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
(Guest post by ‘Blackpool Orders for Dog Control Action Group’) Residents of Blackpool are joining the facebook group ‘Blackpool Orders for Dog Control Action Group’ in opposition to the council’s draconian proposals to exclude dogs from parks, bridle-paths and other open spaces to…
Guest blogpost from Joanne Bell, Dog Walkers Alliance, North Devon: “Dog Walkers Alliance’ has been campaigning for six years against Instow Parish Council, who are trying to ban dogs on Instow Beach merely because a minority on this council hate dogs. This is a tidal estuary…
The Manifesto Club was a signatory on a letter to councils considering PSPOs outside abortion clinics – along with co-signatories Big Brother Watch, Index on Censorship, Peter Tatchell, and the Freedom Association. The letter was sent to the following councils: Lambeth, Richmond, Southwark, Portsmouth, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds. To whom it may concern, We are writing to express our grave concern about your council’s plans to introduce a PSPO targeting protest outside an abortion clinic. We respect a woman’s right to abortion, and her right to seek this service safely, without obstruction or harassment. However, we are also defenders the rights to…
Cambridge Council has issued 78 fines for punt touting, since the ban was brought through in 2016. There have also been seven convictions of the offence of verbal punt touting in the city centre. The fines for breaking the PSPO have now been used to pay for a ‘new dedicated punt tout enforcement officer’, with sole responsibility for catching people illegally offering people a ride in a punt. This is a classic case of officious laws being used to support an officious bureaucracy. A Colchester trader is refusing to pay the fine for A-boards, issued under the council’s PSPO. The cafe owner…
An investigation by the Guardian has found that over 50 councils have introduced PSPOs targeting the homeless, and have issued hundreds of fines and prosecutions. These included a man imprisoned in Gloucester for begging, and another man fined when a child dropped a two-pound coin on his sleeping bag. The quotes from homeless people in Kettering are particularly striking, as they described how the PSPO had made their lives increasingly difficult, with fines for sleeping in doorways and the threat of prison for begging. (Kettering Council bragged about how many people it had taken to court for breaching the PSPO, who received fines of…
Well done to the Kennel Club for leading the first successful legal challenge of a PSPO. The Richmond PSPO was so broad that it prohibited dogs from ‘annoying’ other dogs; and also prohibited any form of ‘damage’ to grass, which could include dog urination (see our post on the PSPO text). The judge has now struck out these conditions. This is an impressive achievement, since the grounds for legal appeal are very narrow, and the process fraught with risk and financial cost. The Kennel Club has been courageous and did a very good job putting together the legal…
Ealing Council launched a public consultation on its proposed PSPO outside a Marie Stopes abortion clinic. The draft PSPO would prevent all pro-life gatherings and vigils in the vicinity of the clinic. Here is a summary of our response to the consultation below. Dear Ealing Council We have grave reservations about your planned PSPO, and believe that it is not justified under existing Statutory Guidance. We visited the site for several hours, and found the protests to be respectful and calm, and not disruptive or harassing. There was one vigil member by the gate, who offered a leaflet to women entering the clinic,…
An increasing number of Community Protection Notices (CPNs) are being issued to homeless people, forcing them out of town centres or even putting them in jail. Recent cases include: A homeless pavement artist was chased out of Chelmsford by a CPN warning,…
There are new calls to crack down on the traditional practice of sheep commoning in the Forest of Dean (when sheep wander around grazing on open land). The council had previously attempted to issue a PSPO, which would have banned sheep from a particular area. The PSPO was fought by the Sheep Commoners Association, with its secretary Mick Holder saying: PSPOs are a disaster for our sheep and shepherds, they challenge ancient rights and could effectively bring to an end generations of sheep commoning in the Forest of Dean. Sheep ‘badgers’, the name given to sheep commoners, are generally responsible people who work…
PSPOs have created hundreds of new criminal offences, including begging, standing in groups, even wearing head coverings. Once an order is created, these non-harmful activities then become subject to fines, police action, and courts. Magistrates are now hearing the cases of people who violated a PSPO, by doing nothing more ordinary than being found in a park, or putting a hat out to beg. This includes one lady in Exeter: Maria Johnson, Age: 51. On 22/01/2018 at Cathedral Green, Exeter, without reasonable excuse, refused to leave the dispersal area as requested in the relevant time which you were prohibited from doing by a…
In the wake of the government’s new statutory guidance (which stated that PSPOs should not be used to target the homeless), several councils have abandoned plans to fine people for rough sleeping. Many of these councils were also responding to opposition from members of the public, and lively debates within council chambers. Tunbridge Wells decided against fining people for sleeping in shop doorways. Dacorum Council has backtracked on plans to fine people for rough sleeping in Hemel Hempstead, after considering the new Home Office guidance. Windsor Council u-turned on plans to ban homeless people in the run-up to the royal wedding, after…
Gloucester City Council is planning a PSPO which would ban begging, assertive charity collection, and give council officers the power to remove homeless people’s unattended belongings. The consultation is available here (open until 2 April). Here below is our response to the consultation. Dear Gloucester City Council We have severe concerns about elements of your draft PSPO, which we believe are illiberal, unnecessary, and in violation of the new government statutory guidance governing this area. There is a requirement in the new statutory guidance that the ‘councils should ensure that the Order is appropriately worded so that it targets the specific behaviour…