The introduction of Respect Orders today will allow people to be imprisoned for nothing more than entering a particular area of town, asking for 50p, or feeding the birds. We know this because this is exactly what happened under the forerunner of…
The hike in busybody fines From 26 October, councils will be able to issue £500 penalties for ‘busybody’ offences such as swearing, feeding the birds, busking, begging, street preaching, or failing to show a dog poo bag. The current maximum penalty for…
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…
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…
A small group of Doncaster Council officers are issuing more dispersal notices than most police authorities. In 2023, the council’s ‘City Centre Engagement Officers‘ issued 504 orders to people to leave Doncaster city centre for 24 hours. The officers counted 90 breaches, and issued 12 fixed penalty notices for breach. Data from police authorities in the year up to July 2023 found that only four authorities – Hampshire (990 dispersals), Northumbria (833), Norfolk (753), and the Metropolitan Police (522) – issued more dispersal notices than these council officers. The 14 other police authorities able to provide the information issued fewer dispersals than…
New data shows that 25% of all council-issued Community Protection Notices (CPNs) were punished with a £100 on-the-spot fine. Community Protection Notices (CPN) are on-the-spot legal orders that can be issued if a council or police officer judges a person’s conduct to…
Community Protection Notices (CPNs) are on-the-spot legal orders that can be issued on the basis of a police or council officer’s opinion that somebody’s conduct has a ‘detrimental effect on the quality of life’. There is no requirement for the officer to gather evidence, or even to speak to the CPN recipient, before issuing the notice. People have received CPNs banning them from wearing a bikini in their garden, looking at their neighbours, entering the town centre, feeding birds in their garden, or using leather footballs in a school playground. If a person fails to appeal a CPN within a 21-day window…
1. What are CPNs? Community Protection Notices (CPNs) are powers contained in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, imposing legal restrictions or requirements upon individuals. Police and council officers can issue these notices without going through a court, if they…
Labour has introduced an amendment to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill, to allow ‘fast-track’ Public Spaces Protection Orders in the vicinity of schools and vaccination centres. The amendment passed in the Lords, and now stands a real chance of becoming…
Over the past few years, there has been an explosion of private companies issuing fines on behalf of local authorities, and being paid per fine issued. The more fines they issue, the more money they make, which means that they have an…
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill must be stopped at all costs. This Bill would in effect remove the right to protest; it would give police officers the power to ban or place restrictions of their choice upon public demonstrations. This Bill would mean that someone could be locked up for 10 years if they put others ‘at risk of’ disease, or at risk of ‘serious inconvenience’ or ‘serious annoyance’. This Bill comes after freedom of association has effectively been suspended for months, with organisers slapped with £10,000 fines and demonstrations violently broken up by police. This Bill would mean that…