PSPOs

The Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 includes a swathe of unprecedentedly open-ended powers, which significantly undermine rights in public spaces.

The Manifesto Club is focusing on ‘Public Spaces Protection Orders’ (PSPOs), which give local authorities the power to ban any activity they judge to have a ‘detrimental effect’ on the ‘quality of life’ of a locality.

See our briefing document – Buskers and homeless under threat from new ASB powers

PSPOs

‘Excessive honking’ and other new car-crimes

Tandridge District Council is considering a ban on ‘excessive horn honking’, which means drivers could be fined £100 pounds (soon to be £500) if they are judged to be honking their horn too much. According to new research, 39 other councils have seen fit to bring through a similar ban on honking, under new laws designed to stop ‘car cruising’. Vicky Heap from Sheffield Hallam University, and Clare Farmer from Deakin University in Australia, analysed the 69 active Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) that include ‘car cruising’ prohibitions. Although the justification for car cruising orders is to tackle car events including racing…

Free speech • PSPOs

Leicester Council denies political party right to campaign in city centre

Leicester City Council has a draconian Public Spaces Protection Order, which bans political groups from putting up banners or holding campaigning stalls in the city centre. So far, dozens of religious groups have been given warnings, and at least one political campaigner was fined when she refused to take down her ‘unauthorised’ campaigning table. (She has refused to pay the fine and is challenging the council to prosecute her). In theory, people can apply for permission from the council to hold a political stall, use amplification, or display a flag or banner. Leicester activist Michael Barker recently applied to hold a stall…

Briefings • PSPOs

Lords debate hike in ‘busybody’ fines

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…

PSPOs

Peak District ban on stoves threatens youth outdoor activities

Two Peak District councils have introduced a blanket ban on the use of any ‘naked flame’. We received an email from a local walker, who is concerned that these orders will affect youth outdoor activities such as Duke of Edinburgh (who tend to carry small gas stoves), as well as warm-up stops for youth groups and conservation volunteers, and outdoor training in fire and stove use for children and adults. This is a matter of using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. It is perfectly possible to use camping stoves safely, and this PSPO could have some very perverse unintended consequences. It…

PSPOs • Public space

Birmingham’s draconian plan to ban busking in the city centre

Birmingham Council is planning a Public Spaces Protection Order that will prohibit people from ‘using amplification equipment, musical instruments or other items used as musical instruments’ in the city centre. This will include ‘Noise associated with busking; street entertaining, street preaching and public speaking’. Here is a guest blog post by David Fisher, busker and director of Keep Streets Live. When Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) were introduced in 2014, they came with assurances that they should not be used against buskers who were not causing anti-social behaviour. At the time, buskers were sceptical about whether this advice would be always followed.…

CPNs • Policy response • PSPOs

Manifesto Club statement on Respect Orders

As we outlined in our recent briefing, Respect Orders are largely a replica of an existing power: the ASB Injunction (ASBI). Our research on ASBIs (written by University of York academics) shows that these powers have been subject to widespread overuse, including cases of people being imprisoned for feeding the birds, going into a prohibited area, sleeping rough, or in one case merely for asking for 50p. The majority of defendants were not represented in the breach hearing that led to their prison sentence. It is our view that Respect Orders will reproduce – and increase – the existing problems seen with…

CPNs • Dispersal powers • Policy response • PSPOs

ASB Powers Guidance: The civil liberties protections that are ignored

Anti-social behaviour powers such as Community Protection Notices (CPNs) and Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) allow officers to impose legal restrictions if they think someone’s behaviour is having a ‘detrimental effect’ on the ‘quality of life’. These powers are incredibly broad, but there are a number of important civil liberties protections in the Statutory Guidance. Unfortunately, these protections are generally ignored. We are calling on the Home Office and MPs to ensure that Statutory Guidance is respected, including through amendments to the current Crime and Policing Bill. Here is an outline of protections in the Statutory Guidance. 1. There should be no…