Regulation of the public square Until 10 years ago, most towns or city centres would have had an area where residents could put up a street stall. There were no fees and the stall-holders didn’t have to ask for permission: so long…
Respect Orders (contained in the Crime and Policing Bill) have been enthusiastically trailed as a new policy mechanism that will tackle the ‘virus that is anti-social behaviour’. However, Respect Orders are not new, but are an almost exact replica of existing ASB…
What are PSPOs? Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) are powers that allow councils to ban activities in public spaces. PSPOs are contained in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, and can be issued if a council official believes activities carried…
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 have a ‘detrimental effect on the quality of life’. (See our Campaign Against Community Protection Notices). The CPN must…
Successive governments have set the police on a dangerous course of ‘fast and loose’ policing. This prioritises the high use of increasingly flexible powers, with low benchmarks for issue, and carrying increasingly heavy penalties. There is no credible official data on the…
1. What are PSPOs? Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) are unprecedentedly ‘blank cheque’ powers, which allow a single council official to ban activities in public spaces. PSPOs are contained in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, and can be issued…
Defra 2019 guidance prohibited the issuing of penalties for financial motives. Yet a new Manifesto Club report finds that council enforcement is ‘more marketised than ever’, with a record number of private companies competing for the right to issue FPNs for environmental and ASB offences. The Manifesto Club report – The Corruption of Punishment 2022 – found a ‘cut throat’ market, with 10 private companies pitching for council enforcement contracts (up from 5 companies in 2018). 90% of councils paid the company per FPN issued, or used another payment system that gave incentives for the company to issue as many fines as…
A new report has identified a dramatic increase in council enforcement powers – yet finds that these powers lack basic checks to ensure they are used fairly and consistently. The report – ‘From ASBOs to Covid Marshals – Are councils becoming too…
The Manifesto Club has partnered academics at Sheffield Hallam University to publish new research that shines a light on Community Protection Notices (CPNs). CPNs are unprecedentedly open-ended powers given to council officials and police officers to impose legal restrictions upon individuals, without…
For the past six years, the Manifesto Club has campaigned against the over-use of powers contained in the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. We particularly raised concerns about Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs) and Community Protection Notices (CPNs). PSPOs allow…
For several years, the Manifesto Club has raised concerns about the practice of local authorities employing private security guards to issue litter fines on their behalf. These private security companies are in general paid per fine: they receive between 50% to 100%…
Summary 1. This report argues that free speech and association are fundamental freedoms – and that they are also essential for the quality and vibrancy of public spaces, contributing towards spaces in which people feel at home, and where they can…