Agenda item

Agenda item

Proposed Public Spaces Protection Order - restricting alcohol consumption in public places

Report of the Head of Compliance, Enforcement and Community Safety and Community Safety Lead, Compliance, Enforcement and Community Safety 

 

This report provides information about the outcome of the statutory consultation regarding the potential introduction of a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) to restrict the consumption of alcohol in public places and proposes the introduction of a new PSPO.

Minutes:

The Committee received a report of the Head of Compliance, Enforcement and Community Safety and the Community Safety Lead, Compliance, Enforcement and Community Safety which provided information about the outcome of the statutory consultation regarding the potential introduction of a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) to restrict the consumption of alcohol in public places and proposed the introduction of a new PSPO.

 

The main points and themes within the report included:

 

  • Background information;
  • Early engagement;
  • The statutory PSPO consultation and the responses;
  • Equality Impact Assessment and the European Convention on Human Rights;
  • Risk of displacement;
  • The proposed PSPO;
  • Enforcement; and
  • Next steps.

 

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

 

  • Would there be resources available to enforce the PSPO;
  • That communication with the public needed to make it clear that this was not a ban on drinking alcohol in public places;
  • Was this PSPO necessary and proportionate, given the laws that were already in place on being drunk and disorderly and on anti-social behaviour;
  • How effective had previous PSPOs been;
  • Concern about the wording in the survey and the timing of it during the pandemic when pubs were not open and people’s experience of street drinking was not typical of what it would have been in normal circumstances; and
  • Some Members stating their support for additional powers to address anti-social behaviour and make communities a better place to live, including a suggestion that in some areas officers should work with local bars.

 

The Community Safety Lead informed Members that PSPOs like this had been in place in some parts of the city previously but that these had expired and, that rather than just consulting on extending the existing PSPOs, a decision had been made to consult with residents across the city on whether this would be useful in other areas too.  She advised that engagement and enforcement action in relation to the PSPOs would be targeted, based upon reports of anti-social behaviour, rather than widespread action against anyone who was street drinking and that, where these PSPOs had been in force previously, the police had been able to enforce this within their existing resources.  She recognised that communication was key, including making the public aware that this was something that would be enforced to address anti-social behaviour, rather than being used routinely.  She advised that the existing PSPO in the city centre had been enforced proportionately to tackle problems in particular areas and that a similar approach would be taken if the proposed PSPO was introduced.  The Head of Compliance Enforcement and Community Safety reported that this work would include engaging with people who were street drinking and referring them to support services, where appropriate.  The Executive Member for Neighbourhoods advised that this proposal took into account historical concerns about street drinking, citing examples from his ward, not just concerns raised during the pandemic.

 

The Community Safety Lead advised that this was an additional power that could be used to address anti-social behaviour with a focus on engaging with people to get them to comply rather than on issuing penalties.  She reported that both Council and police officers would use discretion on what tools to use in a particular case, that a breech of the PSPO would only occur if someone refused to surrender their alcohol when asked to do so and that the response could be a warning, a referral to an appropriate agency or a fixed penalty notice and prosecution if appropriate.  She advised that officers believed that the statutory threshold for introducing this PSPO had been met.  She advised that there was not much national data available on the effectiveness of PSPOs but that Manchester had seen some impact from PSPOs and they were seen as a useful tool.  She agreed to take forward a Member’s comments about the importance of clarity in the signage relating to the PSPO.  In response to a Member’s question, she advised that introducing this across the whole city rather than in specific areas reduced the risk of PSPOs just moving the problem elsewhere.

 

Noting that the report recommended that the Committee endorse the proposed decision to make a City Wide PSPO to restrict alcohol consumption in a public place, a Member asked that it be made clear that the Committee endorsed this specifically as a tool to address anti-social behaviour, rather than drinking in public places more broadly.

 

Decision

 

To endorse the proposed decision to make a City Wide PSPO to restrict alcohol consumption in a public place, specifically as a tool to address anti-social behaviour, and that this should be made clear in signage and communication with the public.

Supporting documents: