Richmond Council’s abortion clinic PSPO: Manifesto Club response

Richmond council is planning a PSPO targeting anti-abortion protests outside an abortion clinic on Rosslyn Road. Here is the Manifesto Club response to this proposal. Dear Richmond Council, The Manifesto Club would like to register its opposition to your proposed text for a PSPO, on the grounds that the text is too broad, and fails to target harmful or nuisance detrimental behaviour. We specifically object to the prohibition on Protesting, namely engaging in any act of approval or disapproval or attempted act of approval or disapproval, with respect to issues related to abortion services, by any means, including, without limitation, graphic, verbal…

The problems that remain with Nottingham’s PSPO

So far as we know, Nottingham City Council last night rubber stamped a PSPO regulating busking, begging, leafleting, and other activities in the city centre. After fierce opposition and criticism (including from the Manifesto Club, Keep Streets Live and the Musicians’ Union), the council reduced some of the conditions. These changes include – – A removal of the requirement to gain consent before handing out religious, charitable or political leaflets; – A removal of the requirement to busk in designated busking sites. Instead, busking is banned in two small areas, including next to the town hall. Yet significant problems remain with the…

Response to Nottingham Council’s crackdown on busking, begging and leafleting

Nottingham City council is planning a wide-ranging PSPO, cracking down on busking, leafleting, begging and charity collection. The council employs over 100 community protection officers, who are notoriously heavy-handed and will make these prohibitions count. You can view the PSPO here, and send your submissions to the council by 3 October. The Manifesto Club response is below. We will be working with the organisation Keep Streets Live, and with local residents, to oppose this PSPO.   Dear Nottingham City Council, Here is a response from the Manifesto Club, regarding your proposed draft PSPO. Restriction on busking: We do not think that it…

‘Helping’ the homeless by fining them

The new Home Office Statutory Guidance included a restriction on councils using PSPOs to target the homeless. Some councils have heeded this, and withdrawn or modified PSPOs that affect homeless people. But others seem to have taken another approach: they introduce a PSPO banning begging or rough sleeping, but insist that they are only doing it to help and support homeless people. Doncaster Council has brought though a PSPO that bans sleeping overnight in  the town centre, begging, lying or sitting in or adjacent to doorways. This amounts to an outright ban on homelessness, yet the council insists that it is doing…

It is terrifying that the police can now make the law

In theory, a PSPO is a power used by councils, on the basis that they are democratically elected institutions. Before passing the PSPO, the council must consult the local police force, in order to check that they are able to enforce it. The reality, however, is that police forces are becoming actively involved in the writing of these laws. In Cheshire West and Chester, a PSPO (which included a ban on rough sleeping, begging, and busking outside of designated pitches) was proposed in a report by a local chief inspector. Police influence is the reason for the frequent appearance of a dispersal…

The myth of ‘aggressive begging’

‘Aggressive begging’ has been the target of a series of PSPOs (either the PSPO bans aggressive begging, or aggressive begging is used as the justification for a ban on begging as a whole). But what exactly is ‘aggressive begging’? The Oxford Council PSPO defines aggressive begging as including ‘begging near a cash machine’. Exeter Council includes in its definition behaviour that is ‘intimidating by being passive aggressive, such as standing or sitting in close proximity (ie within 5 meters to a cash machine’. Newport Council’s PSPO extends the range even further, defining aggressive begging as begging within 10 metres of a cashpoint.…

Dog owners to be searched and scanned

Two current consultations – in Hartlepool and Blackpool – propose interfering and controlling PSPOs that are directed at dog owners. Both draft PSPOs extend the areas within which dog owners cannot walk their dogs, or must walk their dogs on a lead. In addition, both include a requirement for dog owners to produce a ‘means to pick up’ dog mess on request. If they refuse to do so, they will be fined. Both PSPOs also include a power for council owners to scan dog microchips – to obtain certain identity for the owner, and also to issue a fine if the dog…

Letter to councils against abortion clinic ‘buffer zones’

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…

PSPOs criminalise punt touts and A-boards

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…

The inhumane criminalisation of the homeless – latest news

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…