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 • 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…

PSPOs

Birmingham’s ban on peddling restricts our statutory rights

This is a guest post by Robert Campbell-Lloyd, administrator of pedlars.info, outlining his objections to Birmingham Council’s proposed ban on peddling in the city centre. Birmingham Council’s proposal to ban all peddling within the city centre is unlawful, unreasonable and unnecessary. Here are my objections to the measure below: 1. The PSPO unlawfully conflicts with the Pedlars Acts 1871 and 1881 The Pedlars Act 1871 establishes the right of individuals to trade as pedlars upon obtaining a Pedlar’s Certificate issued by the police. This right is further reinforced by the Pedlars Act 1881, which explicitly states that a certificated pedlar has the…

PSPOs • Public space

Sheffield Council’s PSPO will be a hard blow for the homeless

Sheffield Council recently introduced a Public Spaces Protection Order that will have a major effect on the lives of homeless people in the city, including bans on begging and loitering. Here is a guest post by Sheffield law lecturer Dr Ben Archer, urging the council to rethink. In April 2025, Sheffield City Council introduced a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) aimed at addressing anti-social behaviour (ASB) in the city centre. The PSPO contains prohibitions on ‘Drinking alcohol in an anti-social manner’, ‘Begging’, ‘Loitering’, ‘Drug use’, ‘Public urination/defecation’, and imposes requirements to ‘Provide your details’ and ‘Leave the restricted area’. Punishment for breach…

Dispersal powers • Public space

Doncaster council’s draconian dispersal form

This is the form that Doncaster Council ‘city centre engagement officers’ use to bar people from the city centre. It shows that the pettiest council officers are being given absolute powers to order people around. The officer can ban someone if the officer thinks that the person ‘is likely to cause annoyance’ to any other person. The form allows the officer to specify when the person must leave the area (immediately/in 15 mins/30 mins/1 hour) The officer must state the ‘anti-social behaviour giving rise to the dispersal’ (this is the only slight requirement of evidence, but given the broad nature of the…

Briefings • Dispersal powers • PSPOs • Public space

Doncaster officers issue more dispersals than most police authorities

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…

On-the-spot fines • PSPOs

Cyclist fined by ‘cowboy’ warden in Colchester

A resident of Colchester was fined by ‘cowboy’ private enforcement officers for cycling in Colchester town centre. Read his testimony below: I was handed a PSPO ticket (under Section 59 of the Anti-Social Behavior, Crime and Policing Act 2014) for cycling up West Stockwell Street on 3rd June 2024, and then onto the high street. I had given way to the pedestrians during joining the high street, but did not dismount. I then crossed the road to the cycle rack opposite West Stockwell street, and went to lock my bike to the rack. I was then stopped and spoken to as I…

Busking • PSPOs

Busker gets fine for playing outside Bruce Springsteen concert

This is a testimony from David Fisher, busker and director of Keep Streets Live, who was issued with a £100 on-the-spot fine for playing outside Wembley Stadium. David has launched a Downing Street petition asking the Home Office to ban fining for profit for PSPO enforcement. Sign and share his petition. On the 25th July 2024 I travelled to Wembley Stadium with the intention of busking outside a Bruce Springsteen concert. I’ve done this many times before throughout all of Europe and always been met with a very positive response, as well as being willing to make accommodations with local officers/security guards…