More on-the-spot fines for litter, graffiti and fly-tipping have been promised by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
The Home Office has launched an ‘Action Plan’ on anti-social behaviour (ASB), which it describes as an ‘ambitious new approach to working with local agencies to tackle the blight of anti-social behaviour facing communities across England and Wales’. The document does admit that ‘too often, anti-social behaviour goes unchecked or unpunished’.
In a foreword, Mr Sunak wrote that ASB is “not a low-level crime. It is not just a nuisance or irritant. It ruins communities. We need to stamp it out—and we can.” He singled out parks and children’s play areas ‘littered with empty nitrous oxide canisters’, women feeling unsafe, walking alone at night; and businesses having to close because shoppers did not want to go to town centres. He promised ‘hotspot policing to target the worst affected areas. This will start with ten trailblazing places, before rolling out across England and Wales next year.’ A scheme called Immediate Justice will ’make perpetrators repair the damage they have done. They will be forced to pick up litter, wash police cars or clean up graffiti within as little as 48 hours of being caught. Again, this will start in ten places, before being expanded across England and Wales in 2024.’ Those offenders will have to wear ‘jumpsuits or high-vis vests’, while supervised. In fact the Home Office is proposing more money for the dozen-year-old ‘Community Payback’ scheme brought in while Theresa May was Home Secretary, whereby offenders clear wasteland and the like (provided it doesn’t take paid work away from anyone, nor makes anyone a profit).
Mr Sunak promised a ‘zero-tolerance approach’; and in more detail, a ban on nitrous oxide (also known as ‘laughing gas’, it’s proposed to make it a class C, less harmful drug, like khat or steroids; although as the document admits, it’s already illegal to sell nitrous oxide). The fines for litter and graffiti will go up to £500; and for fly-tipping, to £1000. People will be able to report anti-social behaviour with a new digital tool. The Government also proposes to replace the Vagrancy Act, to prohibit organised begging by criminal gangs and begging which causes ‘nuisance’. The Government has launched an ‘expert panel’ to help social housing landlords tackle anti-social behaviour. While the plan only covers England and Wales, the document said it sought ‘a collaborative approach’ with Scotland.
As for who’s going to patrol and enforce all this, the document speaks only in terms of the police, although it does promise more funding for ‘local authority uniformed wardens’, and speaks of wanting to ‘encourage innovative local partnerships and matched investment from business and organisations that will benefit from reduced anti-social behaviour, such as Business Improvement Districts or large retailers’.
Meanwhile; how is the Community Safety Accreditation Scheme (CSAS) being used, and could a change in the law help it, to tackle ASB? That’s among the points in a Home Office consultation document, on community safety partnerships, and powers to tackle ASB. To recap, CSAS is a voluntary scheme whereby Chief Constables can to accredit people – whether local government wardens doing community safety work, or security officers – with limited but targeted powers; such as, to fine people for leaving litter; or, to direct traffic outside football matches. The consultation closes on May 22.
For the 41-page ‘Action Plan’ visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/anti-social-behaviour-action-plan.
Photo by Mark Rowe: public space protection order, Tunbridge Wells.
