Community Safety Team consult on new powers to tackle ASB

As part of the council’s approach to community safety, a consultation has just been launched on Engage Barnet that would give boroughwide powers to enforce against a range of anti-social behaviours – from problem street drinking to dog fouling.

The consultation now underway is asking residents to have their say on the introduction of a borough-wide ‘Public Space Protection Order (PSPO)’.

This is an order made under the Anti-Social Behaviour Crime and Policing Act 2014 that allow designated council and police officers to control activities that are deemed persistent anti-social behaviour, through issuing of advice and if necessary fixed penalty fines and more formal prosecutions for repeat offenders.

The consultation covers a range of anti-social behaviour – including problem street drinking, littering, dog fouling, use of fireworks, using psychoactive substances and aggressive begging – as well as any other behaviour that could cause harassment, alarm or distress.

The consultation can be accessed at engage.barnet.gov.uk and will be open until 24 October. Please make sure you have your say.