The Cabinet considered a report of the Strategic Director (Legal & Democratic Services) requesting that consideration be given to whether the Council should commence statutory consultation on the making of a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) under Section 59 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

In introducing the item, the Leader of the Council explained that the Cabinet had no pre-determined view on the matter and that the recommendation was for consultation to be undertaken before consideration of the possibility of making a PSPO.

It was noted that any PSPO introduced must be focused on anti-social behaviour and that statutory guidance had been taken into account in preparing the report.

Resolved:

1. That consultation be undertaken into the possibility of the Council making a Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) under Section 59 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 in respect of the area and activities detailed in Appendix 2 to the submitted report.

2. That the proposed consultation process be as set out in section 3.5(e) of the report.

3. That the consultation process to also cover the revocation of the existing Designated Public Place Order /PSPO as outlined in section 3.5(g) of the report.

Reasons for decision:

A PSPO covering the Town Centre and Seafront areas could be a useful additional tool to tackle persistent and unreasonable anti-social behaviour (ASB) which is taking place and would help ensure that the law-abiding majority can use and enjoy these public spaces, safe from ASB.

Other options:

The Council could choose not to look at introducing a PSPO, but this would lose the opportunity to introduce a new measure to tackle ASB which is causing nuisance/harm to many people and having a damaging effect on the Town Centre and Seafront areas.

Note: This is an Executive Function

Eligible for call-in to: Policy & Resources Scrutiny Committee

Cabinet Member: Cllr Flewitt