This week, the Crime and Policing Bill is passing through the ping pong stage in the Commons and Lords. This bill will increase the penalties for Public Spaces Protection Orders – which ban activities such as standing in groups, feeding birds, or loitering – from £100 to £500. Most of these penalties are currently issued by private companies on commission – the company is paid a portion (normally 80-90%) of penalty income, and therefore has a direct incentive to issue as many penalties as possible. The Liberal Democrat peer Tim Clement Jones introduced an amendment to prevent private companies from directly profiting…

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…