Councils issue nearly 4,000 community protection notices: report
A campaign group’s Freedom of Information enquires have found that councils issued 3,943 community protection notices (CPN) in the year to October 2015.
The notices were used by 107 councils, which also issued 9,546 warnings that could lead to future notices.
Newham was the most prolific user at 1,486 notices.
According to the Manifesto Club, which campaigns against what it calls “the hyperregulation of everyday life” CPNs carry “such a low burden of proof, and such minimal procedural requirements, that there is a serious danger that it will be used to impose unreasonable restrictions upon law-abiding members of the public”.
CPNs were introduced by the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and allow councils to ban people from acts they deem diminish an area’s quality of life.
Failure to comply is an offence that can lead to an on-spot fine of £100, or prosecution and fines of up to £2,500 for individuals or £20,000 for businesses.
The Manifesto Club said controls on issuing CPNs were lax as it was left to local authorities to establish their own procedures and some gave street wardens template CPNs to issue on their own decision.
Responses to the FoI requests showed CPNs had been used against everything from neighbour disputes to feeding birds.
The campaign group said examples included Newham issuing 1,378 CPNs for waste in front gardens, Tameside for “shouting/swearing/banging that can be heard outside the property”, and Braintree for “excessive dog barking”.
Some councils sought to regulate noise inside a home that could be heard outside.
In one case, the Manifesto Group said a council used a CPN to order the removal of a sign critical of its planning policy on the grounds that the wording was “inflammatory”.
It said some councils used CPNs to target offences covered anyway by criminal law.
The group said councils were “making up the law” and acting inconsistently, giving the example of Newham’s 1,486 CPNs where other London boroughs had issued none.
A Local Government Association spokesman said: “CPNs can be used to address a range of anti-social activities, which are having a detrimental effect on the quality of life of local people.
“Aggressive begging, public drinking or intimidating behaviour are far from trivial matters. Rubbish and waste accumulating in gardens and the spread of non-native invasive species like Japanese knotweed can make the life of neighbours a misery.
“CPNs offer a quicker response to problems raised by local residents and businesses, without the expense and length of time of alternatives such as taking someone to court requires.
“Crime and anti-social behaviour varies from place to place and that is why councils, who know their areas best, are responding in different ways.”
Mark Smulian
