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 power they could write anything).

The officer also gets to choose the area from which the person is excluded from; the length of time for which they are excluded; and any specified route by which they must leave the area.

The form states that failure to comply with whatever the officer happens to ask of you is a criminal offence – with a ‘max £1000 fine’ and £100 on-the-spot fine.

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

The Manifesto Club is campaigning against dispersal powers – we don’t agree with them for the police, and especially not for council officials.