Issue - meetings

Report of Director of Community Protection

Steve Stott, Anti-Social Behaviour Manager – Community Protection introduced a report on Street Drinking and Associate Anti-Social Behaviour to the Committee. He summarised the nature of street drinking in the Arboretum, Dunkirk and Lenton, and Radford and Park Wards and outlined the legal tools and powers that are available to tackle the issue. He highlighted the following points:

(a)  street drinking is not currently an offence, however there are a number of tools that enable Police and Community Protection to tackle anti-social behaviour related to it;

(b)  Designated Public Places Orders (DPPOs) enable local authorities to designate areas where restrictions on public drinking apply. In early 2014 existing locality based DPPO’s were extended to cover the whole of Nottingham City;

(c)  DPPO’s allow Police officers, Police Community Support Officers (PCSO’s) and Community Protection Officers (CPO’s) to require surrender of alcohol from anyone with the designated area, only if they feel the person consuming alcohol is causing a problem or is likely to cause a problem;

(d)  during 2016 118 alcohol confiscations were recorded in Arboretum and 79 recorded across Dunkirk and Lenton, and Radford and Park;

(e)  DPPO’s were effectively abolished by the introduction of the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 and replaced by Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPO’s). Under transitional arrangements existing DPPO’s remain in force as DPPO’s until October 2017;

(f)  PSPO’s are designed to stop individuals/groups committing anti-social behaviour in a public place and the local authority may make a PSPO if it is satisfied that activities in a public place have a persistent detrimental impact on the quality of life of those in the locality;

(g)  PSPO’s require extensive formal consultation from Police, Community representatives and the owners/occupiers of land within the area;

(h)  PSPO’s can contain the prohibition on consuming alcohol in public and as such go further than the DPPO, a PSPO has been recently introduced in the Hockley area of Nottingham  which includes this ban on street drinking;

(i)  PSPO’s are enforced by Police/PCSO’s and CPO’s. Breach of a PSPO is an offence, but only punishable at court by means of financial penalty - £70 fine. A fixed penalty notice may be offered in place of criminal proceedings;

(j)  the financial penalty may have an impact on some groups causing problems through street drinking but will have limited impact on those who are alcohol dependant where treatment is needed rather than enforcement;

(k)  in October 2017 Nottingham City’s current DPPO will convert to a PSPO with the same terms unless the appropriate consultation is carried out to vary the restrictions. It is possible to have different PSPO’s in different parts of the city;

(l)  Dispersal powers contained within the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 are also available for Police to address street drinking by requiring the dispersal of individuals involved in anti-social behaviour and can provide a short term respite to communities;

(m)A Police Officer of at least Inspector rank may authorise the use of these powers in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49