The Government is consulting on graffiti.
The Home Office says that chronic graffiti can lead to an area becoming more and more run-down, with a corresponding increase in crime and fear of crime. Untackled graffiti undermines faith in the services that authorities provide.
That is why Sections 48, 49, 50, 51 and 52 of the Anti-social Behaviour Act 2003 (“the Act”) enable a local authority to serve a “graffiti removal notice” on the owners of street furniture, statutory undertakers and educational institutions whose property is defaced with graffiti. The notice requires the owners to remove the graffiti within 28 days. If the person responsible for the property fails to remove the graffiti, the local authority can intervene, clean up the graffiti and recover reasonable costs.
In response to concerns about the regulatory impact of these powers, the Home Office says it decided to pilot these powers before a wider roll-out. The pilot was in 12 authorities from March 2004. Your views are invited, before December 31. You can download the consultation paper at the Home Office address:
