Completed
Croydon town centre Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) consultation August 2017
Aug 30 2017 to Oct 15 2017
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Community and life events, Environment
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A PSPO allows the council and the police to introduce new measures to reduce street drinking and antisocial behaviour which we believe will help to improve this public space for the wider community.
The PSPO will replace the existing Town Centre Controlled Drinking Zone (also known as Designated Public Place Orders) which puts restrictions on street drinking.
What will happen to the information you receive?
The consultation responses received from residents and those who visit, work or study in the town centre, will be analysed and used as part of the council’s decision making process at the Cabinet meeting to be held on 20 November 2017.
What is a Public Space Protection Order (PSPO)?
PSPOs were created by the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, (section 59) to replace existing legislation and to introduce wider discretionary powers to deal with any particular nuisance or problem that is detrimental to the local community’s quality of life.
The legislation is intended to ensure that the law-abiding majority can use and enjoy public spaces, safe from anti-social behaviour.
The law requires the order must be in writing, and it must be published. Reasonable signage must also be put up in the area.
A breach of the PSPO is a criminal offence, which can be dealt with, either by way of a fixed penalty notice (FPN) of £80 or prosecution. If prosecuted, an individual could be liable to a fine no higher than £1,000. Only those aged over 18 or over can be issued with a FPN.
How is a PSPO put in place?
The test for issuing the order, is when the local authority believes that ongoing anti-social behaviour harms the local community’s quality of life, will be ongoing, or happens regularly, and that the impact is such, that restrictions should be put in place. Any future changes to the order will require further consultation.
Crime and anti-social behaviour statistics
We analysed crime and anti-social behaviour data for the financial year 2016/17, and identified over 3,220 confirmed crimes within the proposed PSPO area.
39% of the violent offences occurred in North End and the High Street, and 33% of all criminal damage offences recorded within the proposed PSPO area, also occurred in these two locations.
597 calls to the police regarding anti-social behaviour were recorded during this period, of which 370 (62%), were classified as rowdy or inconsiderate behaviour. 31% of the calls to the police for this type of rowdy or inconsiderate behaviour were also linked to North End and the High Street.
We also know that street drinking has a negative effect on the general public and that this type of behaviour is under recorded.
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London Borough of Croydon