Agenda item

To consider the following Community Safety related reports scheduled for Cabinet consideration on 23 June 2021:

•   Public Spaces Protection Order

The O&S Board is asked to scrutinise the reports and make recommendations to Cabinet as appropriate.

Cabinet member invited to attend for this item: Councillor M Haines, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety

The Cabinet report for this item is included with the agenda for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Board.

Public Spaces Protection Order – The Portfolio Holder for Community Safety presented a report a copy of which had been circulated to Board Members and a copy of which appeared at Appendix C to these minutes in the Minute Book. The Portfolio Holder highlighted the key points within the report and responded to questions raised in the subsequent discussion including:

·       Four areas had been excluded as there was very few reports of any alcohol related anti-social behaviour in these wards. There was therefore no justification for having a PSPO in those areas. A Board member asked about the statistics for these and other wards in terms of reports of anti-social behaviour. The Portfolio Holder advised that she did not have the information immediately available, but officers would be asked to provide this information to Board members.

·       There were some concerns raised that there may be displacement into the ward areas which were not covered by the PSPOs, but this was thought unlikely due to the nature of the PSPO and the locations of the wards in question.

·       A Councillor commented on the limitations of the PSPOs being suggested in that they only dealt with one specific activity and asked the Portfolio Holder whether there had been any progress with other issues such as beach camping. The Portfolio Holder advised of the pre-existence of other legislation and by-laws which were causing issues with this. Where there was existing legislation PSPOs should not be used. There was overnight security patrolling the beach and they were giving overnight wakeup calls to those staying on the beach. The by-laws were working; however, it was noted that they may not work every time. Work was underway to recruit a CSAS officer to deal with parks and open spaces. There was also a piece of work which had just started to look at all by-laws within BCP, there was a process of unpicking them to see how to take them forward.

·       A Board member asked about the signs in Bournemouth Square indicating that no alcohol was allowed and there was the ability to confiscate alcohol. It was noted that these signs were from the old PSPO and would need to be changed once the new PSPO was introduced.

·       It was noted that if there was persistent anti-social behaviour then a warning would be issued. If it persisted the perpetrator would be issued with a formal notice, further instances would result in being issued with an ASB injunction and if this was breached, they could be taken to court.

·       It was noted that the issue was with behaviour rather than with drinking.  This would work better than previous PSPOs because it was targeted more appropriately and there were now more CSAS officers working in the town centres. They could also move around to particular hotspots.

The Board noted that the PSPO looked good and provided a safe middle ground, but it was essential that it shouldn’t be used to target certain groups of people. It was noted that the PSPOs would be used to target behaviours and not individuals. The Board members also commented that it was essential that appropriate training was in place to ensure that the PSPO was enforced effectively.