices (CPNs) can…
Councils are using Public Spaces Protection Orders to introduce a swathe of new restrictions on countryside activities. These new orders significantly affect people’s ability to enjoy the freedom of wild open spaces, and even in some cases to stay safe in these…
The Manifesto Club has previously published reports by academics at the University of York and Coventry, which found that people are being imprisoned for anodyne actions such as feeding the birds or asking for 50p. These imprisonments were for breach of a Civil Injunction, a power contained in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act. The Civil Injunction will soon be replaced by Respect Orders, currently passing through parliament; it is our view that Respect Orders will make such unjust imprisonments even more likely. One of the most striking cases in these previous reports was that of Ms Reilly, a homeless woman…
I have received an email from a man whose deaf son was issued with an order banning him from playing ‘loud amplified music’ from his property. The father says: My son lives in a house which we bought for him in 2019, it is a nice neighbourhood mainly made up of older people. My son is 30 years old and is deaf by birth; he wears a cochlear implant, and also has severe anxiety and diagnosed ADHD, both of which he takes medication for. He has received a warning letter and now a Community Protection Notice relating to ‘loud amplified music’, which he…
After the case of a man fined £500 for fly tipping when an envelope blew out of his bin, a similar thing has happened to a lady in Enfield. This case is even worse, however, since the council seems to be partly at fault for the incident. The lady’s bin had been broken – along with her neighbours’ bins – when a car crashed into the front garden in December, and the council failed to replace the bins for several months. In April, a letter that she had placed in her bin was found on the ground by enforcement agents, and she…