Living Streets written evidence submission to the Home Affairs Select Committee draft
Anti-Social Behaviour bill inquiry
1) About Living Streets
We are the national charity that stands up for pedestrians. With our supporters we work to
create safe, attractive and enjoyable streets, where people want to walk. We work with
professionals and politicians to make sure every community can enjoy vibrant streets and
public spaces. We started life in 1929 as the Pedestrians Association and have been the
national voice for pedestrians throughout our history. In the early years, our campaigning led
to the introduction of the driving test, pedestrian crossings and 30mph speed limits. Since
then our ambition has grown. Today we influence decision makers nationally and locally, run
successful projects to encourage people to walk and provide specialist consultancy services
to help reduce congestion and carbon emissions, improve public health, and make sure every
community can enjoy vibrant streets and public spaces.
2) Key Messages:
 The Bill provides a more flexible route for local authorities to tackle anti-social
behaviour which reduces local environmental quality such as littering, graffiti and
dog fouling;
 In order for the Bill to achieve its aims there is a need for government to provide
guidance and advice to the users of the new powers, such as local authorities, to
ensure the proposals have maximum impact in delivering safe, attractive and
enjoyable streets.
3) Living Streets welcomes the measures outlined in the Bill to tackle persistence placerelated anti social behaviour such as littering, graffiti and dog fouling which can negatively
affect the quality of life of local communities. We know that these issues are of importance
to local people from a YouGov poll carried out for Living Streets in March 2012, which
revealed that one third of British adults said they would walk more in their local area if
streets were kept in better condition and 46% of 18-24 year olds and 51% of 25-34 year
olds would walk more if the streets were safer and more attractive.
4) However, we believe the system of Community Protection Notices and Community
Protection Orders (Public Spaces) will only succeed through the provision of advice and
guidance to local authorities police and staff of registered providers of social housing.
5) It is seven years since the introduction of the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act
(CNEA) 2005 which introduced the system of Dog Control Orders, Litter Control Notices
and Graffiti/Defacement Removal Notices (although this power was amended and not
introduced by the CNEA) and it is only in the last few years these powers are being used
to maximum effect. Defra supported the initial roll out of the powers with other
Government Departments in 2005/6 and without such support for the new system of
Community Protection Notices and Community Protection Orders (Public Spaces) there is
a serious risk of the effectiveness of these powers being reduced unintentionally as local
authorities take time to understand these new powers.
6) Table One below shows a broad correlation between the numbers of Fixed Penalty
Notices (FPN) issued and increased awareness and knowledge of the CNEA provisions
by local authorities from 2006 until the collection of the figures stopped in 2010. Figures
were not collected centrally regarding the numbers of Dog Control Orders and
Graffiti/Defacement Removal Notices issued, therefore, the number of FPNs, in table one,
is used a proxy measure.
7) Table One – Number of Fixed Penalty Notices issued for CNEA related offences
No. FPNs for
Litter
Clearing
Notices
Issued
No. of FPNs
issued
for
graffiti
No. of FPNs
issued
for
fly-posting
No. FPNs
issued for
dog
fouling
No. FPNs issued
for dog control
2006/7
120
43
1133
3434
109
2007/8
257
138
1577
1938
658
2008/9
381
119
1257
2071
1306
Year
Source http://data.gov.uk/dataset/fixed-penalty-notice-overview (Accessed May 2011).
8) One example of where guidance and the sharing of best practice would be useful
concerns the potential use of Community Protection Notices to tackle litter outside office
blocks. Under the present system of Street Litter Control Notices Sections 93 and 94 of
the Environmental Protection Act 1990 give local authorities the power to issue Street
Litter Control Notices on premises that have a frontage on a street, and outside which litter
or refuse is causing defacement of the land. However, the legislation was originally
envisaged to tackle fast food litter and till receipts, as such, notices cannot normally be
served on office buildings unless they sell food and drink whether or not for consumption
on the premises (e.g. from a canteen or snack kiosk). The proposed Community
Protection Notice would allow local authorities to require the occupiers/owners of offices
and non-food retail outlets to play a greater role in dealing with this type of litter problem
and would, therefore, provide a vital tool for local authorities to deal with localised littering
problems, and would close a loophole in the legislation. It would also encourage members
of the public to take increased responsibility for their litter.
9) Living Streets is concerned that the use of Community Protection Notice to tackle graffiti
appears to misrepresent the purpose of existing powers. Graffiti/Defacement Removal
Notices are served upon building/structure owners who are not normally recipients of ASB
action. The owners and occupiers of such land are, therefore, victims of anti-social
behavior and are not the usual groups for which ASB action is necessary. FPNs or
prosecution may take place for those who carry out graffiti or fly-posting through section
43 of the Anti Social Behavior Act 2003 and the Criminal Damage Act 1971. However,
10) Living Streets believes it is important that the new system of Community Protection
Notices and Community Protection Orders (Public Spaces) retains the powers currently
contained within the present system of Litter Clearing Notices which allows local
authorities to recover the costs they have incurred in cleaning the property or land
concerned. This is in order to prevent local communities paying twice, firstly through the
amenity cost of having their quality of life reduced by neighbouring land blighted by litter
and secondly the financial cost of removal through their Council Tax.
11) Finally, the 2005 Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act (CNEA) attempted to bring
together a variety of legislation to enable land managers to improve local environmental
quality. To ensure the primary legislation achieved these aims a variety of secondary
legislation and guidance was reviewed or introduced. One such area of guidance which
was reviewed was the Code of Practice on Litter and Refuse (COPL&R) which was
introduced to set minimum standards which communities could expect from their local
authorities and statutory providers. Accordingly the Litter Control Notice sections of the
CNEA are linked with the COPL&R.
12) Section 92A of the Environmental Protection Act as amended by Sec 20 of the CNEA
allows a Litter Clearing Notice to specify the standards of compliance. The standards of
compliance for Litter Clearing Notices are detailed in the COPL&R. Therefore, any repeal
of the system of Litter Control Notices would need to be linked with a review of COPL&R
to ensure minimum standards of compliance are achieved by landowners when removing
litter and refuse from their land.
For more details please contact:
Dr Kevin Golding-Williams - Public Affairs and Policy Manager
kevin.golding-williams@livingstreets.org.uk
Tel: 020 7377 4907
Mobile: 07720 680603