Content

10.1

Tackling anti-social behaviour in the city
centre is key to delivering the priority for high quality
neighbourhoods which are clean, green, resilient and safe, and
where people can live healthy lives and be happy with where they
live, work and play.
 
Evidence demonstrates that, within the city
centre, there is behaviour that is having a detrimental effect on
the quality of life of those in the locality, is persistent and
continuing in nature and is unreasonable.
 
A decision by the Communities, Parks and
Leisure Policy Committee was taken in January 2024 to consult on
making a Public Spaces Protection Order covering the city
centre.
 
Following that consultation work, this report
recommends that the making of a Public Spaces Protection Order is
approved to give officers additional powers to tackle anti-social
behaviour in the city centre

 

 

10.2

RESOLVED: That the
Communities, Parks and Leisure Policy Committee:-
 

1.    
having taken into account the outcome of the consultation, approves
the making of a Public Spaces Protection Order on the terms
attached at Appendix A for a period of 3 years. This Order shall be
known as the ‘Sheffield City Council City Centre Public
Spaces Protection Order 2024’;
 

2.    
initiates a review of the implementation of the Public Spaces
Protection Order to be presented to the Committee 6 months after
the implementation of the PSPO on the 1st April 2025.
This review will seek the views and experience of organisations
representing city centre businesses, voluntary and faith sector
organisations, South Yorkshire Police and Sheffield City Council
regarding the Public Spaces Protection Order, its impacts,
successes and consequences.
 
This will be presented
alongside verbal evidence from the above groups at the Committee
meeting;
 

3.    
agrees that the planned target date of implementation of the
Sheffield City Council City Centre Public Spaces Protection Order
2024 shall be in April 2025;
 

4.    
grants delegated authority to the Director of Customer Experience
and Communities in consultation with the Chair of the Communities,
Parks and Leisure Policy Committee to agree the exact date when the
Sheffield City Council City Centre Public Spaces Protection Order
2024 shall take effect;
 

5.    
grants delegated authority to the Director of Customer Experience
and Communities to undertake all necessary further steps and
actions required in order to formally implement the making of the
Sheffield City Council City Centre Public Spaces Protection Order
2024; and
 

6.    
initiates work into an overarching, cross committee strategy to
reduce through positive behaviour change and provision, rather than
displacement, the key types of ASB that the Public Spaces
Protection Order aims to target.

 

 

10.3

Reasons for
Decision

 

 

10.3.1

Everyone wants a safe and inviting city centre
and Sheffield, like all major towns and cities, is working to make
sure that its city centre is the very best that it can be so that
local residents and visitors always have positive experiences when
they visit.
 
Public Spaces Protection Orders provide
additional powers for enforcement agencies to deal with a
particular nuisance or problem in a specific area that is
detrimental to the local community’s quality of life, by
imposing conditions on the use of that area which apply to
everyone. They are intended to help ensure that the people can use
and enjoy public spaces, safe from anti-social behaviour.
 
The evidence and feedback from the
consultation and partners, satisfy, on reasonable grounds that the
activities identified in the proposed PSPO are having or are likely
to have had a detrimental effect on the quality of life of those in
the locality and are or are likely to be of a persistent or
continuing nature justifies the restrictions imposed by the
proposed Order.
 
The Council is satisfied that the prohibitions
imposed by the proposed Order are reasonable in order to reduce the
detrimental effect of these activities.

 

 

10.4

Alternatives
Considered and Rejected

 

 

10.4.1

Alternative Option 1:
 
To approve the making of a PSPO without the
additional requirements to give personal details and leave the area
when asked to do so.
 
This is not the preferred option as the
requirement to leave provides an additional layer of intervention
that will help to avoid more formal intervention such as issuing an
FPN. Without this, the level of intervention could end up higher
than is necessary in a given situation.

 

 

 

Alternative Option 2:
 
To approve the making of a PSPO with the draft
wording that was proposed in the January CPL committee report.
 
This option was rejected based on the feedback
received during the consultation period. The original wording of
the alcohol restriction could be applied too broadly and might
restrict responsible alcohol consumption particularly in green
spaces in the City Centre. Equally, the terms
‘nuisance’ and ‘annoyance’ in the begging
and loitering restrictions could be more subjective and ambiguous.
The removal of these terms creates a higher threshold for breaching
the PSPO.

 

 

 

Alternative Option 3:
 
To consider the outcome of the consultation
and to decide not to proceed.
 
This option is reserved to the Communities,
Parks and Leisure Policy Committee under Part 3.3.1 of the
Constitution and is the ‘do nothing’ option in relation
to a PSPO. This option has been rejected based on the evidence
presented in this report.
 
The consultation has demonstrated that people
are experiencing harassment, alarm or distress from the behaviours
that would be restricted with the PSPO. It has also demonstrated
that the majority of individuals and organisations support the
restrictions that would come from the PSPO. The PSPO is another
tool that can be used to tackle ASB in the city centre and,
combined with the Enforcement and Support Protocol will allow
earlier intervention to provide support to vulnerable
individuals.